An identifier is a unique code that distinguishes a recording, musical work, lyricist, composer, or rights holder. Unlike names and titles, which can vary or be duplicated across systems, standardized identifiers give labels, distributors, DSPs, publishers, and royalty platforms a common way to identify and connect the same music and rights information. They also enable accurate matching, helping ensure that usage is linked to the right recording, work, and rights holder.

To understand how this works in practice, let’s look at four must-have identifiers for every music catalog: ISRC, ISWC, IPI, and IPN, and the role each plays in accurate rights and royalty management.

ISRC: International Standard Recording Code

An ISRC is a 12-character code that uniquely identifies a specific sound recording. It identifies the exact recording, not the underlying song. The code includes a country code, registrant code, year, and designation code. For example: US-UM7-20-00742.

ISRCs are not issued by one central authority. The system is managed by IFPI, which authorizes national agencies and ISRC Managers to issue them. Labels, distributors, and independent artists can then receive a registrant code and assign ISRCs to their recordings.

While issuance stays decentralized, there is now a single public database to check registrations against : isrcsearch.ifpi.org, holding over 150 million registered ISRCs, searchable by code or by artist/title.(read more)

ISWC: International Standard Musical Work Code

The ISWC identifies the underlying musical composition, It is an 11-character code made up of the letter T, a nine-digit work identifier, and a check digit. Example: T-345246800-1.

ISWCs are administered by CISAC and allocated through a network of 54 Registration Agencies (mostly PROs), then centrally recorded in the ISWC database. You can’t request one directly from CISAC. It has to come through a PRO, and every creator listed must already have an IPI Name Number before the ISWC can be issued.(read more)

Not every ISWC starts out fully confirmed. CISAC uses two statuses: Provisional and Preferred. A Provisional ISWC can be generated early based on information submitted by a label, before a PRO has verified all the details. This allows the code to travel with the recording from the start. Once a PRO or publisher validates the work and matches all creators to their IPI Name Numbers, it becomes a Preferred ISWC. (read more)

The ISWC database passed 80 million codes as of CISAC’s December 2025 update. CISAC also introduced the ISWC IPI Context Search, a tool that let publishers look up a creator’s IPI Name Number using their name and a known work title. This helps address a long-standing issue where missing IPI data was the number one reason ISWC requests failed.(read more)

IPI: Interested Party Information

The IPN identifies performers, including vocalists, session musicians, and other performers on a recording, as distinct from the composers and publishers covered by IPI. It is created and administered by SCAPR (Societies’ Council for the Collective Management of Performers’ Rights) and is stored in SCAPR’s International Performer Database (IPD), which currently holds IPNs for over 1.1 million performers. (read more)

The system is administered by SUISA, the Swiss CMO, on behalf of CISAC, under CIS/BIEM standards, not by CISAC directly. The Base Number itself is kept private. It exists purely to link all the public-facing IP Name Numbers tied to the same person or entity.(read more)

The IP Name Number is the identifier people usually mean when they refer to their “IPI number.” It is public, and one person can have multiple Name Numbers, with each one linked to a different name they use. For example, Prince had separate Name Numbers for “Prince” and “Nelson Prince Rogers,” both linked to the same private Base Number.(read more) 

SUISA rebuilt the system’s online front end in 2024 (the “Pocket Edition”), opening direct access to publishers rather than only PROs, and it now feeds into CISAC’s December 2025 IPI Context Search tool.(read more)

IPN: International Performer Number

The IPN identifies performers, including vocalists, session musicians, and other performers on a recording, as distinct from the composers and publishers covered by IPI. It is created and administered by SCAPR (Societies’ Council for the Collective Management of Performers’ Rights) and is stored in SCAPR’s International Performer Database (IPD), which currently holds IPNs for over 1.1 million performers. (read more)

Unlike IPI, getting an IPN requires proof of identity, such as a passport. This verification helps ensure that each performer has only one IPN, linking their performances and royalties to the correct individual.

In October 2024, SoundExchange became the first non-SCAPR member organisation authorised to create and issue IPNs directly. The agreement with SCAPR extended the use of IPNs to the US market.(read more)

Why Are These Identifiers Important?

Music data can still be matched using titles, names, and other metadata, but these methods become more error-prone when data is exchanged across multiple systems and at large scale. The four identifiers provide standardized, persistent references for recordings, musical works, rights holders, and performers, making it easier to establish that different records refer to the same entity. Without this consistent identity layer, mismatches, duplicate records, and incorrect associations can occur, which can ultimately disrupt royalty distribution and make it harder to ensure that the right parties are paid.

When all four identifiers are present, a catalog has a clear identity for its recordings, musical works, rights holders, and performers, making it easier to connect usage and rights data accurately and support reliable royalty distribution.

Identifier Hygiene: The Foundation of a Valuable Music Catalog

The strongest catalogs, and the ones that command the cleanest valuations in acquisitions, treat identifier hygiene as infrastructure, not paperwork. ISRC, ISWC, IPI, and IPN data don’t need to be perfect on day one, but they do need a systematic, ongoing process to catch and correct gaps before they compound across territories, rights types, and decades of catalog history.