Glossary
of Terms

A company that collects music from labels and artists and delivers it to DSPs. Also called a distributor. Aggregators handle metadata formatting, delivery, royalty collection, and payment. They sit between the rights holder and the DSP.

The set of requirements a DSP publishes for cover art, including minimum resolution (typically 3000×3000px), color space (RGB/sRGB), file format (JPG or PNG), aspect ratio (square), and content restrictions (no text overlays, no logos, no upscaled images).

The person who created the musical composition — typically used for instrumental or classical works. In pop music, the composer role often overlaps with the songwriter role, but in classical and film music, the composer is the creator of the score.

A validation digit calculated from the other characters in an identifier (ISRC, UPC, ISWC) to verify data integrity. Stores reject identifiers with invalid checksums. The algorithm varies by identifier type and is defined by the relevant ISO standard.

Digital Data Exchange — the industry standards body that defines message formats for digital music distribution. The most relevant standard is ERN (Electronic Release Notification), which defines how release metadata is transmitted between labels, distributors, and DSPs.

Digital Service Provider — any platform that distributes music to consumers digitally. Examples include Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, and TIDAL. Each DSP maintains its own metadata specification and content policies.

A unique identifier assigned by DDEX to each organization in the music supply chain — labels, distributors, DSPs. Used in ERN message headers to identify the sender and recipient of a release notification.

Electronic Release Notification — the DDEX message format used to deliver release metadata to digital stores. Current versions include 3.4.2, 3.8.2, and 4.1.1. An ERN message contains all release details: titles, contributors, identifiers, track listings, artwork references, and rights information.

The structured classification system used by a DSP to categorize music by genre. Each store maintains its own taxonomy: Spotify uses over 5,000 micro-genres, Apple Music uses a flat hierarchy, Deezer uses a nested three-level system. Metadata genre tags must map to the target store's taxonomy.

International Standard Recording Code — a unique 12-character identifier assigned to each individual sound recording (not the composition). Follows ISO 3901 and consists of a country code, registrant code, year of reference, and designation code. Each recording needs its own ISRC; the same recording always retains the same ISRC across all releases.

International Standard Musical Work Code — a unique identifier for a musical composition (the underlying work, separate from any recording). Assigned by performing rights organizations. Format: T- followed by 9 digits and a check digit. Multiple recordings (ISRCs) can share the same ISWC if they are recordings of the same composition.

International Standard Name Identifier — a 16-digit number that uniquely identifies a contributor (person or organization) across all creative fields. Used to disambiguate artists with similar names and ensure proper attribution across databases.

An ISO 639-1 or ISO 639-2 code indicating the language of the metadata content — titles, descriptions, and lyrics. Must accurately reflect the language used. Mismatched language codes cause lyric synchronization failures on DSPs that display synced lyrics.

The person who mixed the multi-track recording into the final stereo or surround master. Mixing involves balancing levels, panning, and applying effects to individual tracks. A distinct role from the recording engineer and mastering engineer.

The person who applies final processing to the mixed recording — equalization, compression, and loudness normalization — to prepare it for distribution across all playback systems. The last creative step before the recording is delivered to stores.

The artist who performs the recording — the singer, musician, or group credited as the primary performing act. This role maps to the DSP's artist field and determines how the release appears on the artist's profile page.

The person responsible for overseeing and shaping the sound recording in the studio. Producers make creative decisions about arrangement, performance, and mixing. Producer credits are increasingly required by stores for full contributor display.

The person who wrote the underlying musical composition — lyrics, melody, or both. Distinct from the performer: a songwriter may or may not also perform the recording. Songwriter credits are critical for royalty collection through performing rights organizations.

The removal of a release from a digital store after it has already been published. Takedowns occur when metadata is found non-compliant post-delivery, rights are disputed, or a release is withdrawn. Takedowns are costly and should be avoided through pre-delivery validation.

Universal Product Code — a barcode number that identifies a complete release (an album, EP, or single). One UPC per release, not per track. Also called EAN in some regions. Required by most stores for catalog identification and sales tracking.