ICE Services today launched Screen, a free tool that helps organisations preparing music usage reports check their files, identify structural issues and resolve them before submission.
Accurate, well-structured usage reports are the starting point for paying songwriters and publishers correctly. But identifying and resolving file structure issues can often involve repeated rounds of test files between reporting teams and processing partners, particularly when onboarding a new service or moving to a newer reporting version.
Screen gives DSPs and reporting partners a way to check their files as they prepare them. Users can upload a supported usage report and receive a pass/fail result, with errors and warnings identified by line. Results can also be downloaded as a CSV for further investigation.
Screen checks files against the DDEX Digital Sales Reporting (DSR) standard, supporting Basic Audio reports in the multi-record block variant, versions 1.3 and 1.4.
Screen is free and open to any DSP or reporting partner, including third parties preparing reports on a DSP’s behalf, whether or not they work with ICE Services. It checks file structure only, not the accuracy of usage or revenue figures, commercial content .
Users can test with placeholder figures and delete their files at any time, and their testing activity is only shared with rightsholders if they choose.
Mick Hayes, Chief Product and Technology Officer, ICE Services, said: “ICE Services exists to ensure songwriters get paid and that depends on usage data we can process accurately and at scale. We have processed trillions of streams to date, so we know how much time can be lost to avoidable structural issues in reports. Screen helps reporting partners get their files right before they enter the ecosystem. We’ve made the tool freely available because better file quality ultimately benefits the whole industry.”
Dave Butler, Senior Product Manager, Ingestion, ICE Services, said: “Every usage report we process has to be structurally right before anything else can happen. Screen helps redefine the onboarding process by giving engineers building reports access to the checks we run internally, so they can fix early and help make the reporting process more straightforward for everyone involved.”
Mark Isherwood of the DDEX Secretariat, said: “Standards only deliver their full benefit when they’re implemented consistently across the industry, and there is always a lag between a standard being published and it being properly deployed. DDEX therefore welcomes the development of any tools by implementers of its standards that can be of benefit to the whole community. Such initiatives help close the lag between standards publication and implementation. Clearly Screen is just such a tool which will enable companies to check the validity of their DSR usage reports against the DDEX standard before there is exchange of actual production data.”
Screen is available now at www.iceservices.com/screen/
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About ICE Services
ICE Services is a music technology company built by rightsholders, for rightsholders. It delivers accurate, transparent royalty payments to creators and simplifies licensing for DSPs. Working with Publishers and CMOs, ICE Services provides top-tier Licensing, Processing, and Copyright services.
Serving over 330,000 rightsholders, ICE Services has processed trillions of music streams and paid over €5 billion in royalties since 2016. The ICE Core licence includes repertoire from the major collection societies, such as PRS, STIM, and GEMA, and major independent publishers like Peer, Concord and Songtrust.
With a copyright database of over 55 million musical works, ICE Services’ operations touch over 250 territories, making it one of the most comprehensive and globally connected rights and royalties hubs in the music industry.
Press Enquiries:
- Alexandra Downs, Director of Communications & Brand, alexandra.downs@iceservices.com