What are UPC and ISRC codes?
UPC (Universal Product Code) codes are used to track trade items world wide in stores. They are the bar codes consisting of 12 or 13 digit numbers you see on products. Harkening back. to the days of physical music products like LPs and CDs, UPC numbers are used to track releases (sometimes called products or albums). Each release has a unique UPC code.
ISRC codes (International Standard Recording Code) is an international standard code developed by the music industry for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings. An ISRC identifies a particular recording, not the work (composition and lyrical content) itself. Every track needs to have its own unique ISRC code— in other words, different recordings, edits, versions, remixes and even remasters of the same work should each have their own ISRC.
Both of these codes are required when distributing your music release to any store or platform. They are used to track copyright, plays, downloads and royalties. Generally, once these codes are assigned to a release and track, they are are not changed. Changing them will reset play counts and other numbers as the systems will see them as new content. Therefore, if you change distributors, you’ll most likely want to keep your existing codes to ensure that releases, tracks , profiles and play counts are maintained with all the DSPs.
Labelcaster supplies ISRCs and UPCs if you need them
When you set up a release in Labelcaster, if you leave the UPC field blank, our system supplies a UPC code automatically for you once the release passes through quality control. Similarly, when adding tracks, if the ISRC field is left empty, we’ll assign you ISRCs for your tracks. If it is a new release and track, then just leave it to us and you’ll be fine.
Using your own UPC and ISRC codes
If you already have released music that you want us to distribute or have the license to generate your own UPCs and ISRCs, you can use your own codes. Just enter them in the UPC and ISRC fields as you set up your releases.