Mumbai: Digital Data Exchange (DDEX) has announced a number of implementations of the organisation’s digital communication standards. Implementations are in progress by digital music service providers including iTunes, Muzak, Real Networks, SFR and Telefónica Servicios de Música S.A.U., music content companies Sony Bmg Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, and music rights societies, ASCAP, BMI, HFA, MCPS-PRS, SACEM, SGAE and SUISA.
"Whilst the DDEX membership has been successful in carrying out technical work and meeting the deadlines for its completion, we have always known that real success should only be measured by implementations of the standards themselves," said ASCAP, the chair of DDEX Chris Amenita. "It’s great news that we now have more than a dozen such implementations in progress. DDEX will continue to encourage more implementations and looks forward to the benefits, in the form of operational cost savings and improved data exchange efficiencies, that widespread implementation will bring. DDEX will be forging ahead with the development of more standards to improve the communication of data in the digital music value chain and we hope that more companies will join us in that endeavor."
DDEX also announced the completion of a number of new standard format XML messages, including two simplified versions of existing standards. These have been produced in response to concerns over the complexity of the original standards from some sections of the industry. DDEX now has specified six standard format messages as follows:
— Electronic Release Notification Message Suite Standard (Main Profile);
— Electronic Release Notification Message Suite Standard (Simple
Profile);
— Digital Sales Report Message Suite (Main Profile);
— Digital Sales Report Message Suite (Simple Profile);
— Musical Work Licensing Message Suite; and
— Data Mismatch Message Suite.
The specifications for all the DDEX standards can be accessed at http://www.ddex.net/evaluation/form.html.
Detailed explanations of these messages standards will be given at open meetings organized by DDEX in New York on 23 October, in Santa Monica on 28 October and in Paris on 6 November. The meetings will be an opportunity for operational and technical personnel to spend time gaining a detailed understanding of the standards and how they were constructed. Some of the companies that are now using the standards will also provide insight into how they overcame the challenges of implementations. Details of times and locations for these meetings can be found at www.ddex.net. Registrations for attendance at the open meetings can be made by e-mailing secretariat@digitaldataexchange.com.
DDEX was set up to develop standard message formats which will help improve the efficiency of data sharing and the processing of transactions between participants in the digital content value chain. The standards enable the identification of the information required to provide digital content to the consumer and report sales back to the content owning companies, as well as common ways for this data to be exchanged between companies. Initially DDEX has focused on the digital music value chain, principally because its initial membership was drawn from that sector. Whilst there is still work to do in the music sector DDEX is encouraging membership from stakeholders in other sectors which overlap with music, such as the many organizations operating in the audio-visual world.
