What is an ISRC code? ISRC, UPC and ISWC, explained
Every streaming payment, chart entry and radio report finds your music through a few codes. Here is what the ISRC, the UPC and the ISWC are, how to get them, when a track needs a new one and the mistakes that cost artists money.
The rules about the ISRC below come from the International ISRC Registration Authority’s site (isrc.ifpi.org), checked on October 13, 2026. When in doubt about a specific case, your distributor or your national ISRC agency has the last word.
What an ISRC is
The ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is the ID of a recording. Not of the song as a composition, and not of the release: of one specific recorded version. Streaming services, stores, radio monitoring and collecting societies use it to know which recording was played, and so who should be paid for it.
A music video is a different recording from the audio, so it gets its own ISRC too.
How to read an ISRC
An ISRC has 12 characters, usually printed with hyphens to make it easier to read (the hyphens are not part of the code). Using the example from the ISRC site, AA-6QZ-20-00047:
| Part | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Prefix | AA-6QZ | Five characters given by an ISRC agency to whoever assigns the codes (a label, a distributor or an artist). The first two letters usually match a country. |
| Year | 20 | The last two digits of the year the code was assigned — not the year it was recorded. |
| Designation | 00047 | Five digits the owner of the prefix gives to each recording, never repeated within a year. |
How to get ISRC codes
- From your distributor. Most digital distributors assign an ISRC to each track when you upload it if you leave the field empty. For a first release, this is the usual route.
- From your label, if you have one: the label assigns them with its own prefix.
- With your own prefix. Artists and labels can ask the ISRC agency of their country for a prefix and assign their own codes. It is worth it when you release often or move between distributors, because the codes stay yours.
Whatever the route, write down every code the day it is assigned. If you already released a track with an ISRC, reuse that same code when you deliver it again — for example to a new distributor.
When a track needs a new ISRC
The rule on the ISRC site is simple: each distinct recording gets its own ISRC, and any new or materially changed recording gets a new one. Once assigned, an ISRC is never given to another recording.
| Case | ISRC |
|---|---|
| The single, later included on the album, unchanged | Same ISRC |
| The same master on a compilation or a playlist | Same ISRC |
| A remix, a radio edit, an acoustic or live version | New ISRC |
| A version with a different length | New ISRC |
| A new surround or immersive mix made from the stems | New ISRC |
| The music video of the song | Its own ISRC, different from the audio |
| A remaster | Usually the same; a new one if the remaster adds real creative changes. Ask your agency if unsure. |
What a UPC is
The UPC is the barcode number of the release: the single, the EP or the album as a product. Outside North America you will often see it as an EAN of 13 digits; both belong to the same GS1 barcode system. A single with three tracks has one UPC and three ISRCs.
Your distributor or label usually gives you the UPC. If you move a release to another distributor, ask them to keep the original UPC and ISRCs; new codes can split the release’s history and its links.
ISRC, UPC and ISWC side by side
| Code | Identifies | Who usually gives it | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISRC | A recording (the master) | Distributor, label or the artist with a prefix | Streams, sales, radio and neighbouring rights |
| UPC / EAN | A release (single, EP, album) | Distributor or label | Stores, pre-saves, charts |
| ISWC | A song as a composition (melody and lyrics) | The collecting society, when the work is registered | Publishing royalties for the writers |
The money from a stream travels on both sides: the ISRC pays the master, and the work behind it (ISWC) pays the writers and publishers. If you want the full picture, read how music royalties work.
Mistakes that cost money
- Letting a new distributor assign new ISRCs to tracks that already had them: the streams are split between two codes.
- Using the same ISRC for the original and the remix. The platforms and societies can’t tell them apart.
- Not registering the works. The ISRC covers the recording; the songwriting needs its own registration with your society or publisher, with the same titles and the splits from your split sheet. What to register and where: how to copyright a song.
- Different titles or artist names in different places (“feat.” in one, “&” in another). Matching codes to people depends on the metadata being the same everywhere.
- Not keeping a list. Labels that can’t say which ISRC belongs to which version spend days fixing it when a sync request or a royalty claim arrives.
Keeping your codes in order
A spreadsheet with one row per recording works: title, version, ISRC, the UPC of each release it is on, the ISWC of the song, the writers and their splits. Check it before every release, as part of your release planning checklist, and when the distributor sends back the final codes.
For a label with a catalog, TONTRIA for Labels tracks the UPC and ISRC codes, artwork, credits and splits of every release in a delivery checklist, so nothing reaches your distributor incomplete. Publishers keep the works with their ISWC, writers and splits in TONTRIA for Publishers. If you are starting a label, the codes are one of the first things to sort out — see how to start a record label.