|
|
Released July 25, 2000 NARM
To Aid In Adoption Of Digital Distribution Partners
With Reciprocal And Supertracks On Glossary As A
First Step To Enhance The Consumer Experience NEW
YORK — July 24, 2000 — As digital distribution becomes an
increasingly important issue for the music industry, standardizing the
consumer experience has emerged as a critical need.
In response to this, the National Association of Recording
Merchandisers (NARM), today announced that it is working with two leading
digital rights management services companies, Reciprocal and Supertracks,
on the creation of a glossary of standard, consumer-friendly terminology.
This is a first step to help the industry and the consumer to more
easily adopt and enjoy digitally distributed music. The need for
standard terminology became evident at a recent meeting of the NARM
retailers with various digital music providers.
“A lot of the discussion was devoted to simply making sure
everyone understood the concept or terminology being discussed,” said
Pam Horovitz, NARM President. “Fortunately,
the executives from Reciprocal and Supertracks reached the same conclusion
and approached NARM with a proposal for creating a glossary of standard
terms and acronyms relating to digital distribution.
We applaud the initiative of both these companies and we thank them
for their generosity.” Charles
Jennings, CEO and co-founder of Supertracks, stated “From a technology
perspective, driving the legitimate market for digital music forward is
all about clarity, coherence and interoperability.”
Echoed Larry Miller, President of Reciprocal Music, “Though we
compete at some levels with Supertracks, we believe that collaboration on
a glossary is an important step in moving the industry forward and we
welcome other companies to help us drive this important initiative.” A first
draft of the glossary has already been assembled by the Reciprocal/Supertracks
team and includes words and acronyms that are frequently used within the
industry. Reciprocal and
Supertracks already had internal glossaries in place; in addition, the
glossary draws from acknowledged sources, including SDMI and WIPO.
Sherry Lamoreaux, the Supertracks executive heading the project
team, added, “We've worked to eliminate mention of any branded or
proprietary technologies since our intention is to develop a common
language to further the understanding of digital distribution terms to
help create a consistent experience for consumers and retailers
everywhere.” NARM has
presented the initial draft of the glossary to members of its Online Music
Retailing Issue Forum and solicited feedback.
It is hoped that a final version of the glossary will be ready by
September. About
NARM 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. About
Reciprocal
Reciprocal,
the global leader in digital rights management transaction services
provides comprehensive, easy-to-implement e-commerce clearing services and
back-office solutions for the music, publishing, software, film,
entertainment, and other digital content industries. Reciprocal offers
content owners a true outsourced DRM solution that allows them to realize
new revenue streams while efficiently protecting their online
digital assets.
The Reciprocal Digital Clearing Service leverages leading DRM
technology from InterTrust Technologies
Corporation, Microsoft Corp., IBM, ContentGuard, Inc., Adobe Systems
Incorporated, and Preview Systems, allowing companies to choose the
solution that best fits their business needs. Reciprocal Digital
Clearing Service is secure, flexible and capable of handling millions of
transactions per day. Leading content companies such as Sony Music
Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, Zomba Records, Houghton Mifflin, Reuters
and Aberdeen Group have selected Reciprocal as their digital rights
management services provider. Privately held, Reciprocal maintains offices
in New York City, Buffalo, NY and Research Triangle Park, NC. About
Supertracks Inc. Supertracks enables the legitimate digital distribution of music (DDM) over the Internet. By integrating best-of-breed technologies, Supertracks provides the scalable, trusted infrastructure that record labels and retailers need in order to embrace the Internet as a commercially viable marketplace for selling digitally downloaded music. Supertracks operates digital rights management systems to protect and manage content and intellectual property, and offers complete e-commerce and clearinghouse services, automated data tracking and reporting, and marketing and promotional services for channel members. Supertracks is a charter sponsor of Artists Against Piracy and is a member of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).Sounding Board | Press Releases | Commentaries National Association of Recording
Merchandisers
|