DDEX

This article is about the standards-setting organization for digital music data interchange. For the Microsoft software feature, see Data Designer Extensibility.

Digital Data Exchange (DDEX) is an international standards-setting organization that was formed in 2006[1] to develop standards that enable companies to communicate information along the digital supply chain more efficiently[2] by:

• Developing standard message and file formats (XML or flat-file)
• Developing choreographies for specific business transactions
• Developing communication protocols (SFTP or based on web services)
• Working with industry bodies to create a more efficient supply chain.

DDEX currently focuses on the music industry and has 3 types of membership: charter, full and associate members, with about 100 members.[3]

CHARTER MEMBERS

Google	Amazon (company)	Apple Inc.	Broadcast Music, Inc.
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers	GEMA (German organization)	Kobalt Music Group	Pandora Media, Inc.
Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL)	PRS for Music	Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques (SCPP)	Sacem
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada	Sony Music Entertainment	SoundExchange	Spotify
Tencent Music	Universal Music Group	Warner Music Group	Downtown Music

Business transactions addressed

Business Transactions supported by DDEX

DDEX's standards[4] address a series of business transactions, including:

• Release deliveries
• Sales/usage reporting
• Communication with and amongst Music Licensing Companies
• Licensing of musical works
• Collection of information on sound recordings and musical works in the recording studio

Using DDEX standards

All DDEX standards are available from the DDEX Knowledge Base, with complete documentation.[5] DDEX has also created a series of free introductory videos.[6]

Implementers that want to use any of the DDEX standards are required to take out a software licence.[7] This licence is a royalty-free click wrap licence that grants implementers access to the intellectual property embedded in the DDEX standards.

References

1. About DDEX
2. Independent study reveals 66% reduction in key operations expense over 5 years for digital music providers adopting DDEX data exchange standards
3. List of DDEX Members
4. List of DDEX standards
5. DDEX Knowledge Base
6. DDEX YouTube channel
7. DDEX Implementation Licence

External links

• DDEX Homepage