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The International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is an international standard code for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings. The code was developed by the recording industry in conjunction with the
ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...
technical committee 46, subcommittee 9 (TC 46/SC 9), which codified the standard as ISO 3901 in 1986, and updated it in 2001. An ISRC identifies a particular ''recording'', not the work (composition and lyrical content) itself. Therefore, different recordings, edits, and remixes of the same work should each have their own ISRC. Works are identified by ISWC. Recordings
remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
ed or revised in other ways are usually assigned a new ISRC.


History

ISO 3901 was completed in 1986. In 1988, the
IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...
recommended that its member companies adopt ISRCs for music videos. In 1989, the ISO designated the IFPI as the
registration authority Registration authorities (RAs) exist for many standards organizations, such as ISO, the Object Management Group, W3C, and others. In general, registration authorities all perform a similar function, in promoting the use of a particular standard ...
for ISRCs. The IFPI, in turn, delegated part of the administration of ISRCs to several dozen national agencies, which allocate ISRCs to both record companies and individuals. The national agencies began assigning ISRCs for music videos in August 1989. The Japanese recording industry began encoding ISRCs on
audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...
s in November 1989. The IFPI and the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) then developed detailed recommendations for this practice, and for ISRC assignment in general. The IFPI adopted the recommendations in March 1991 and they went into effect for IFPI members on 1 January 1992.


Format

ISRC codes are always 12 characters long, in the form "CC-XXX-YY-NNNNN". The hyphens are not part of the ISRC code itself, but codes are often presented that way in print to make them easier to read. The four parts are as follows: * "CC" is the appropriate two-character country code for the ISRC issuer. The code is assigned according to the ISO 3166-1-Alpha-2 standard. (High demand for ISRCs within the United States has caused the supply of available registrant codes to become exhausted; after December 6, 2010, new registrants in the US use country code "QM, QZ, or QT". The codes "CP" and "DG" are reserved for further overflow, and "ZZ" is reserved for codes assigned by the International ISRC Agency. Further additions continue to be made.) * "XXX" is a three character alphanumeric registrant code of the ISRC issuer. This code by itself does NOT uniquely identify the ISRC issuer as the same 3-digit registrant code may be used in various countries for different issuers. To uniquely identify an issuer, the country code and registrant code must be used together. * "YY" represent the last two digits of the reference year – the year that the ISRC was assigned to the recording. This is not necessarily the date the recording was made. * "NNNNN" is a 5-digit number that identifies the particular sound or video recording, unique within the scope of the reference year. Example: A recording of the song " Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" by American composer
Kevin MacLeod Kevin MacLeod ( ; born 1972) is an American composer and music producer. Described by the New York Times as "arguably the most prolific composer you’ve never heard of", MacLeod has composed over 2,000 pieces of royalty-free library music an ...
has been allocated the ISRC code USUAN1400011: * US for
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
* UAN for Incompetech * 14 for 2014 * 00011 as the unique id identifying this particular recording


Embedding ISRC in files

ISRC may be embedded in most file formats as
metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...
. Example formats include MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, and WAV for audio and MP4, M4V, or MKV for video. * The standard for the ID3v2.2 tag that was designed for use in MP3 files, was published in March 2019 and defined a way to embed ISRCs in a 'TSRC' frame. * In August 2020, Barry Grint and the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
published a specification for embedding ISRCs in
Broadcast Wave Format Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) is an extension of the popular Microsoft WAV audio format and is the recording format of most file-based non-linear digital recorders used for motion picture, radio and television production. It was first specified b ...
, a WAV-with-metadata format. * Audio CDs defined by the Red Book may also embed ISRC as part of the
CD-Text CD-Text is an extension of the Red Book Compact Disc specifications standard for audio CDs. It allows storage of additional information (e.g. album name, song name, and artist name) on a standards-compliant audio CD. The specification for CD-T ...
information. Metadata formats are not generally interchangeable as format converters may fail to translate the data. As a result, it is recommended to perform the embedding separately for each format.


Obtaining ISRCs

The provision of ISRCs is overseen by appointe
national ISRC agencies
These national ISRC agencies issue codes directly to the public and may also utilize authorized ISRC Managers to issue ISRCs. In the United States, the appointed agency is
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. ISRC codes can be obtained in large blocks directly from RIAA for an administrative fee ($95 at time of this publication), in quantities as little as 1 fro
ISRC.com
($2-$5), or in conjunction with other music-related services from other authorized ISRC managers. In territories where there is no national ISRC agency, users can obtain ISRC codes directly from IFPI or fro
ISRC.comQuansic
an
Sound Credit


See also

*
Global Release Identifier The Global Release Identifier (GRid) is a system to identify releases of digital sound recordings (and other digital data) for electronic distribution. It is designed to be integrated with identification systems deployed by key stakeholders from ...
(GRid), a unique identifier for musical releases *
International Article Number International Article Number, also known as European Article Number (EAN), is a global standard that defines a barcode format and a unique numbering system used in retail and trade. It helps identify specific types of retail products based on thei ...
or EAN-13 (also known as European Article Number) the Media Catalog Number code stored on an audio CD *
International Standard Book Number The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...
(ISBN), a similar unique identifier for books *
International Standard Musical Work Code The International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) is a unique identifier for musical works, similar to the book's ISBN. It is adopted as international standard ISO 15707. The ISO subcommittee responsible for the standard is TC 46/SC 9. Format ...
(ISWC), a unique identifier for musical works such as classical compositions *
Universal Product Code The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode#Symbologies, barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. The chosen symbology has bars (or spaces) of exactly 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide each; each decimal ...
(UPC), Universal Product Code * Label Code (LC), a unique 4- or 5-digit identifier for music labels


References


External links


ISO 3901:2001Technical Standards: The International Standard Recording Code
at
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
's Website.
ISRC registration authority
{{Authority control Audiovisual introductions in 1986 Music videos ISO standards Unique identifiers Identifiers