The important ISRC codes

An ISRC is the International Standard Recording Code associated with the sound recording for all albums or other audio products (singles, EP's, multidiscs etc.). ISRC's are associated with individual tracks, and are currently required by iTunes. On physical releases ISRC's are typically allocated to the CDR audio master (where physcial mass production is necessary a glass master is often produced on the basis of such a CDR audio master).

ISRC example: DK-XX9-07-00401
The first two characters (e.g. DK) of the code represent the country code: the registrant's country. In this example DK = Denmark.

The next three characters (e.g. XX9) are known as the registrant code: each sound recording copyright owner should have their own unique registrant code, as allocated by the ISRC. In this example XX9 is the registrant code of a fictive label. :)

The folowing two digits (e.g. 07) represent the year of reference code: the year in which the ISRC is allocated to the recording. In this example 07 = 2007.

The remaing 5 characters (e.g. 00401) represent the designation code: the code assigned to each individual track on the release by the registrant. This code can be any five digit sequence, as long as it is not repeated within the same calendar year. In this example 00401 means the first track of the fourth release (that year; which in this case was 07 = 2007).

If you don't have your own ISRC registrant code string you can check out RIAA (www.riaa.com) or IFPI (www.ifpi.org). In Denmark, for example, you can contact Gramex (www.gramex.dk) and apply for your own unique ISRC code string.