n8

notes

rough notes from standard music lexicon meeting

April 09, 2026

common lexicon

  • what should we get from a common lexicon

  • reuse metadata

  • distributor messes up something → one place to fix

metadata shape

  • western pop music, not classical metadata

  • classical music has more metadata

  • ID3 tags → extra fields

scope

  • indexing all audio is very different from enforcing royalties downstream

catalogue server / infrastructure

  • tom: centralized (stripe) for simplicity

  • catalogue server hosts keys, publishes public keys

  • permissioned data should solve this ^

  • bandcamp royalties → self-report to PRO?

expressiveness vs portability

  • expressiveness vs portability

  • what is the minimal set of common fields??

  • alex: perf is important!! (streaming latency, not performance royalties)

  • "catalogue.xyz" could be the owner of a permissioned space that is a purpose-built PDS to stream audio at high perf

  • catalogue → where you upload, licensing, encrypt etc

DRM analogue

  • apple fairplay → content decryption module

  • API → decrypted data

interlude

  • all trying to do the same thing → our lifetime

listener / spotify

  • alex: listener is the artist too (curation angle — playlist curators as artists; unclear if extends to remixing)

  • spotify → licensing → legal

moderation

  • moderation → hosting vs indexing → takedowns etc

  • ToS: use in models, generative use, royalties

  • fingerprinting → content ID

royalties / publishing

  • performing royalty collection → complicates things

  • ASCAP?

  • ISRC codes → ??

  • 3rd party publisher, BMI? as independent artist, writing and recording

  • publishing might be separate in some cases

alex: 2 modes

  • songwriter → managed by agency who manages relations

  • band → defer to platforms distributions (symphonic → labelworks)

  • manage legal stuff in the same place, independent of platform

raw notes
what should we get from a common lexicon

raw notes

what should we get from a common lexicon


reuse metadata

distributor messes up something -> one place to fix

western pop music not classical metadata

classical music has more metadata

ID3 tags -> extra fields

indexing all audio is very different from enforcing royalties downstream

tom: centralized (stripe) for simplicity

catalogue server hosts keys, publishes public keys

permissioned data should solve this ^

bandcamp royalties -> self report to PRO ?

expressiveness vs portability

what is the minimal set of common fields??

alex: perf is important!!

catalogue.xyz could be the owner of a permissioned space that is a purpose built PDS to stream audio at high perf

catalogue -> where you upload, licensing, encrypt etc

apple fairplay -> content decryption module

API -> decrypted data

all trying to do the same thing -> our lifetime

alex: listener is the artist too

spotify -> licensing -> legal

moderation -> hosting vs indexing -> takedowns etc

ToS: use in models, generative use, royalties

fingerprinting -> content ID

performing royalty collection -> complicates things

ascap?

ISRC codes -> ??

3rd party publisher, BMI? as independent artist, writing and recording

publishing might be separate in some cases

alex: 2 modes

songwriter -> managed by agency who manages relations

band -> defer to platforms distributions (symphonic -> labelworks)

soundsgoodman: manage legal stuff in the same place, independent of platform

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