Background to RIN

The genesis of RIN was in a project that took place way back in 2007, under the auspices of the U.S. Library of Congress, through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). 

At that time, NDIIPP embarked on a three-year project with: 

  • VEVA Sound (formerly BMS/Chace); 

  • The major record companies; and 

  • The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing. 

The project created a structure for collecting and deploying metadata related to commercial multi-track recordings. NDIIPP recognised that many U.S. recordings would ultimately reside with the Library of Congress, and that born-digital material would be difficult for any entity to manage due to the proliferation of differing recording formats and delivery methodologies. 


The NDIIPP project deliverables included a metadata specification and a proof of concept data collection tool. As DDEX was the only international standards setting organisation working on creating standards for the business side of the music industry, it was selected as the obvious choice to further develop and manage the NDIIPP deliverables. 


With the metadata specification under the DDEX umbrella, work was carried out to develop a standard message format, using terminology developed by DDEX and which is common to all DDEX messages. Where no existing DDEX field existed for a specific metadata term, one was created in line with DDEX processes. Additional fields and flexibility have been added to the original NDIPP metadata specification in order to provide an even more comprehensive metadata set.

RIN was officially released as a Candidate Standard in 2016. 

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