{"id":653,"date":"2026-05-27T08:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/?page_id=653"},"modified":"2026-10-05T23:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:09:55","slug":"conception-of-a-decentralized-european-music-rights-platform","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/conception-of-a-decentralized-european-music-rights-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Design of a Decentralized European Platform for Transparent Music Rights and Metadata Management and Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Project Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201cEuropean Music Rights Platform (EMRP)\u201d project examined the feasibility of a decentralized platform for managing and exchanging music metadata across Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aim was to develop a solution to the increasing fragmentation of copyright data, differing national licensing systems, and asymmetric power structures within the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main areas of focus were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>improving metadata quality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>transparent rights matching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>decentralized data exchange<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>avoiding centralized concentrations of power<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Initial Situation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The European music industry is characterized by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>fragmented copyright structures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>separate identification systems (ISRC \/ ISWC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>different national licensing models<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>proprietary data silos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>asymmetric power relationships between stakeholders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previous centralized approaches, such as the Global Repertoire Database (GRD), failed in particular due to issues relating to data sovereignty and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, the increasing digitalization and internationalization of the industry require an efficient, cross-border solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Approach &amp; Methodology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To analyze the requirements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10 expert interviews were conducted with record labels, collecting societies, artists, libraries, and B2B service providers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>power structures and data flows along the value chain were examined<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>stakeholder personas were developed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>functional and non-functional requirements were derived<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on these findings, a technical and organizational target concept was developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Target Concept<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the core of the concept is a&nbsp;<strong>decentralized platform<\/strong>that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>does not rely on centralized data storage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>connects existing systems through interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>evaluates metadata quality using a rating algorithm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>enables data reconciliation through matching algorithms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>uses an internal exchange mechanism (EMR-Coin)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>is operated by an independent institution<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The objective is to enable efficient data exchange without shifting existing power structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Findings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The analysis showed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a high willingness to improve metadata quality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a low willingness to share data with direct competitors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>strong fragmentation of technical standards<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a need for transparency, governance, and trust<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A decentralized solution can reduce conflicts of power, provided that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>no centralized data storage is used<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>metadata is not traded commercially<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>governance is organized independently<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Added Value &amp; Knowledge Transfer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project demonstrates how methods from business informatics can be applied to complex platform and governance challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The results provide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a structured requirements model<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a decentralized architecture concept<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>governance and incentive mechanisms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>concrete recommendations for prototyping and further development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept provides a foundation for the sustainable further development of music rights management in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Projekt\u00fcberblick Das Projekt \u201eEuropean Music Rights Platform (EMRP)\u201c untersuchte die Machbarkeit einer dezentralen Plattform zur Verwaltung und zum Austausch von Musik-Metadaten innerhalb Europas. Ziel war es, eine L\u00f6sung f\u00fcr die zunehmende Fragmentierung von Copyright-Daten, unterschiedliche nationale Lizenzsysteme und asymmetrische Machtstrukturen in der Musikindustrie zu entwickeln. Im Fokus standen insbesondere: Ausgangslage Die europ\u00e4ische Musikindustrie ist gepr\u00e4gt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-653","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1509,"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/653\/revisions\/1509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widg.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}