FAQ's

General ISRC FAQs

What does the ISRC mean?
Do I need a new Registrant Code for each of my projects?
Where do I submit my ISRCs once they have been assigned?
Do you track my sales?
I have applied for the wrong type of Registrant Code, or I now wish to be able to assign ISRCs on behalf of others. What do I do?
How can ISRC be encoded or read?

General ISRC FAQs

Q. What does the ISRC mean?
A completed ISRC is considered a 'dumb' number as it represents only the sound or music video recording to which it is assigned. Please note the following points:

• The ISRC is separated into four 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 Registrant portion of the code.
• The Year of Reference now represents the year in which the ISRC was assigned. The date of copyright should not be inferred from this portion of an ISRC.
• The issuance of an ISRC does not imply the registration of a copyright.

Q. 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 under the terms to which you agreed when you registered.

Q. 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.

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.

You submit your ISRCs to your business partners as required by your relationship with them, e.g. collecting societies, download sites and aggregators.

In the US, we recommend contacting Sound Exchange (www.soundexchange.com) for more information on the recording copyright for digitally distributed music. They can use the ISRCs you assign to assist in calculating royalty payments.

Q. Do you track my sales?
RIAA is the registration authority for ISRC, and we do not track sales. More information on our responsibilities is available here.

Soundscan (www.soundscan.com) tracks sales in the US. They may use your ISRC information to track download sales.

Q. I have applied for the wrong type of Registrant Code, or I now wish to be able to assign ISRCs on behalf of others. What do I do?
If you feel that you are not appropriately registered, please contact us: isrc@riaa.com.

Q. How can ISRC be encoded or read?
In the case of Compact Discs the ISRCs and other PQ-data are encoded in the disc sub-code (Q channel) in the disc mastering process. For this reason, ISRCs must be encoded for each track in the Pre-Master for CD. Most commercial mastering software applications have a field dedicated for ISRC.

For electronically distributed formats, the ISRC of each track should be associated with it in the metadata of the file.

The MP3 format itself does allow some rights management information 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 an ID3 tag.

We are currently researching ISRC encoding and decoding 'reader' applications and hope to have additional information posted to this site shortly. We are also researching technologies and conventions for embedding ISRCs in sound files.

There is a non-comprehensive list of ISRC-related programs available here

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