International Standard Recording Code
Also known as ISRC
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Short answer
An International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is a 12-character identifier, defined by ISO 3901, assigned to a single sound recording or music video recording. It identifies the recording rather than the song: a remix, a live take or a re-recording gets its own ISRC, while the same recording keeps its code wherever and however often it is released.
Structure
An ISRC has four parts, usually written without separators in metadata and with hyphens when shown to people:
| Part | Length | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Country or agency prefix | 2 characters | Allocated to the national agency that issued the registrant code |
| Registrant code | 3 characters | Identifies the issuer — a label, a distributor or an artist |
| Year of reference | 2 digits | The year the code was assigned, not necessarily the year of recording |
| Designation code | 5 digits | A sequence number unique within that registrant and year |
The prefix records where the registrant code was issued; it does not say where the recording was made or who owns it.[1]
Who assigns an ISRC
The International ISRC Registration Authority is IFPI, which appoints national agencies; in the United States that agency is operated by the RIAA.[1][2] An agency issues a registrant code to a label, a distributor or an independent artist, who then assigns the individual codes themselves. Most independent artists receive ISRCs from their distributor at upload, which means the distributor's registrant code is embedded in the recording's identifier for good.
An ISRC should be assigned once, before the first release, and travel with the recording to every store and every royalty statement afterwards.
When a recording needs a new ISRC
The rule of thumb is that a new ISRC is needed whenever the audio changes. A remix, a radio edit, a live recording, an acoustic version, a re-recording and a remaster that alters the sound are all new recordings. The same recording placed on a single, an album and a compilation keeps one ISRC across all three.[1]
The release that contains the recordings carries a different identifier — a UPC or EAN barcode — so one album has one barcode and as many ISRCs as it has tracks.
Why it matters for royalties
Streaming services, distributors and collecting bodies such as SoundExchange report usage by ISRC. A recording issued under two different codes splits its play counts and its earnings between two records that nothing links; a recording with no code cannot be matched to a statement at all. Matching every statement line back to a recording by ISRC is the basic operation of royalty accounting, which is why duplicate or missing codes are the most common cause of unattributed income.
Questions
Is an ISRC the same for a song and a recording?
No. An ISRC identifies one recording. The underlying song — the composition — is identified by an ISWC, and one song can have many recordings, each with its own ISRC.
Does a remaster need a new ISRC?
If the remaster changes the audio, yes; it is treated as a new recording. A recording that is re-released unchanged keeps its original ISRC.
Can I get ISRCs without a distributor?
Yes. An artist can apply to their national ISRC agency for a registrant code and assign codes themselves; in the United States that is the US ISRC Agency run by the RIAA.
What does the year in an ISRC mean?
It is the year the code was assigned, not the year the recording was made or released.
References
- IFPI, International ISRC Registration Authority. “International Standard Recording Code (ISRC).”
- Recording Industry Association of America. “US ISRC Agency.”