Deal

A Deal is what transforms a

Flat File Sales Report Messages (DSRF)

A Sales Report Message created in accordance with the Digital Sales Reporting Message Suite Standards (Architecture and Profiles). A Flat File Sales Report Message may be split into several individual files.

Full Conformance

A company’s supply chain is Fully Conformant to a specific

Head Release

A Release, originally communicated by the owner (or its agent) of a sound recording or audio-visual recording to a Licensee who then distributed that Release to consumers, whose Usage, Revenue or Sales are described in a Sales Report Message created in accordance with this standard.

Head Resource

A Resource whose Usage, Revenue or Sales are described in a Sales Report Message created in accordance with this standard. Head Resources are not communicated as part of a Head Release.

Hub

A service that acts as a broker for information exchange, typically using DDEX Messages. In the context of the Musical Works Notification, Musical Works Licensing and Letter of Direction Standards defined by DDEX, a Hub acts as an intermediary for information exchange to facilitate sharing of Right Share information. Hubs may also play a role in facilitating licensing processes between (prospective) Licensors and (prospective) Licensees. Hubs may also act as routers and/or provide data caching functionality.

Initial Producer

A Party that initiates the creation of a Sound Recording or Resource and is sometimes referred to as a commissioning rights holder.  An Initial Producer may be a person or an Organisation and the term contrasts with the role of a Studio Producer.

Letter of Direction

A communication from a Rights Controller who has acquired a Catalogue of rights to Licensors of said Musical Works. An Administrator may carry out the communication on behalf of a Rights Controller.

Licensee

A Party

Main Release

Message Sender

A Party that sends a Message formatted in accordance with a DDEX Standard to a Message Recipient. The Message Sender may also be one or more of a Licensor, a Licensee, a Rights Controller, a Rights Administrator, a Licensing Agent or a Rights Holder.

Multi-Record-Block Variant

A variant of a Sales/Usage report in accordance with this standard where descriptive metadata and sales/usage figures are provided in Blocks of (usually) comprising multiple Records.  Multi-Record-Block Variant is the default variant for sales/usage reports in accordance with this standard.

Music Licensing Company

A company that is duly authorised to issue licences for the use of SoundRecordings and music videos. Music Licensing Companies may issue licences on behalf of phonogram producers, performers or both.

Note: Music Licensing Companies were previously referred to as Producers (and/or Performers) Collection Societies (PCSs).

Sale

Distribution of a product to end consumers. For the avoidance of doubt, the term “sales” includes all forms of distribution of products, whether revenue was generated, or not and, where revenue is generated, regardless of the business model used to do so.

Sales/Usage Report Message

See Flat File Sales Report Messages (DSRF).

Secondary Delimiter

Delimiter used to separate data elements within a single Cell.

Secondary Resource

A Resource that is not a main Resource of a Release. It supports the Primary Resources (examples are lyrics, cover art etc). A change in a Primary Resource typically requires a new Release Identifier, whereas change in a Secondary Resource does not.

Session

The location where musical works are recorded. During the creation of a Sound Recording, sessions may take place in many locations, including the recording studio as well as live venues, remote locations and the like.

Single-Record-Block Variant

A variant of a Sales/Usage report in accordance with this standard where all descriptive metadata as well as sales/usage figures for each sales "line" into a single Record. Each Single-Record-Block Variant has been derived from a Multi-Record Block Variant by collapsing Blocks into single SRxx Records. The base Multi-Record Block Variant does not have to be published as a DDEX standard.

Sound Recording

An audible persistent manifestation of a subject (often but not necessarily of a performance).

Studio

The term “studio” denotes any facility for sound recording, mixing and mastering.

The term specifically includes large studios (such as the ones in Abbey Road in London) as well as digital audio workstations (DAW) installed on a personal computer and used in a musician’s home and portable units used for recording live events.

Studio Producer

A Party who directs, and has overall creative and technical oversight of, the entire recording project and the individual recording sessions that are a part of the project. The Producer participates in and/or supervises the recording session and works directly with the Artist, Musicians and Engineers. The Studio Producer makes creative, technical and aesthetic decisions that realize the goals of both the Artist and the Sound Recording Copyright Holder in the creation of musical content. The Studio Producer may perform direct Performances, choose final takes or versions, and oversees the selection of songs, Musicians, singers, Arrangers, studios, etc. The Studio Producer in collaboration with the artist, assigns credits to Performers and technical personnel, and is responsible for supplying accurate crediting information to the record label or media company as official documentation. Other duties of the Studio Producer may include, but are not limited to, overseeing other staffing needs, keeping budgets and schedules, adhering to deadlines, supervising mastering and overall quality control.

Note: A Studio Producer is a person and thus may contrast with the role of an Initial Producer.

Sub-Release

 A Release that is being created from one or more of the primary Resources of a Head Release, typically by the Message Sender.

For the purpose of this standard these Sub-Releases are being created by the Message Sender who is making Releases, and tracks from such Releases, available to consumers. These “unbundled tracks”, that is, all the tracks from a Release each made available separately, are the simplest form of Sub-Releases.

Ticket ID

A unique identifier that links several Web Service Calls/Responses together.

Track Release

Usage

The identification of the Releases and Resources that actually get exploited by Licensees exercising a range of business and delivery models for the distribution of Releases to consumers, including the amount of use of each Release or Resource.

Web Service

A modern set of web technologies that allow small pieces of information, typically in the form of XML files, to be exchanged. Augmented with FTP (or other file exchange mechanisms) they can be used to communicate Releases along the music supply chain.