Connecting a custom domain

Every Sonic Bloom site comes with a free subdomain (yourband.sonicbloom.app). When you're ready to look fully professional, you can connect your own domain — yourband.com — so your site lives at your address, with a secure https:// padlock and everything.

You can get there two ways: buy a new .com right through Sonic Bloom (we handle the registration and point it at your site automatically), or connect a domain you already own elsewhere.

Buy a domain through Sonic Bloom (the easy way)

If you don't have a domain yet, you don't need to go anywhere else. There are two ways to buy one:

• Ask Roadie. Tell it the name you want and it checks what's available, recommends the best one (usually your name .com — the one fans guess first), and walks you to a confirm.
• Use the dashboard form. Go to Custom Domain → Register a domain, search a name, pick an available .com, fill in your registration (WHOIS) contact details, and submit.

Either way, before anything is charged you'll see the yearly price and a clear note that it charges the card on file. Confirm and we:

• register the .com with you as the owner (your name is on it — it's yours to keep),
• charge your card the registration price (a .com runs about $10–12/year, billed to your existing card alongside your subscription — no second account to set up), and
• point your site at the new domain automatically, with SSL.

A few things to know:

• It's a paid feature. Buying a domain through us requires an active paid subscription. (Connecting a domain you already own is free during your trial — see below.)
• You're never charged without getting the domain. If anything goes wrong registering it after your card is charged, we automatically refund you in full.
• .com only for now. Want a .band, .live, or another ending? Buy it at any registrar and use "Connect a domain you already own" below.
• It's yours. If you ever leave, the domain comes with you — it's registered in your name.

Renewing your domain

Domains are paid yearly. If you bought yours through Sonic Bloom, we renew it for you automatically before it expires — you don't have to remember a thing. A few weeks before the renewal date we charge the card on file for one more year and keep your site online without a gap.

You can also renew early anytime: go to Custom Domain, find the "Registered through Sonic Bloom" panel, and tap Renew now. That charges the card on file for one more year and pushes your expiry date out. (Or just ask Roadie to renew it — it'll show you the price and confirm before charging.)

If an automatic renewal ever fails (usually an expired or declined card), we'll flag it in that same panel so you can update your billing and renew with one tap.

Moving your domain to another registrar

Your domain is yours — it's registered in your name, and you can take it anywhere. If you ever want to move it to a different registrar, open the "Registered through Sonic Bloom" panel and tap Move this domain elsewhere → get your transfer code.

We'll show you your transfer (EPP) code. Paste it into your new registrar when they ask for it — it's a standard ICANN domain transfer, you keep your domain, and there's no charge from us to leave. Once you've moved it, you can mark it as transferred out so we stop managing renewals for it. (You can also just ask Roadie for your transfer code and it'll fetch it for you.)

Connect a domain you already own

• A domain you own. If you bought it from any registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.), you can point it at your Sonic Bloom site for free.
• You can connect it free during your trial — set it all up ahead of time. It starts serving your site the moment you go live and your subscription begins. See Billing and your subscription.

How to connect it

1. Go to Custom Domain in your dashboard.
2. Type in your domain (for example, yourband.com) and submit.
3. We'll show you the exact DNS record to add — an A record pointing your domain at our hosting, with the precise value to copy.
4. Log in to your registrar (wherever you bought the domain) and add that record in their DNS settings.
5. Come back and we'll check it. Once your DNS has propagated, we automatically issue a free SSL certificate so your site is secure.

That's it — no servers to manage, no certificates to renew. We handle the SSL through our domain partner and keep it renewed for you.

How long it takes

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to spread across the internet (occasionally up to a day, depending on your registrar). Once it propagates and the certificate issues, your site is live on your domain. Your old yourband.sonicbloom.app address forwards there permanently, so any link already out in the world still lands in the right place — it just arrives at your domain instead.

Common snags

• Use the exact record we show you. Copy the value precisely — a typo means it won't connect.
• Watch out for an existing record. If your registrar already has a default A record or a "parking" page, you may need to edit or remove it so yours takes effect.
• Give it time. If it's not connected immediately, that's usually just DNS propagation. Check back in an hour.
• Some registrars use different wording. "Host," "Name," and "Points to" vary by provider. If you're unsure which field is which, send us a screenshot.

Still stuck?

DNS is the one part of this that can be fiddly, and it's different at every registrar. Send Jamey a screenshot of your registrar's DNS page and he'll tell you exactly what to put where.

Get help connecting your domain.