After nine years operating in the field of data management, Verifi Media is pulling the plug on its business. The New York-based company made public its decision in a message to partners and clients.

“Today, we announce the closure of Verifi Media, marking the end of an extraordinary nine years of innovation in the music data business, along with the extraordinary partnership with the members of the Verifi Rights Data Alliance (“VRDA”),” reads the message seen by Creative Industries News.

The company was co-founded in 2016 by Ken Umezaki, who served as Chief Executive Officer. Over the years, Verifi Media developed a set of tools using cloud computing and artificial intelligence, to improve the way media ownership and metadata was enhanced, corrected, shared and tracked across the supply chain.

Be part of a modern-day community

In 2022, the company launched the Verifi Rights Data Alliance (VRDA), with the recording and music publishing divisions of Warner Music Group (WMG), Spanish rights management society Unison, digital service provider Deezer, and Downtown Holdings-owned digital music distributor FUGA, as inaugural members. Downtown’s Songtrust and Dutch music rights society BUMA/STEMRA also joined the initiative in 2024.

The rationale behind the the project was to improve the quality of data throughout the whole value chain via collaborations, transparency, data management tools and best practices. Organisations joining the project would use Verifi Media’s data registry service.

“You have to come on board and be part of a modern-day community and reap the benefits of our communal truth around rights data. Our data stack is set up to allow more clients to ‘join the party’ relatively easily. It is ultimately a private service alliance rather than a membership organisation,” explained Umazaki in a 2022 interview with Creative Industries News.

The value of data collaboration

Umezaki said that what he eventually wanted to achieve was an all-round improvement of datasets: “In finance the data culture needs to be relatively high, and if you use that as a comparative, my personal perspective is that data culture in the music industry is at a two, whereas finance is at an eight out of 10,” he explained. “That signals to us that we’ve got a big opportunity to ‘move the needle’ around how rights data is used by all involved in recorded music, from creator to consumer.”

In the message to partners, Verifi Media said the company was founded “on the belief that collaboration across the value chain of the recorded music business and furthering the goal of data transparency could revolutionise how music rights are managed and monetised. Together, we have demonstrated that this belief wasn’t just a vision — it is achievable.”

Verifi Media added: “Our partners have seen first-hand results that show data collaboration yields incredible value for creators, rights holders, and the industry at large.”

Carrying the torch of data fluency

The message continued: “Though Verifi’s journey comes to an end, our collective mission does not. The lessons we’ve learned and the values we championed will live on through the work of our clients, collaborators, partners and advocates. It is our hope that others will continue to push this mission forward, building on the foundation we have laid and carrying the torch of data fluency within the music business even further.”

It concluded: “Thank you to everyone who believed in Verifi Media and our mission. It has been an honor to be on this journey alongside you. To our staff over the years, our clients, our board members and our investors — we cannot thank you enough for your unwavering support and diligence in creating a new paradigm for the music business. We hope our paths will cross again, and the VRDA will live on in the hearts and minds of those who have seen the powerful result of cross-party data collaboration.”