Berliner Philharmoniker

The Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the best-known symphony orchestras in the German musical landscape with a great international reputation. With its long history beginning in 1882, the Berliner Philharmoniker can look back on a number of the most respected chief conductors.

For a future-proof management of their media files of several departments, the goal was to set up a digital asset management system that can cover the different requirements, which is why the Berliner Philharmoniker decided to use NetX.

One software solution for many departments

The aim of the project was to replace the existing Cumulus software with a modern user interface right from the start and to make it usable for more departments in the course of the data migration. All functions for working together with assets are relevant for the departments public relations, editorial, communications, education, archive and marketing.

The basic requirements for daily work with media are:

• Common keywording for better findability of assets
• Uniform methodology for ingesting the minimum metadata to have good documentation
• Rights management and collecting image licenses including expiry dates
• Different departmental user groups for collaboration and sharing

The content to be managed is DAM-typical images and also media such as illustrations, graphics, video and sound recordings as well as text documents. A quick preview or playback function is always important for all formats, and finding documents with a full-text search also helps in everyday life.

Metadata presets and usage of existing

For the indexing of assets, the setup of a usable and easy metadata schema was the central part of the conception. The goal from the start was to be able to use existing lists of values as far as possible.

For this purpose, data from the already existing evis database system was made usable in order to be able to use existing systematics directly in the digital asset management system. The maintenance of assets can thus be structured in a more easy way and be more uniform in the long term.

Automations in the area of file naming, captions and color coding for the possible uses of assets complement the functions and thus facilitate the safe use of assets directly from the DAM.

Individual Portals for external user groups

In addition to the internal user groups, the possibility of making assets accessible to external partners was another important aspect of the project. Therefore, in a further phase, individually designed portals for brand communication, press representatives and tours were set up, via which released assets can be made easily accessible to specific target groups.