Revelator supports using your own ISRC prefix to generate your own ISRCs when distributing through the Revelator dashboard.
What is an ISRC?
An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a unique 12-character ID given to one specific sound recording. Digital stores, streaming services, collecting societies and royalty systems use it to know exactly which recording was played or sold, so that usage and revenue are reported against the right track.
Every ISRC has the same four parts. For example, in GB-A1B-26-00001:
| GB | Country code of the registrant |
| A1B | Registrant code, unique to the label or rights holder |
| 26 | Year the code was assigned |
| 00001 | The recording's own number, given out in sequence |
The country code and registrant code together make up your ISRC prefix.
| Good to know An ISRC identifies a recording, not a song. A remix, radio edit, live version or remaster needs its own ISRC. The same recording keeps its ISRC wherever it appears, whether that's a single, an album or a compilation. The song itself (the composition) has a different identifier, the ISWC. |
Why use your own prefix?
If you don't have a prefix, Revelator assigns ISRCs for you. If you've registered your own prefix with your national ISRC agency, you can have Revelator generate codes from it instead. That way your recordings carry codes registered to you, and they stay consistent if you ever move your catalogue to another platform.
Activate your ISRC prefix
To activate this option, email support and include:
- Your ISRC prefix
- The first ISRC our system should generate
- Whether you have a final ISRC limit
How ISRC generation works
Once you tell us your starting ISRC, our system assigns it the next time you distribute a track that needs an ISRC. It then increments the ISRC number by 1 each time a new ISRC is generated.
| Warning Using Revelator's system to generate ISRCs means you are handing over responsibility for ensuring the uniqueness of your ISRCs to Revelator's system. Follow the rules below to avoid duplicate ISRC issues. |
How to avoid duplicate ISRCs
Never use an ISRC outside of Revelator's system
If you do need to use an ISRC outside of Revelator, send a request to support with the number of ISRCs you need. We'll send those to you and block them out.
Reserve ISRCs you'll use outside Revelator
If you already know you'll need some ISRCs outside of Revelator, reserve them in advance. Decide how many you want to keep for your own use, and tell us to start with a later number. This way, you can use all the ISRCs before your starting ISRC without notifying us first.
Monitor your ISRC limit
If you have an ISRC limit (an end ISRC), it's your responsibility to make sure the limit isn't exceeded, and to purchase any additional ISRCs you need from your ISRC agent before you reach it.
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