Electronic Release Notification Message Suite (ERN)

The Electronic Release Notification Message Suite (ERN) enables record companies or distributors to send data to digital service providers (DSPs) which describes the releases and resources, such as sound recordings and music videos the record company or distributor is making available to the DSP for use on its service and the terms and conditions under which such releases and resources can be made available to consumers. The main message in ERN can be used to communicate data about everything from a single release with a single deal, to the communication of a sales campaign that includes price changes over the course of time. 

The most recent version of the ERN to be published is ERN 4.3.1. A summary of the changes between ERN-3 and 4.2 are listed here.

The text of each part of the ERN standard is available by following the links below:

Part 1 – Definitions of Messages

Part 2 – Release Profiles for ERN version 4.3.1 (version 2.3.1)

Part 3 – Choreography for Cloud-based Storage (version 1.8.1)

Part 4 – Choreography for Web Services Exchange (version 1.8)

Most live implementations are still one or other version of ERN 3.8 (with version 3.8.2 being the most common). Although DDEX strongly advises implementers to implement the most recent version of each standard, in this case ERN 4.3, it is recognised that some implementers will be looking for information about previous versions. Therefore, the guidance in this section provides information about each version.

Remember, at least before going live with an implementation, you will need to take out a DDEX Implementation Licence. Information about the implementation licence can be found here and the application form is available here.

General explanation of ERN 4

This section includes, amongst other subjects, information about the structure of the ERN 4 message, the management of profiles in ERN 4 and the main differences between ERN 3 and ERN 4.

General explanation of ERN 3

This section includes, amongst other subjects, information about the structure of the ERN 3 message and the business and release profiles for ERN 3.

Detailed implementation guidance and best practice for ERN 4 and ERN 3

This section provides access to a large range of articles under different subject headings, about all aspects of ERN. The articles are arranged so that there is a clear distinction between those relevant to ERN 3, ERN 4 or to both. This section of the knowledge base is searchable.

Current data dictionaries for ERN 4 and ERN 3 and the ERN Choreographies

Here are links for the data dictionaries for ERN 4, ERN 3 and the ERN choreography standards.

Choreography of ERN messages

This section provides an explanation of the two choreography standards associated with ERN 4.3.

Sample snippets

These sample snippets of parts of the ERN message provide further support in understanding how ERN messages should be constructed.

Past versions of ERN

Gain access to the most recent past version of ERN. There is also information about how to access even earlier versions of ERN. However, DDEX strongly advises that you implement ERN 4.2 wherever possible.