Purpose of RIN

The metadata provided in a RIN message an integral part of the operational infrastructure across the music value chain and facilitates the process by which all rights holders and other contributors are properly remunerated. Such metadata can also enable retailers to provide better metadata about its products to consumers which helps stimulate search and discovery.  

The process of creating a recording is complex and iterative, with many production stages between capturing sound and releasing a finished recording. Every stage in this cycle can lead to new audio creations, be they a new composition, a new guitar track, a new mix, etc. In each of these “studio events”, there are a number of metadata elements that may be important to capture: 

• Who performed which musical work? 

• Who played which instrument? 

• When and where was this performance recorded? 

• Who was the sound engineer? 

• Which recording components (or, in studio parlance: tracks) were used to create a specific mix? 

• And which sections of these recording components have ultimately been used? 

RIN enables content creators to collect notes and data related to an individual recording, at the earliest instance, within the studio, while also capturing contributor and role information and providing essential information for the archiving of the recorded material. Those overseeing recording projects are able to review the RIN data at intermediate stages and validate progress. Those seeking to repurpose recordings after they have been released will have a wealth of both technical and contextual metadata to work with as they create, for example, re-mixes and derivative recordings.