Beyond Distribution: Why Controlling Your Music Data Is the New Independence

Photo: Joshua Sortino

As someone who has spent years navigating the complexities of digital music, I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is for rightsholders to take control of their content and data. The ability to manage your assets independently isn’t just a matter of convenience – it’s a strategic advantage that unlocks new opportunities, reduces operational headaches and gives you the flexibility to work with the best partners for your needs. In an increasingly complex digital landscape, direct control over your intellectual property, data and assets is the key to maximizing your income, minimizing costs and simplifying your business.

In this partner op-ed Digital Music News, Edward Ginis, CEO and co-founder of OpenPlay, explores why music rightsholders must take direct control of their content, data and assets to maximize revenue, reduce costs and stay agile in a changing digital landscape.

Too often, I’ve seen rightsholders struggle because their content is tied up in systems they don’t control, making it difficult to switch vendors, optimize distribution or even access their own metadata. As consolidation in music distribution continues, there are fewer and fewer truly independent options to manage deliveries. Now more than ever, maintaining independence is critical.

If we want to future-proof our businesses, we need to prioritize control. 

Here’s how you can do it:

Own your Content Management System

One of the most common mistakes rightsholders make is relying on distributors to manage their content within their own proprietary systems. While these platforms may be convenient, they ultimately limit flexibility. If you ever need to change partners, retrieve your data or adapt to new industry standards, you could find yourself stuck.

Instead, invest in a content management system (CMS) that you own and control – one that allows you to manage your metadata and assets independently. By having a CMS separate from service providers – one that can generate market-ready digital data exchange (DDEX) files for digital service providers (DSPs) – you give yourself maximum flexibility to use whatever delivery mechanism best suits your needs. 

With an independent CMS, such as OpenPlay, you’re not locked into a single vendor and you can deliver your music wherever you choose, ensuring seamless collaboration with any distributor, DSP or marketing partner. This was one of the drivers behind our recently announced OpenPlay Reach, a new service that allows labels and publishers of all sizes to select the distribution option that best fits their objectives. 

Establish a single source of truth

Metadata inconsistencies can be a nightmare, leading to missed royalties, incorrect credits, and operational inefficiencies. The best way to avoid this is by maintaining a centralized, authoritative repository – a “single source of truth” for all your assets and data.

This ensures that your entire team is working with accurate, up-to-date information, reducing errors and making collaboration more efficient. Everyone knows where to find approved masters, metadata and assets, eliminating confusion and improving workflow. By keeping data and assets in sync, updates happen in one place and are reflected everywhere they need to be. Storing only the highest resolution, approved assets – while allowing ancillary systems to generate necessary variations – ensures the best quality control. Additionally, logging every update or change simplifies troubleshooting, making it easier to maintain accuracy across your entire catalog.

When your data is consistent across all platforms and partners, you gain confidence in your reporting, royalties and overall business decisions.

Deliver your content on your terms

The way you distribute your content should be intentional. Rather than sending everything to everyone, focus on delivering only what’s needed, when it’s needed and in the correct format. This allows you to work with different distributors for different markets, negotiate better deals and explore new revenue opportunities without any unnecessary restrictions.

Maintaining control over your delivery process ensures that you can switch vendors seamlessly, scale efficiently and stay in command of your own content strategy. It also means you avoid being forced into vendor-specific formatting that can create long-term dependencies. By ensuring your content is always accessible in industry-standard formats, you can quickly adapt to new opportunities and partnerships without additional hurdles.

Build a future-proof infrastructure

As your business grows, so does the complexity of your operations. Royalties, licensing, analytics and finance systems all rely on a core set of metadata, and if that data isn’t properly managed, inefficiencies start to creep in.

By integrating systems through automation and APIs, you can ensure data consistency, minimize manual work and reduce errors. A well-organized infrastructure allows you to scale your business without being bogged down by data management challenges. When your systems work together seamlessly, you’re free to focus on what really matters – building and monetizing your catalog.

Stay agile in a changing industry

The music industry is evolving faster than ever. New platforms, revenue streams and business models are emerging all the time. To stay competitive, rightsholders need the ability to pivot quickly, experiment with different partnerships and optimize their distribution strategies without unnecessary barriers.

When you control your content and data, you gain the agility needed to respond to industry shifts with confidence. Whether it’s exploring new licensing opportunities, entering new markets or leveraging emerging technologies, maintaining independence gives you the flexibility to adapt and thrive.

Owning and controlling your content gives you ultimate independence and allows you to position yourself for long-term success in a changing digital landscape. By taking control of your CMS, centralizing your data, refining your distribution strategy and future-proofing your infrastructure, you create a business that’s not only more efficient but also more resilient.

I’ve spent my career helping rightsholders navigate these challenges, and one thing remains clear: control is power. When you own your data and content, you open the door to new opportunities, better partnerships and a more sustainable future in music.

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