Free tool
ISRC Code Validator
Validate and decode any ISRC code instantly. Checks format validity and breaks down the country code, registrant, year, and designation code.
ISRC format reference
Country code · chars 1–2
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the country of the registrant (the record label or artist who registered the code, not necessarily the artist's nationality).
Registrant code · chars 3–5
A unique alphanumeric code assigned to the registrant (label or artist) by their national ISRC agency. This identifies who registered the code.
Year of reference · chars 6–7
The two-digit year in which the ISRC was registered, not necessarily when the recording was released.
Designation code · chars 8–12
A unique five-digit serial number assigned by the registrant to distinguish this recording from others registered in the same year.
Need your ISRCs audited?
Incorrect or duplicate ISRCs cause royalty routing failures. Our catalog assessment checks your entire catalog for metadata integrity, missing registrations, and uncollected income.
What is an ISRC code?
An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a globally unique 12-character identifier assigned to each individual sound recording. Defined by ISO 3901, it is the mechanism that allows streaming platforms, broadcasters, and collecting societies to identify a specific recording and route royalties to the correct rights holder.
Every stream on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music references an ISRC. When you hear a song, the platform looks up that ISRC, calculates the royalty owed, and pays your distributor (who passes the income to you). When an ISRC is missing, incorrect, or duplicated, royalties can fail to route — leaving income unmatched and unpaid.
ISRCs also link your recording to your composition's ISWC and PRS/MCPS registration, enabling mechanical royalties to be paid on top of streaming royalties. Getting ISRCs right at the point of release is the foundation of complete royalty collection.
Who issues ISRCs?
ISRCs are issued by the rights holder or their appointed representative. In the UK, PPL acts as the national ISRC agency and assigns registrant codes to labels and distributors. Most digital distributors issue ISRCs automatically at the point of upload. If you already have ISRCs for your recordings (from a prior release or label), always use those existing codes — never allow a new distributor to issue new ISRCs for the same recordings, as this resets stream counts and breaks playlist associations.