Switching Music Distributors Without Losing Your Streams: An ISRC Preservation Playbook

Why switching distributor is risky

When you release music through a distributor, that music lives on DSPs with a specific ISRC code attached to each recording. Streaming platforms use ISRCs to identify recordings and attribute streams, playlist positions, and royalty collections. If you move to a new distributor and re-upload the same recordings without the same ISRCs, the platforms create new records for what look like new recordings. Your old streaming history — plays, playlist adds, follower counts attributed to specific releases — stays with the old delivery. The new upload starts from zero. Depending on the platform and the prominence of the original release, stream counts, editorial playlist positions, and algorithmic momentum can all be disrupted.

Who owns your ISRCs?

This is the question you must answer before initiating any distributor switch. ISRCs can be owned in one of two ways: either the distributor issued them (in which case the distributor owns the ISRC registrant code and the ISRC may be tied to that distributor's infrastructure), or the artist or label owns them (either registered independently through PPL as the ISRC registrant, or using a registrant code from IFPI). Most DIY distribution services (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby) issue ISRCs in a block registrant code that belongs to the platform, not the individual artist. Some platforms allow you to specify your own ISRC. The practical difference: if your ISRCs are tied to your distributor's registrant code, transferring them to a new distributor requires co-operation from the original distributor, which is not always provided.

How to find out who holds your ISRCs

Check these sources:

• Your distributor's back-end: most distributors display the ISRC for each track in the release management portal. Note down every ISRC for every release you intend to move.
• IFPI ISRC search: the IFPI ISRC search tool allows you to look up an ISRC and see the registrant code. The first two letters of the registrant code indicate the country; the three characters that follow identify the registrant. You can cross-reference this against known distributor codes.
• Your PRS or PPL registration: if your recordings are registered with PPL, the ISRC should appear in your PPL catalog. This is a useful secondary check.
• Your mastering engineer or studio: if ISRCs were embedded at the mastering stage (in the BWF metadata of the audio file), the mastering engineer or studio may hold a record of the codes.

The safe switching process

The correct sequence for switching distributors without losing your streaming history:

• Step 1 — Audit your ISRCs: before initiating any switch, compile a complete registry of every ISRC for every recording you intend to move. Include the format (album version, radio edit, remaster) and the release it appeared on.
• Step 2 — Confirm ISRC portability with your current distributor: contact your current distributor and ask explicitly whether your ISRCs are yours to transfer or whether they are platform-issued codes. Request a data export of all your ISRCs in writing.
• Step 3 — Brief your new distributor: provide your new distributor with the complete ISRC registry before uploading anything. Instruct them explicitly to use the existing ISRCs, not to issue new ones, for any releases you are moving.
• Step 4 — Do not delete from your old distributor first: keep the original releases live on the old distributor until the new distributor's versions are confirmed live with the same ISRCs. The window where neither version is live creates a gap in streaming availability and can disrupt playlist positions.
• Step 5 — Verify after transfer: after the new distributor's versions go live, check Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists to confirm stream counts are continuing from where they left off, not starting from zero. If counts have reset, the ISRCs were not preserved — contact both distributors immediately.
• Step 6 — Request takedown from old distributor: only after confirming the new versions are live with the correct ISRCs and stream counts are intact should you request that the old distributor removes the original uploads.

What happens if your ISRCs cannot be transferred

If your original distributor will not release the ISRC codes (because they are issued in the distributor's registrant block and the distributor's policy is not to transfer them), you have two options. Option one: leave the existing releases on the original distributor and only distribute new releases through the new distributor. This avoids the streaming history problem but means you are managing two distributor relationships. Option two: re-upload with new ISRCs and accept the history reset. This is only advisable for releases with minimal streaming history where the reset cost is low. For releases with significant streaming histories or editorial playlist positions, the reset cost is high.

Protecting yourself on future releases

To avoid this problem on future releases, register your own ISRC registrant code with PPL in the UK. PPL issues ISRC registrant codes to UK-based labels and artists. Owning your own registrant code means all future ISRCs you issue belong to you, not your distributor, and are fully portable. The registration is free and straightforward at ppluk.com. From that point, issue your own ISRCs before delivery to any distributor, provide them as part of your submission, and maintain your own ISRC registry.

PRS and MCPS implications of a distributor switch

A distributor switch that preserves ISRCs correctly should have no impact on your PRS or MCPS royalty collection, because those systems use ISRCs to identify compositions for royalty attribution. If ISRCs are not preserved, PRS and MCPS may lose the link between your recordings and your registered compositions, causing a gap in publishing royalty collection that mirrors the gap in streaming history. Confirm with your publishing administrator that your ISRC registry at PRS matches the ISRCs on your new distribution.

Code Group Music provides distribution services with full ISRC ownership and portability — codes are issued in the artist or label's own registrant block, not a platform block. If you are evaluating a distributor switch, our catalog assessment can audit your current ISRC registry and identify any portability risks before you move. Start at codegroupmusic.co.uk/#catalog-assessment.

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