news category Technical created 14 May 2014
The Music Producers Guild has created a dedicated online resource to help generate awareness about the Broadcast WAV file format. Information about ISRC and Broadcast WAV is now centrally located and accessible here.
The MPG has been heavily involved in promoting Broadcast WAV as the best means of embedding ISRC data into future recordings. Music industry organisations such as AIM and BPI are now working with MPG to encourage the music industry to adopt Broadcast WAV as the de facto file standard.
Alchemy Mastering’s Barry Grint, who heads up the MPG’s Mastering Group which has been pushing the Broadcast WAV initiative, says:
“We now have a dedicated online resource, as part of the MPG’s new website, which provides all sorts of information about ISRC and Broadcast WAV, including a listing of all the software that complies with this initiative. Having everything available in one place is really great because it makes it much easier for mastering engineers, record companies and other recording professionals to research the issue and find out all they need to know to incorporate Broadcast Wav into their own operations.”
The MPG’s campaign aims to get Broadcast WAV accepted by the music industry in place of ordinary WAV files, which don’t contain a method for embedding ISRC information. ISRC, which stands for International Standard Recording Code, is uniquely allocated to every song recorded. These codes are then registered with royalty payment agencies, thus ensuring that recording artists and copyright holders are properly remunerated for their work when it is played on radio or TV.
Broadcast WAV, the professional WAV format created by the European Broadcasting Union, can carry ISRC information and this is why MPG is so keen to see is adopted by as standard for music interchange in the production process. By establishing ISRC as the cornerstone of every aspect of digital asset management, from tracking and reporting through to royalty reporting and song identification, the entire music industry will benefit from a robust and secure system that will safeguard the incomes of all artists and copyright owners.
Digital audio workstation manufacturers Magix/Sequioa, Merging/Pyramix and Prism Sound/SADiE have all announced their support for the initiative by backing file exchange between their systems.
“Our overall goal is to ensure that all music creators receive proper credit and proper payment for their work, and having an industry-standard technical solution that allows credit information to be included in the metadata is a major step forward in achieving this ambition,” Barry Grint says.
