CTO of Downtown Subsidiary Appointed to Board

6 August 2020 – DDEX, the international standards-setting organization dedicated to improving the exchange of data and information across the music industry, announced today that Downtown Music Holdings (Downtown) has joined as a Charter member of the organization. Downtown, which owns and operates a broad portfolio of global music publishing, distribution, artist and label services brands, has appointed Scott Williams, Chief Technology Officer of its subsidiary CD Baby, to the board of directors.

“Downtown is excited to join DDEX as a Charter member supporting the development, implementation, and governance of the DDEX standards,” said Andrew Bergman, Downtown’s Chief Operating Officer. “Core to Downtown’s mission is a commitment to creating a more innovative and equitable music ecosystem that supports not just the millions of creators and rights holders we represent through our portfolio of brands, but the industry overall. We share in DDEX’s passion to codify the formats of communication and metadata standards necessary to ensure a thriving, modern music industry.”

Jeff King Chair of the Board DDEX/ COO SOCAN commented, “The voice of Downtown Music Holdings and their respective companies will be a great addition to our Charter members and to DDEX as a whole.  We welcome their seasoned voices in the ongoing nuanced and ever-changing issues facing the digital music industry today.”

Membership to DDEX is open to any organization with a business interest in digital media content; there are currently over 120 members worldwide. 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.

Charter membership to DDEX allows an organization to:

• Provide a director to the DDEX board.
• Provide comments on a Committee Draft Standard as set out in the standards development process.
• Send one or more individuals to each Plenary Meeting and have access to all documentation and communications relating to those meetings.
• Send one or more individuals to any of the technical Working Groups and have access to all documentation and communications relating to those meetings.

The remainder of the DDEX Board is made up of executives from the 19 other Charter members of the organization:

Amazon – Jill Chapman

Apple Inc. – Nick Williamson (Chair Emeritus)

ASCAP – Nick Lehman

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) – Ed Oshanani

GEMA – Till Evert

Google – Greg Quillard (Executive Board)

Kobalt Music – Bob Bruderman

Pandora Media Inc. – Noel Morrison

PPL – Matt Phipps-Taylor

PRS for Music – Keith Hill

SCPP – Laurent Fradin

SACEM – Paul Cohen Scali (Executive Board)

Sony Music Entertainment – Kirit Joshi (Executive Board)

SOCAN – Jeff King, (Chair of the Board)

SoundExchange Inc. – Luis Bonilla

Spotify AB – Sung Kyu Choi

Tencent Music Entertainment Group – Roberta Fong

Universal Music Group – Kim Beauchamp (Executive Board)

Warner Music Group – Brigette Boyle

 

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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.

 

About Downtown Music Holdings

Downtown Music Holdings is a global company that owns, manages, and develops businesses with a vision for a more equitable and innovative music ecosystem. With operations across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin America, we are the world’s leading provider of end-to-end services to artists, songwriters, labels, music publishers, and other rights holders. Through our portfolio of companies — Downtown Music Publishing®, Songtrust®, CD Baby®, Soundrop®, DashGo℠, AdRev®, FUGA®, Sheer Publishing Africa, Downtown Neighbouring Rights℠, and Downtown Music Studios℠ — we manage millions of music copyrights, with a catalog that spans nearly 100 years of popular music, including music for film and television, and the single largest independent sound recording catalog in the industry. Our integrated platforms help democratize global music rights management and simplify the distribution, monetization, and promotion of creative works.

 

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

Tracy Zamot, 917-579-6704, tracy@jaybirdcom.com