Standardized Identifiers and Electronic Data Interchange Rules for Music

The music industry uses several categories of information standards, which involve policies, governance rules, and technical specifications. This chapter explains the standardized ways of identifying music-related parties, intellectual property, publications, products, and releases; of formatting music metadata; and of exchanging data electronically. It describes how parties such as songwriters/composers, music publishers, recording artists, performers on sound recordings, and record companies are identified through use of the IPI, IPN, and ISNI; intellectual property such as musical compositions and sound recordings and music videos are identified through use of the ISWC, ISRC, acoustic fingerprints, and watermarks; and publications, products, and releases are identified through the use of the ISMN, GTIN, and GRiD. It explores the way that Music Data Style Guides are used to set rules regarding the presentation of information to consumers and the structure of data which accompanies digital music files. It explains the electronic data interchange standards, including the CIS and DDEX message suites, which are used to efficiently communicate information between parties in the supply and value chains. Finally, the chapter looks to the future, considering the information management segment of the music industry as a form of IT service management and explores ways that people, process, and technology may come together to maximize business value.