ISRC Codes:
Everything U Ever Wanted 2 Know!

Well, almost!

So what's the deal with ISRC codes?

If you release your own independent CD's then you need to 'worry' about them!

First off, ISRC stands for “International Standard Recording Code”. It's an identification that's used on CDs that will be commercially distributed.

Once a code is embedded onto your track it uniquely identifies that track as belonging to you.

Here's why they're important:

It makes royalty collection quicker and easier, and radio tracking simpler.

They're particularly important for iTunes and other electronic distribution channels.

They also prove that you own the recording.

They belong to the specific recording of each song.

That means that remixes or singles, or even soundtracks that differ in any way from a specific recording should have a separate code number.

So what is this code, actually?

The ISRC code is basically 12 characters that are made up as follows:

• Country Code (2 ASCII characters)
• Owner Code (3 ASCII characters or digits)
• Year Of Reference (2 digits or ASCII characters)
• Designation Code (5 digits or ASCII characters)

Here are just a few examples of Country Codes:

• AU – Australia
• AT - Austria
• CA - Canada
• US - United States
• BR - Brazil
• GB - UK
• CN – China

The Owner (or Registrant) Code:

To apply for an ISRC Registrant Code, please consult your country or territory’s National ISRC Agency. A partial list of contacts can found here.

The Year Of Reference:

This is just two digits to state what year the recording was released, so 2009 would be 09.

The Designation Code (or Serial Number):

The final part would be the Designation Code, this is simply a five digit number that you designate to the track, this works with the year code and your designation code for each track should follow each other. So 00001 would be the first track 00002 would be the second as so on.

Here's an example of a code someone would issue from Canada for their first track released in 2009:

ISRC CA-ZYX-09-00001

Note that for visual presentation the four parts are separated by hyphens and the letters ISRC precede the code. The hyphens are, however, not part of the code

(BTW, if someone's registrant code - in Canada - is actually 'ZYX' I apologize - let me know and I'll replace my example with another, hopefully, generic code!!)

It's up to you to get your codes before completing your CD master, and especially before getting your CD's replicated.

To encode an ISRC code onto a track, you'll need to use CD mastering software capable of writing them when you burn your CD master. I use WaveLab to do this. It's a superb program for creating a CD master to the red book standard.

It's also important that not only your program generate them but that your CD writer will embed them onto your disc.

The disc must be burned in Disc-At-Once mode.

You should print out at least two copies of the PQ sheet which will contain the codes - keep one for your records and one to send to the CD manufacturing plant with your CD master.

I've just covered the tip of the iceberg. For more detailed information you might like to visit here.

But here's one more rather important tip:

When you get your CD's manufactured, double check with your replicator that they're capable of putting ISRC codes on your copies!

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