Guidance & Support

A completed ISRC is considered a ‘dumb’ number as it simply identifies the sound or music video recording to which it is assigned. Once assigned, no meaning can be inferred from the individual elements that make up the code. Please note the following points:

• The ISRC is separated into three distinct elements in order to ensure that the ISRCs you assign will be unique.
• Since recording rights can change ownership over time, it is particularly dangerous to assume ownership based on the prefix portion of the code.
• The Year of Reference represents the year in which the ISRC was assigned. The date of copyright cannot be inferred from this portion of an ISRC.
• The issuance of an ISRC does not imply the registration of a copyright.

To assign ISRCs to your recordings, you need a Rights Owner Prefix, the portion of an ISRC that will be unique to you as the recording owner. This prefix allows the rights holder to assign up to 100,000 ISRCs per year to recordings that they own, and this prefix is yours for life. More information on assigning ISRCs with the prefix that you have been allocated can be found below.

No. Your Rights Owner Prefix can be used to assign ISRCs for all recordings under the terms to which you agreed when you registered.

The most important destination for your ISRCs is your business partners. The ISRCs should accompany the recordings you send to music services and others who need them and their documentation. This would include distributors, licensees (for compilations and movie/tv synchronization for instance), music licensing companies doing collective management and organizations representing songwriters and publishers.

Once ISRCs have been created for your recordings, you are responsible for maintaining a record or list of them and the metadata (track information) associated with each ISRC. To assist with this, the US ISRC Agency has provided a “locker service” on your account page for you to save your ISRCs and the related recording metadata. Please note that our “locker service” is not an official registry and it should be viewed simply as a safe place to keep record of your codes. There is no requirement to use this “locker service” or inform us that you have assigned or used an ISRC. We do, however, strongly encourage you to utilize this locker to assist your own administrative processes.

In the US, we recommend registering your recordings and ISRCs with SoundExchange. They distribute royalties due to you from internet streaming and satellite radio. They use the ISRCs you assign to assist in assessing usage and making royalty payments. Registering with SoundExchange also has the effect of making your recordings appear with their ISRC in their look-up service.

The US ISRC Agency does not. We just ensure that ISRCs are assigned as effectively as we can. Others within the supply chain may use these ISRCs to track sales and usage but we recommend registering your recordings and ISRCs with SoundExchange.

Please contact us: isrc@riaa.com.

Far more important than encoding ISRCs is to ensure that they are included in the metadata when a recording is sent to a business partner.

See below for guidance on encoding your ISRC:

Compact Disc

In the case of Compact Discs the ISRCs and other PQ-data are encoded in the disc subcode (Q channel) in the disc mastering process. For this reason, ISRCs must be encoded for each track in the Pre-Master for CD. The ISRCs together with the Digital Copy Prohibited flag (if appropriate), and the relevant point of sale code (e.g. EAN/UPC) should be inserted on the Pre-Master during the pre-mastering process from the original Master.

Electronically Distributed Music

Most formats for electronically distributed music allow the inclusion of an ISRC, which can be inserted by authoring software. Where electronically distributed formats include several tracks, the ISRC of each track should be associated with it in the metadata of the file.

MP3s

The MP3 format does allow rights management information like ISRC to be included however it is rarely used. What is used is the ID3 system of tags, which is not part of the international standard, but does enable ISRC to be encoded. It is therefore recommended that an ISRC be encoded into the ID3 tag.

For more information see ISRC Handbook Section 4.9.

Rights Owner Prefix There is a one-time $95 administrative fee for the allocation of a Rights Owner Prefix. Any major credit card is accepted for this payment. Once you have this prefix there are no additional costs involved with assigning individual numbers, since this is something you administer. One prefix will allow you to assign up to 100,000 ISRCs per year and the prefix is yours for life.

*adding manager and recurring fee

ISRC is an International Standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO allows the recovery of costs incurred in administering ISRC and the fees charged support the operation of the ISRC system in the US. This includes not only the cost of operating this website but also training activities, working with other standards bodies to have ISRC accepted, development of new standards and the resolution of the occasional problems that arise.

The US ISRC Agency keeps the fees under review and believes they are much lower than comparable systems in similar sectors, and form a very small part of the cost of getting a recording to listeners.

A comprehensive list of approved ISRC Managers is available here. Approved ISRC Managers can provide individual ISRCs for artists or labels who do not wish to manage their own ISRC assignment. ISRCs are issued as a part of the recording owners’ business arrangement with an ISRC Manager and are provided on a song-by-song basis.

If you have any questions about the legitimacy of an entity that is offering to provide ISRCs, you may contact us at isrc@riaa.com to determine whether they have been approved.

We charge a fee for the service of or allocating a prefix. Once done, this cannot be reversed and offering refunds for work already done places a burden on other system users. Please be sure you understand the ISRC system and that you intend to assign ISRCs before applying.

No. Once an ISRC has been assigned to a track the ISRC should remain the same for the lifespan of the track. This is the case even if the ownership of the track changes. This is also the case if you now have your own Rights Holder prefix but have in the past obtained ISRCs through third parties, you do not need to re-issue ISRCs for these recordings.

For more information see ISRC Handbook Section 4.6.

If you are registered as a Rights Owner, ISRCs should only be assigned to recordings that you own. There are separate schemes available for assigning ISRCs for others. The information be found here. If you feel that you have applied for the wrong type of Registrant Code, please contact us: isrc@riaa.com.

The owners should designate one of the copyright owners to assign ISRCs for recordings whose rights are shared. Because ISRC identifies the recording rather than its ownership, either can do this.

Yes. A recording which has not been assigned an ISRC should be provided with one before it is re-released. If the recording has changed ownership, and did not have an ISRC originally and is being released unchanged by the current rights holder, the Registrant Code should be that of the current rights holder. The Year of Reference should be the year of assignment of the ISRC (not the year the recording was made).

We have a scheme that allows you to assign ISRCs to recordings that you have licensed, provided that a) ISRCs have not already been assigned; and b) the licensor, which is the entity responsible for assigning the codes, is either unable or unwilling to do so. In practice this is seldom the case these days. But if you believe this applies, please contact: isrc@riaa.com.

Yes. A sound recording and a music video recording are different recordings, even if the audio component in the video is the same as the sound recording. Because they are different recordings, the music video and sound recording must be assigned different unique ISRCs.

More detailed information can be found in the ISRC Handbook in Section 3.1.

These are some of the modifications to a recording that would require the assignment of a new ISRC:

• Restoration of historical recordings, where creative changes are involved
• Changes in playing time which exceed 10 seconds
• Remixes/edits

More detailed information can be found in the ISRC Handbook in Annex A.6 onwards.

A Registrant is the holder of a Rights Owner Prefix. This should normally be in the name of the recording owner and can be a label, band, individual artist or company.

Once you create your account, you will be emailed a link  which will allow you to purchase a Rights Holder prefix. Once you submit your payment our system will randomly assign you a prefix.  Steps for assigning your individual ISRCs using the prefix assigned to you can be found here.

Yes. The ISRC System is constructed so that any entity creating sound or music video recordings can assign ISRCs to their recordings regardless of their membership of, or standing with, industry associations and other bodies.

If you are interested in RIAA membership, more information can be found here.

An ISRC Manager is an organization or studio that has an agreement with us which allows them to assign ISRCs to recordings that they do not own on behalf of their clients.

The responsibilities of an ISRC Manager are different that those of a Rights Owner. ISRC Managers are responsible for administering ISRC assignment for a variety of recording owners. These responsibilities are outlined in the ISRC Manager Terms & Conditions. It is therefore vital that ISRCs are assigned correctly and that the rights of the recording owner are respected. ISRC Managers must consent to abide by a set of terms, and we maintain close contact with them to ensure that procedures are followed correctly.

Please review our About page for types of ISRC Managers and the application procedure.

Yes. The ISRC Manager and recording rights owner must enter into a formal agreement. This agreement is detailed in section 3 of the procedures document.

Yes. You must commit to inform them of the ISRCs that have been assigned to the recordings and they must commit to use the ISRCs assigned by you in future exploitation of the recordings. This agreement is detailed in Section 3 of the procedures document.

The ISRC Manager must commit to keep good records and to make relevant records available to the recording owner on demand. If an agreement to act as the ISRC Manager for a recording owner is terminated or expires, then all records must be transferred to that recording owner. Please see Section 3 of the procedures document.

The ISRCs assigned by you should continue to be used for the related recordings. The code identifies the recording not its owner or distributor so there is no need (and indeed it is actually harmful) to assign further codes. The new manager should only assign new ISRCs to recordings that have not previously been assigned an ISRC.

Recordings that are identical shall be identified by the same ISRC. Recordings that are completely different shall be identified by different ISRCs. Between these two extremes are many subtle cases that require careful handling and evaluation of whether there has been “material change”. Consistency between Registrants in treatment of these cases contributes to the overall integrity of the ISRC system.

A key principle to be applied in determining whether there has been material change is whether one recording differs from another because of different creative input. If creative input is responsible for the difference then a new ISRC is required. In some circumstances there can be fine degrees by which recordings differ: within limits, subjectivity and judgement can come into play. For examples of when a new ISRC shall or shall not be required, consult the ISRC Handbook.

It is recognized that occasionally errors will occur, and it is the responsibility of all affected parties to work to correct or at least mitigate the error. For more guidance on how to recover from specific errors, please refer to the ISRC Handbook.

Specific situations give rise to specific compliance rules. For rules regarding a particular type of recording, please refer to the ISRC Handbook.

The ISRC is made up of three elements: Prefix Code, Year of Reference and Designation Code. For more details see the syntax description in the ISRC Handbook.

The five characters you have been allocated are your unique Prefix Code. To generate individual ISRCs per recording, you will need to add a two digit Year of Reference element to the Prefix, followed by a unique five digit Designation Code.
– The Year of Reference is the last two digits of the year in which the ISRC is assigned.
– The Designation Code is a set of five digits generated by you, usually in sequence beginning from number 00001 and unique to you within each Year of Reference. See full syntax description in the ISRC Handbook at Section 3.3.1.

No. Once an ISRC has been assigned to a track the ISRC should remain the same for the lifespan of the track. This is the case even if the ownership of the track changes.
For more information see ISRC Handbook Section 4.6.

Yes, generally this is appropriate as the remaster is fundamentally the same recording as the original. Only in the event that the remastering process involves significant new creative input to the resulting remastered recording can it be appropriate to assign a new ISRC to the remaster.

No. Once assigned, an ISRC must not be re-used under any circumstances. More detailed information is available in the ISRC Handbook at Section 4.1.3.

It is possible to embed ISRC into a video file format which supports ID3 tags, such as MP4. Tag editing tools exist which can be used to insert ISRC into the ID3 tag field of a recording or batch of recordings (eg: Kid3 – Audio Tagger (kde.org)

The method of providing ISRCs to YouTube together with video content depends on how you access YouTube.

The MP4 video format allows ISRC to be embedded in the video file. This facilitates dissemination of ISRC together with the video, including when uploaded to YouTube. This method may be appropriate for individuals uploading to YouTube via YouTube Studio, where there is currently no method of supplying ISRC in the metadata panes provided with YouTube Studio.

If you are a YouTube Music Partner you will have been provided with tools to provide ISRC and other data to YouTube.. More information is available from YouTube on their website

If you are uploading directly to YouTube with a DDEX feed, ISRC should be provided as part of the DDEX data.

If you are uploading to YouTube through a third party service provider (i.e. a music aggregator or distribution service) please check with your service provider as to the status of providing ISRCs of your recordings to YouTube. Most providers can deliver ISRCs assigned by right holders, and/or they can assign ISRC on behalf of right holders and supply them in their feeds to YouTube.

Yes, ISRCs can be applied to promotional material such as 30-second clips and hidden tracks particularly if at any time in the future the asset may be separately exploited – this does not necessarily imply monetary value. More detailed information is available in the ISRC Handbook at Sections 4.1.2 and 4.6.

Classical music often comprises parts such as movements or arias which are separately exploited. It is generally appropriate to identify with distinct ISRCs each part which can be separately exploited, A further distinct ISRC should be used to identify the overall recording. More detailed information is available in the ISRC Handbook at Annex A.14.

No. ISRC only applies to sound recordings. Compositions and music works are identified by ISWC (see What is the difference between ISRC and ISWC?).

The ISRC Search database, run by SoundExchange, references repertoire data submitted to SoundExchange and is updated on a daily basis. If the recording you are searching for does not appear, it may be because the SoundExchange database has not completed its daily update, or the repertoire has not been submitted to SoundExchange. If you believe this is in error, please contact SoundExchange directly.