The DRM Digital Radio Mondiale standard and its components such as audio codecs and standardized multimedia applications (“DRM technology”), are open technologies and fully publicly specified for non-discriminatory access by everybody. Therefore, no manufacturer is required to sign upfront license contracts to gain access to those technologies or to start implementing them.
Manufacturers of DRM equipment
For the DRM technology, there is no per-use fee, annual payments, or similar – neither for broadcasters/network operators, nor for broadcast or receiver equipment manufacturers.
Once manufacturers of DRM broadcast/receiver equipment or solutions are ready to release their products to the public and potentially turn a profit on them, there is a one-time per-device royalty to be paid for IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) based on equal and FRAND conditions, to incentivise the original technology developers from eventual profits generated through DRM based product sales. This royalty applies only once per final device/product, and not individually e.g. for receiver chips, modules, components, white-label devices, etc.
The DRM Consortium is not involved in managing or receiving any IPR royalty for DRM products. Rather, royalties need to be paid directly to the individual IPR holders, unless already taken care of by a product component supplier (e.g. for a DRM receiver module).
Audio Codec
The AAC Pool License (www.via-la.com/licensing-2/aac) is available from Via Licensing Alliance (www.via-la.com). It applies to both encoder and decoder implementations and covers the two audio codecs used in DRM: xHE-AAC (Extended High-Efficiency AAC) in addition to the legacy codec HE-AACv2.
Contact: info@via-la.com.
Journaline
Journaline (www.journaline.info) is the advanced text application of DRM and DAB+. It is a mandatory part of DRM’s Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF). The technology license is available from Fraunhofer IIS (iis.fraunhofer.de/drm).
Contact: journaline-support@iis.fraunhofer.de.
For information purposes only:
The total DRM technology royalty per device or product starts at around 1.10 USD for individual units, or at around 0.76 USD as a special price for emerging markets. Significant volume discounts apply based on annual sales numbers.
Emerging markets include most of the countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America etc. These country-specific discounts apply to the audio codec portion of the DRM technology. Details can be found on the AAC Licensee Fees page (www.via-la.com/licensing-2/aac/license-fees) of Via Licensing Alliance under “Alternative Rate Structure”.
(All data provided without warranty as of March 2025)
Use of DRM logo on products
The DRM Association, as owner of the DRM trademark, is responsible for setting the Terms and Conditions for use of the DRM logo and label on DRM products.
Manufacturers of DRM equipment may request a license to use the DRM logo and label on their products. The criteria for use can be requested from the DRM Project Office (projectoffice@drm.org) and may be summarised as follows:
- For consumer receivers, the manufacturer is required to self-certify the performance and functionality of the design against the standards laid down in the DRM Minimum Receiver Requirements specification (mrr.drm.org).
- For professional equipment, the manufacturer is required to self-certify his product for compliance with the appropriate DRM standard(s).
