ERN 3 profiles

The NewReleaseMessage in ERN 3 defines how releases, the resources they contain (such as sound recordings or music videos) and, in some circumstances the musical works contained in the sound recordings or music videos can be described and communicated by record companies and distributors to DSPs. Such descriptions can, however, vary depending on the nature of the release. For example:  

  • Describing a release that contains a single video ringtone track is more straight forward than describing a release representing a digital equivalent of a 10-track pop album with previews; and

  • Similarly, the data in the DealList describing a subscription ringtone service differs from the data describing a pay-as-you go download service.

Therefore, in order to aid companies that only wish to exchange a small subset of the types of products that the full NewReleaseMessage can communicate, DDEX has developed a series of “profiles”.

In ERN 3 there are two types of profiles:

  • Release Profiles: these describe different types of releases and primarily concern the ResourceList and the ReleaseList sections of the NewReleaseMessage. More information about release profiles can be found here; and

  • Business Profiles: these describe different types of commercial arrangements that a DSP’s service may offer and primarily concern the DealList section of the NewReleaseMessage. More information about business profiles can be found here.

Over time, different versions of the profiles and of the underlying NewReleaseMessage in the ERN 3 standard were published and each profile standard has been written with a specific baseline NewReleaseMessage standard in mind. The table below shows how the versions of the profiles map to the versions of the NewReleaseMessage. The table does not differentiate between version 3.4 and 3.4.1 of the NewReleaseMessage. 

Business Profile Version

Release Profile Version 

NewReleaseMessage Version

1.0

1.0

3.3 and 3.4

1.1 and 1.2

1.1

3.6

1.2

1.2

3.7

1.3

1.3

3.8

 

Whilst the table indicates that the release profile version 1.3 is specifically for the NewReleaseMessage in version 3.8, most of the profile rules can also be applied to data about releases in older versions of the NewReleaseMessage. Similarly, whilst some of the profiles cannot be used because the relevant profiles rules do not cater for a new feature in a new version of the NewReleaseMessage, most will still work with newer versions of the NewReleaseMessage. 

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