Talk:International Standard Recording Code

This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Professional sound production Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Professional sound production, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sound recording and reproduction on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Professional sound productionWikipedia:WikiProject Professional sound productionTemplate:WikiProject Professional sound productionProfessional sound production
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Origin

Has this always existed, or was there some actualy date it came into being? --Mal 01:56, 13 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's safe to assume it came into existence in the latter half of the 20th Century AD :) I fear I have no clue exactly when, though...--feline1 13:24, 13 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to the "Internatonal Standard recordingcode (ISRC) Handbook" (2nd ed. London 2003) the current standard(ISO 3901:2001) was ratified as an international standard in 2001, following the adaptation of the original standard back in 1986. Karsten.Hoegh 10:40, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Uptake

It would be good to show evidence of this being used by public-facing web sites, such as a library or retailer. Andy Mabbett 16:41, 7 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

MusicBrainz

MusicBrainz have started storing ISRCs alongside tracks in the database now - does this warrant a mention anywhere as a database of ISRCs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.148.86.136 (talk) 14:57, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

iTunes

Apparently, iTunes requires all songs sold to have an ISRC. This is allegedly the reason for the exhaustion of the US-xxx registrant codes: thousands of independent musicians releasing their music through iTunes who must each obtain a registrant code (giving them the ability to identify 10,000 recordings every year) in order to sell their (usually singular) product. Would be good to find a WP:RS for this and add it to the article. 121a0012 (talk) 03:35, 29 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Bad Grammar

Repeated references to "ISRC codes" - this is therefore saying "International Standard Recording Code code" and is clearly wrong!

Much the same as PIN number

Purpose?

This article fails to explain what the ISRC code is used for, i.e. what's the purpose of it? This article is like an article about salmon that fails to mention that it is a fish. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.133.97 (talk) 21:48, 10 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

RE above: Yes, like many Wikipedia articles. I'd like to know whether ISRC's are issued for a whole audio CD or just for individual tracks, or can they be issued for both? This article does not really state this clearly. In general, this article needs more explanation for the layman who is confronting this term for the first time, and not just citations and dates from international bodies which can be obtained elsewhere on the internet anyway. I'm not suggesting the dates and citations should be removed, just that as the article now stands, it's a little one-sided. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.45.1.139 (talk) 10:53, 25 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

About purpose

I agree, we need more clarification of the purpose of isrc, particularly how it can benefit and protect the music creator financially. It is my understanding that a code must be generated for each song on an album, or cd recording.

There is also something called “Sound Exchange” which collects royalties for each of the performers on each recording. 184.14.201.225 (talk) 20:16, 9 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Remasters

Remasters usually require a new ISRC issuance, but the term is broad. The original Wiki text indicated a remaster ALWAYS required a new ISRC, but that's not always the case; thus the standards are nuanced:

International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) Handbook – 4th Edition, 2021, International ISRC Registration Authority (Page 20)

A.10.1 A re-mastered version of a recording is created

Re-mastering is a broad term that covers many different processes. A new ISRC shall be assigned if (and only if) the processes applied to a recording during re-mastering involve the application of creative input to the recording itself. The following processes do not involve creative input for the purposes of ISRC assignment:

simple level change,
equalisation applied to a whole recording without variation,
compression applied to a whole recording without variation,
digital signal processing including de-noising, de-clicking, speed or pitch correction,
sample rate change, dithering etc., where the manually controlled parameters are
invariant across the whole recording (even if the resulting recording is noticeably
improved).
A new ISRC shall not be assigned in the context of essentially invariant or technological
adjustment processes.