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Digital Glossary
Goal Is To Help Industry And Consumers Adopt
Digitally Distributed Music
The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) has
released the first edition of its Digital
Music Glossary, which includes 82 generic terms and definitions designed to
help foster the adoption of digitally distributed music.
The need for standard terminology became evident at a meeting
of NARM retailers with various digital music providers. Following that meeting, executives from
Reciprocal and Supertracks, two leading digital service providers, approached
NARM with a proposal for collaborating on the creation of a glossary.
“NARM's purpose for developing the Glossary was to create a common language
for use by retailers and their trading partners in conducting business, and to
encourage adoption of commercially downloadable music by reducing confusion
through the use of common terminology on all retail Web sites and in all
business communication,” explains NARM President Pamela Horovitz. “Over the course of the summer, I worked
closely with Reciprocal, Supertracks, members of the Association’s Online Music
Retailing Issue Forum, and the major record companies to complete the Glossary. We are really pleased with the final product and thank everyone
who contributed to this ambitious and much-needed informational tool.”
The Glossary, which
includes acronyms frequently used within the industry, also draws from a
variety of acknowledged sources.
“Many of these definitions are
context sensitive,” Horovitz adds. “Our
purpose is to explain the download world’s specific usage of common terms, and
to allow people to use these terms with comfort and confidence. The digital
download market is in its infancy, and commerce terminology that serves the
physical world well does not always adequately address digital distribution
issues. This Glossary attempts to
define terms based on their predominant use in electronic commerce without
seeking to resolve underlying legal issues that may be in dispute.”
NARM serves the music and other prerecorded entertainment
software industry
as
the pre-eminent forum for insight and dialogue for its more than 1,100 member
retailers, wholesalers, distributors, entertainment software suppliers, and
suppliers of related products and services.