New York, NY (11 August 2021) – DDEX, the international standards-setting organization dedicated to improving the exchange of data and information across the music industry, announced today that Kim Beauchamp, Senior Vice President Process Innovation & Advanced Operations, Universal Music Group, has been named Chair of its Board. Beauchamp has been part of DDEX since 2008, and has been a member of the Executive Board for the past eight years. Throughout that time Kim has been a leading voice in the Working Groups developing the Electronic Release Notification Message Suite (ERN) and the Media Enrichment and Description (MEAD) standards, as well as the newly-published version 2.0 of the Recording Information Notification (RIN) standard. She is the first woman to lead the DDEX Board, and she succeeds Jeff King, the former Chief Operating and Corporate Development Officer of SOCAN.

“The work of DDEX is absolutely critical in continuing to move the entire music industry forward in the digital age. I look forward to continuing to work with our member companies representing the entire music value chain, as well as our colleagues in adjacent industries such as film and podcasting, to continue to build a solid infrastructure that supports all uses of music, anywhere in the world,” said Beauchamp.

 

Based in Los Angeles, Beauchamp oversees the Process Innovation, Advanced Operations, and Metadata Modeling and Standards areas for Universal Music Group, focusing on transforming the existing business models and creating new business processes in support of them. In addition to designing operational workflows to integrate new business models and complex edge cases within the traditional business models, she also oversees Metadata Modeling & Standards, where she investigates the root causes for bad or incomplete data throughout the value chain and oversees the creation of the company’s global metadata standards.

Kim has worked for UMG since 1998, beginning her career within their IT department. She has helped design and develop numerous systems that are critical to the company’s operations, including the digital scheduling system, the asset management and content delivery system, and the company’s global label copy system. She continues to actively work to reimagine the company’s internal tool set and processes to support the ever-changing business.

The remainder of the DDEX Board is made up of executives from the 20 other Charter members of the organization, which in addition to Beauchamp include:

• Amazon – Jill Chapman
• Apple Inc. – Nick Williamson (Chair Emeritus)
• ASCAP – Nick Lehman
• Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) – Ed Oshanani
• Downtown Music Holdings – Scott Williams
• Facebook – Dan Simpson
• GEMA – Till Evert
• Google – Greg Quillard (Executive Board)
• Kobalt Music – Bob Bruderman
• Pandora Media Inc. – Noel Morrison
• PPL – Mark Douglas
• PRS for Music – Keith Hill
• SCPP – Laurent Fradin
• SACEM – Paul Cohen Scali (Executive Board)
• Sony Music Entertainment – Kirit Joshi (Executive Board)
• SOCAN – Alan Triger
• SoundExchange Inc. – Luis Bonilla
• Spotify AB – Sung Kyu Choi
• Tencent Music Entertainment Group – Roberta Fong
• Warner Music Group – Brigette Boyle

Membership of DDEX is open to any organization with a business interest in digital media content; there are currently over 100 members from around the world. While a company does not need to become a member to implement any of the DDEX standards, being a member of DDEX provides the opportunity to participate in and influence the development of international standards in the digital value chain. DDEX now has eight families of standards that support the entire arc of digital music operations from initial recording through distribution and reporting as well as other types of business transactions in particular sectors of the industry. The standards are being used by all the major players in the digital music industry as well as most smaller organizations and startups. DDEX members participate in regular working group meetings to refine current standards and develop new ones.

 

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About DDEX

Formed in 2006, DDEX is an international standards-setting organization made up of leading media companies, music licensing organizations, digital service providers, and technical intermediaries that is dedicated to improving the exchange of data and information across the music industry. To support the automated exchange of information along the digital value chain, DDEX has standardized the format in which information is represented in messages and the method by which the messages are exchanged between business partners. These standards help rights holders, retailers, and technical intermediaries to more effectively communicate information along the digital value chain. This leads to efficient business transactions, reduced costs, and increased revenues for all sectors involved. DDEX standards are developed and made available for industry-wide implementation. For more information, visit www.ddex.net.

 

The DDEX Standards

There are eight families of DDEX standards: Release Delivery, Media Enrichment and Description, Sales and Usage Reporting, Claim Detail Message Suite, Works Notification and Licensing, Recording Data and Rights, Collection of Studio Metadata and Linking Works and Recordings. The use of standard message formatting speeds up the exchange of information and increases the accuracy of data, improving efficiency along the digital value chain and streamlining content availability through digital service providers to consumers. All the major digital players — including digital retailers, digital distributors and aggregators, record companies, music licensing companies, music publishers, musical work rights societies, and various technical service providers — use DDEX standards with over 5,000 implementation licenses issued and growing daily. While anyone can implement a standard, only DDEX members can be part of the standard development process – more information on membership online here.

 

DDEX Media Contacts @ Jaybird Communications

Laurie Jakobsen, 646-484-6746, laurie@jaybirdcom.com