There is a difference between licensing the rights to use the data with the data owner (the exchange) and buying a service to gain access to the data (your vendor, i.e., Xignite). You pay the exchange for the license to the data and your vendor (i.e., Xignite) to access that same data. You could take a feed directly from the exchange, but not only would you have to pay the exchange for the delivery of this data (port fee, connection fee, etc.), but you would need to spend a lot of time integrating that feed with your systems.

Xignite offers a Vendor of Record service for clients subscribing to real-time and delayed market data. The service vastly simplifies the administrative and reporting burden required by the exchanges and eliminates the need to pay redistribution fees, potentially saving clients thousands of dollars a month.

Learn More Guide to Understanding Exchange Agreements.