DDEX Marks First Anniversary With New Standards and New Members

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 6, 2007) - The Digital Data Exchange (DDEX, pronounced "dee-dex"), a membership organization comprised of record labels, authors' and publishers' societies and digital service providers, celebrated its first anniversary at an annual member meeting in Paris on May 15. At that meeting, the world's leading companies and organizations involved in digital music agreed upon new standards to support the digital distribution of digital content.

The new standards are the versions 2.0 of ERN and DSR(*). Both standards have been updated to significantly improve the exchange of business data. Together with these standards, DDEX is issuing reference guidelines and use cases designed specifically to aid companies wishing to start implementations of these standards.

"DDEX has made significant progress in its first year," said Chris Amenita, ASCAP, the chair of DDEX. "And the rapidly growing list of members clearly shows the value being provided. Our progress is great news for all participants across the whole value chain -- from artists and writers through to the consumer."

In addition, DDEX gained three new Charter Members, completing the DDEX Board. The new Charter members are SACEM (the authors' and publishers' society in France), V2 Music Limited (a global, UK-based independent label) and Orange (the French-owned mobile telephone network). This gives DDEX unprecedented worldwide coverage and influence across all aspects of digital content creation and digital distribution, including mobile.

"We invite any organization or company involved in digital music to join us," Amenita said. "Together we can help fully empower and unlock the future of digital music."

The legal distribution of digital content has been continuously evolving and growing, but it's been hampered by the ability of parties to communicate using uniform protocols and standardized terms. In this environment, DDEX's members believe that the introduction and adoption of DDEX's international standards will remove this barrier, and help to accelerate the growth of the digital music market by facilitating accurate, fast and effective data exchange improving the efficiency of data sharing and the processing of transactions between participants in the music supply chain.

The DDEX Standards will allow the music industry and its partners to continue to deliver value to artists and writers, increase quality and choice for the consumer and help ensure success in a complex and growing digital music business.

The charter members of the organization are record companies: EMI Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group. V2 Music Limited; authors' and publishers' societies from the US, UK, France and Spain: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), The Harry Fox Agency Inc. (HFA), The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited, SACEM, Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE); and digital service providers: AOL, Apple Computer Inc., Microsoft Corp., RealNetworks Inc.®, and Orange.

Other members include: BMI, Broad Street Digital, Buma-Stemra, Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd., Consolidated Independent, IODA, Korean Association of Phonogram Producers, MACH S.a.r.l., Media Metro LLC, Muzak LLC, Nielsen Music, Nordisk Copyright Bureau (NCB), Phonographic Performance Ltd, QPass, RoyaltyShare Inc., SIAE, SCPP, SOCAN, SODRAC, Sony Connect, SUISA, All Media Guide, LLC, APRA. Edel Music Group, Geneva Media, LLC, Music Reports, Inc., PassAlong Networks, Tradescape, Inc. and SESAC, Inc.

Membership is open to any organization with an interest in the legal distribution of music, such as record labels, music rights collecting societies, digital and mobile service providers, digital music aggregators or broadcasters.

To register an interest in membership of DDEX, go to www.ddex.net.

* ERN (Electronic Release Notification) is a set of messages to communicate record company metadata about releases, associated deals & commercial terms to digital service providers. DSR (Digital Sales Report) is a set of messages to communicate sales transactions by digital service providers to their business partners, licensors or their agents.

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