Customer & Partner Solution Brief
/ / Music Company Accelerates Album Production with Latest Software Suite
“Employees no longer have to rely on paper systems or e-mail—they know that all data is accurate. This solution saves valuable time and gives users a strong basis for negotiating deals.”
James Bacchus, Chief Technology Officer, Ministry of Sound
World-famous nightclub Ministry of Sound (MoS) is also a record label that produces multi-artist, dance-music compilations. James Bacchus, Chief Technology Officer at MoS, oversees the IT systems that support the development of royalty agreements with artists and record companies.
“Detailed track-list information, including the contract rights of each track, drives the business,” he says. “The label information on our products must be correct for all parties to be recognised and paid.”
Bacchus’s existing process for managing information had employees searching and updating documents manually. This was far from ideal. He says: “Fast time to market is critical. To stay on the cutting-edge of the music industry, we need to launch compilations while the tracks are hot.”
MoS chose to become an early adopter of the 2007 Microsoft® Office system by taking part in its Rapid Deployment Programme. Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Information Management Group (IMGroup) helped to develop a database system that allows users to better manage track-list data. The Business Data Catalogue, a new feature of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, helps employees retrieve information from the company’s Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 database without requiring additional code development.
Track-list information is used by employees to build contracts and negotiate deals with other record companies. They browse to the compilation site in SharePoint Server 2007 and search by artist, title, or mix. From here they can view a contract’s status, or quickly create new contracts based on automated templates that target the right person at the right record company.
In the next phase of the project, record companies will be able to enter their own data into the MoS central database. Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 forms, submitted through Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007, will offer licence holders a consistent, direct way of updating information.
“Employees no longer have to rely on paper systems or e-mail—they know they always have the right version of a document and that all data is accurate,” says Bacchus. “This solution saves valuable time when compiling new albums and gives users a strong basis for negotiations.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published November 2006