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How It Works

Widely used in digital commerce by music services and licensing companies, the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is the national and international identification system for sound recordings and music video recordings. Each ISRC is a unique and permanent identifier for a specific recording, independent of the format on which it appears (CD, download, stream) or the rights holders involved.

Code Structure

Hover over the ISRC for a breakdown of the code

ISRC XX-XXX-XX-XXXXX-

COUNTRY CODE: The two characters allocated to you by the US ISRC Agency (US, QM or QZ). If you are unsure about which country code you were assigned, please check your account page before issuing ISRCs.

REGISTRANT CODE: Portion allocated to the Registrant by a National Agency (3 alphanumeric characters).

YEAR OF REFERENCE: The 2-digit year in which the ISRC was assigned to the recording.

DESIGNATION CODE: The code assigned to the sound recording by the registrant. This code may not be repeated within the same calendar year (5 digits). Example: ISRC US-_ _ -21-00001 (QM- _ -21-00001) (QZ- _ _-21-00001)

The four distinct ISRC segments are as follows:

  • The first two-character segment is determined by the registration authority to which you apply. This will remain constant regardless of the territory in which your recordings are distributed. In the United States until late 2015 this was “US” or “QM” but after this date, it became “QZ” for new registrant code allocations. You will have been informed about the country code you should use when you were allocated a registrant code. If you are unsure about which country code you were assigned, please check your account page or contact the US ISRC Agency (isrc@riaa.com) before issuing ISRCs. You must be careful to use the correct one. The country code does not change when recordings are sold or licensed to other countries.

  • US-_ _ _ – These three characters are uniquely allocated to you by the National ISRC Agency.

    These first two segments combine to function as a unique prefix: US-_ _ _, which will allow you to assign ISRCs to recordings.

    Please note that the sequence of characters allocated is not significant except that it is different from codes allocated to other registrants. The allocated codes will be assigned in sequence and cannot be altered after allocation.

    The next two segments are used by you to create ISRCs for each individual recording, e.g. a track on a CD.

  • US -_ _ _-21 – These two characters represent the year in which you create the ISRC, regardless of when the recording was made or when the Registrant Code was allocated. For 2021, your ISRCs will use ’21’ and for 2022, ’22’ …and so on.

  • US-_ _ _ -21-00001 – The final five character part is used to create a unique code for each recording or track. You should take care to ensure that duplicates are not issued and that you do not issue more than one ISRC to the same track. Only numeric digits are acceptable in this segment.

    We recommend beginning with 00001 and moving up sequentially from there: US-_ _ *-21-00001, US-* _ *-21-00002 ….US-* _ _-21-00139. In 2022 the Year of Reference will change to ’22’ and you can begin with a new sequence of designation codes.
    Example

    If you were assigned US as your country code a sample set of ISRCs might look like:

    Album 1:
    track 1: US -_ _ _ -21-00001
    track 2: US -_ _ _ -21-00002
    track 3: US -_ _ _ -21-00003
    track 4: US -_ _ _ -21-00004
    track 5: US -_ _ _ -21-00005

    Album 2:
    track 1: US -_ _ _ -21-00006
    track 2: US -_ _ _ -21-00007
    track 3: US -_ _ _ -21-00008
    track 4: US -_ _ _ -21-00009
    track 5: US -_ _ _ -21-00010

    and so on…

    If you were assigned QM as your country code a sample set of ISRCs might look like:

    Album 1:

    track 1: QM-_ _ _-21-00001

    track 2: QM-_ _ _-21-00002

    track 3: QM-_ _ _-21-00003

    track 4: QM-_ _ _-21-00004

    track 5: QM-_ _ _-21-00005

    and so on…

    If you were assigned QZ as your country code a sample set of ISRCs might look like:

    Album 1:

    track 1: QZ-_ _ _-21-00001

    track 2: QZ-_ _ _-21-00002

    track 3: QZ-_ _ _-21-00003

    track 4: QZ-_ _ _-21-00004

    track 5: QZ-_ _ _-21-00005

What if I Don’t Want to Manage My Own Codes?

You can go through an approved ISRC Manager. A handful of companies are approved to assign ISRCs on behalf of the owner of a recording. These companies have guaranteed that they will abide by the Procedures for Assignment of ISRCs by ISRC Managers.

View the list of approved ISRC Managers

Assignment Guidelines

  1. If you have applied as a rights owner, you should only use your Registrant Code to assign ISRCs for recordings that you own. If you are working on behalf of someone else, you cannot use this Registrant Code, and you should ask the owner of the recordings to apply for a Registrant Code themselves so that they can assign ISRCs. Read More
  2. An ISRC should remain with its recording for the life of the recording regardless of changes in ownership, licensing, territory or method of distribution. The rights may vary territory by territory but the ISRC remains the same.
  3. You should take particular care to ensure that you (i) never assign the same ISRC to two different recordings and (ii) never assign an ISRC to a recording that already has an ISRC issued.
  4. You should keep good records of the ISRCs that you assign using this/these code(s). As a minimum you should store the information necessary to distinguish one ISRC from another but you will probably find that you need much more than this for your own purposes.
  5. Although you do not need to inform us of the ISRCs that you assign, we recommend that you register the recordings and their ISRCs with the local performance rights organization that deals with sound and/or video recordings (as distinct from the organization that deals with songwriters rights – who you may also want to contact if you are the songwriter). In the US, this organization is SoundExchange. This should help you if you are eligible for royalties from public performances, for example on satellite radio and internet streaming.
  6. You should review the ISRC Handbook and other information on the ISRC web site at isrc.ifpi.org/en/, and you should be very careful to comply with all the ISRC rules. New information is posted to that site from time to time and you should look for it.
  7. You should comply with the relevant copyright law. Normally this will require you to have permission for the owner for any recorded material included in your recording.

ISRC Managers

Below is a list of ISRC Managers appointed by the US ISRC Agency. Only these companies are approved to assign ISRCs on behalf of the owner of a recording. These companies have guaranteed that they will abide by the Procedures for Assignment of ISRCs by ISRC Managers.(Procedures for Assignment of ISRCs by ISRC Managers)

Other companies claiming to assign ISRCs on behalf of their clients are not authorized to do so and the ISRC’s they generate are invalid and risk collisions with codes issued by authorized registrants and ISRC Managers.

If you wish to become an ISRC Manager, please send us an email at isrc@riaa.com

Video Recording

A music video recording is always different from a sound recording even if the same sound recording occurs in the music video recording. This means that a separate ISRC must be assigned to the music video recording.

The same Registrant Code can be used to assign ISRCs for sound recordings and music video recordings.

For more information on assigning ISRCs to music video recordings, please consult the most recent ISRC Handbook.

About the Agency

The Recording Industry Association of America has been appointed by the International ISRC Agency to oversee the ISRC system within the United States and its territories. As the U.S. Agency, we promote and monitor the ISRC system within the United States and its territories.

We regularly perform the following duties:

  • ISRC Registrant Code Allocation: We allocate Registrant Codes for use by recording rights owners and third party administrators to create ISRCs.
  • Provide Local Support: We provide Registrants with guidelines on the practical implementation of the system and resolve operational problems for all users in liaison with the International ISRC Agency.
  • Encourage Proper Use of the ISRC System: Our goal is to ensure that ISRCs are assigned to all tracks of digital recordings and that the system effectively serves the needs of recording rights owners, collecting societies, broadcasters and others.
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Common Guidance and Support Topics

Got a question about ISRCs? Check out our Guidance and Support section.

What does my ISRC mean?

A completed ISRC is considered a ‘dumb’ number. It identifies the sound or music video recording to which it is assigned but the individual elements do not signify anything themselves o...

Read More

Do I need a new Registrant Code for each of my projects?

No. Your Registrant Code can be used to assign ISRCs for all recordings that you create.

Read More

Where do I submit my ISRCs once they have been assigned?

In the US, there is no single database or agency to which you must submit your codes. We will not require a report of the ISRCs you assign.

Read More
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Selecting ‘No’ will redirect you to IFPI.org, and the international ISRC Database

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This determines if you need a rights holder account or a manager account. Don’t know if you own your rights? Visit the Guidance and Support page for more information

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