Having an ISRC code is absolutely essential for your recordings in the music industry. In order to receive royalties and have your music protected from piracy thieves, you must have an ISRC code for each recording you make. To be specific, ISRC or International Standard Recording Code is a numeric label that identifies your sound recordings and music video recordings. This code is directly linked to the recording or track itself and not to individual CD’s or cassettes. Having your recordings marked or labeled is extremely important so you receive the royalties associated with the recording.

These 12 character alphanumeric codes are divided up into four parts. You can think of these codes in the form of “AA-BBB-CC-DDDDD”.

• AA-This is where the registrant’s country would be put in.

• BBB-This is the registrant code which represents the organization that registered the code.

• CC-Better known as the Year of Reference Code. This identifies the year of ISRC registration.

• DDDDD-This code is assigned by the registrant to a particular sound recording. This particular code is not allowed to be repeated within the same calendar year.

Let’s see a hypothetical example of how all this works. A recording of the song called “Down and Out” by the American group called “Love Rocks”. An appropriate ISRC code would goes as follows: US-ABC-07-75155.

US stands for the United States. ABC let’s say represents the organization, which acts as the regulating body that registered the code. 07 represents the year 2007, and 75155 is a unique code that identifies this particular recording.

In order to get an ISRC code you can go to the RIAA website at www.riaa.com and go into the “what we do” section and click on ISRC codes to get started. You can also email them at isrc@riaa.com for other inquiries. This website also explains about the assigning of a new ISRC code, and frequently asked questions that individuals typically have about these codes. The RIAA does not charge anyone for setting up an ISRC code. These individuals are more than happy to assign codes and help answer questions for free, even if you are not a member. This makes working with the RIAA or Recording Industry Association of America is relatively painless and easy for the most part. This trade group represents the entire United States recording industry and wants to help all of its members have their music secure from piracy and create financial gain through the use of ISRC codes. Most of its members are music companies from around the world. This organization also stands to protect musicians First Amendment rights and certifies music awards such as Gold and Platinum.

Updated: November 4, 2007

© 2007 Hothouse Music Group, All rights reserved. To use this article on your site please contact us at studio@hothousestudios.com.

Contact Hothouse Studios today.
562.945.1300

Join us at our Yahoo group called the Hothouse Music Group by submitting your email address below.  You can post your questions or ideas for topics there and we’ll work on incorporating them into the column.
Join us at our Yahoo Group called hothousemusic

Hothouse content is the intellectual property of Hothouse. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Hothouse content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Hothouse. Hothouse shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Hothouse and the Hothouse Logo are trademarks and registered trademarks of the Hothouse Group of companies around the world.