ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is the unique 12-character global identifier for a specific recording of a song. Format: CC-XXX-YY-NNNNN (country + registrant + year + designation). It is the master-side equivalent of ISWC.

Every recording — every cover, every re-record, every live version, every remix — has its own unique ISRC. Streaming services + radio stations report royalties by ISRC, so missing or duplicated ISRCs cause unmatched master-side royalties.

Your distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Producer Tour, etc.) assigns ISRCs at upload time. You can also self-assign if you have a registrant code from the US ISRC Agency.

A single song typically has many ISRCs (one per recording) but only one ISWC (the composition itself).