Electronic Release Notification Message Suite

The text of the Electronic Release Notification Message Suite (ERN) standard with detailed explanations and advise about how to go about an implementation is available on the knowledge base.

The ERN standard messages enable the communication of metadata about releases that are being made available for distribution, and how those releases can be made available. The messages are usually sent by a record company or distributor to a digital music service provider (DSP).

The main message in the ERN standard, the NewReleaseMessage, communicates metadata about releases and metadata about all the resources, usually sound recordings or music videos, contained within a release. Also included in the NewReleaseMessage is detailed metadata about the terms and conditions about when, where and how the releases can be made available by DSPs.

The ERN standard consists of four parts. The first defines the two standard message formats used in an ERN communication. Part 2 defines a series of release “profiles”. These define how the communication of metadata should be constructed for different types of releases in an ERN message. These include, for example, the audio profile or the mixed media profile. Parts 3 and 4 define the choreography for communicating ERN messages using either cloud based storage or web service exchanges.

A slide presentation overview about the ERN standard is available here.

You do not have to be a member of DDEX to implement the standards. Anyone can implement any of them once they have taken out a DDEX Implementation Licence. Information about the Licence is available here and the application form is available here.