ISRC, Content ID and metadata, explained

ISRC and UPC

Every release carries two kinds of code. The ISRC identifies a recording. The UPC identifies the product the recording is sold in: a single, an EP or an album. An album has one UPC and as many ISRCs as it has tracks.

An ISRC is 12 characters long. The first five are a prefix allocated by an ISRC agency: two letters, then three letters or numbers. The next two are the last digits of the year the code was assigned, which is not necessarily the year the song was recorded. The last five are a number the registrant chooses and may not repeat within that year. IFPI's own example is AA-6QZ-20-00047.

In India, the ISRC agency is the Indian Music Industry (IMI) in Mumbai. Labels apply to IMI for their own prefix, with company paperwork: a request letter on letterhead, PAN and address proof. You don't need your own prefix to release. The ISRC rules let an appointed provider assign codes on the rights holder's behalf, which is what a distributor does. When we deliver a release, we supply the ISRCs and the UPC, or keep the codes a track already has.

The rules that matter most come straight from the ISRC agency's FAQ:

• One recording, one ISRC, for life. The code stays with the track even if ownership changes. Moving to another distributor is not a reason for a new one.
• Never reused. Once assigned, an ISRC must not be reused under any circumstances.
• New versions get new codes. A remix or an edit gets its own ISRC, and so does any version whose playing time differs by more than 10 seconds. That covers most sped-up and slowed cuts.
• A remaster usually keeps its ISRC, unless the remastering adds significant new creative input.
• It identifies the recording, not the song. The composition has a separate code, the ISWC. A single that later appears on the album is the same recording, so it keeps its ISRC.

A UPC is a GS1 product number: 12 digits for a UPC, 13 for its counterpart, the EAN. YouTube identifies each Art Track by its ISRC plus a release code such as a UPC or EAN.

Metadata that matters

Stores show a release exactly as it was delivered. Spotify says so plainly, and adds that only the label or distributor can fix a mistake, by sending an update. So the metadata has to be right before delivery, not after.

Artist names. Punjabi names can be romanised in more than one way, and to a store two spellings are two artists. Choose one spelling of every name, including featured artists, lyricists and composers, and use it on every release. Spotify asks for spelling and formatting to stay consistent across releases, down to punctuation and abbreviations. Apple asks for full, standard spellings, with nothing such as a role or an instrument added to the name. If you already have a Spotify profile, give your distributor your artist link or URI so the release lands on that profile, not on a new one.

Featured artists. A featured artist goes in the featured-artist field, never typed into the title. Spotify doesn't allow artist names in track or release titles. Apple gives featured artists the Featuring or With role, never Primary. It matters beyond looks: Spotify puts a new song in Release Radar for followers of its main and featured artists, so a correctly credited feature reaches a second set of followers.

Credits. Punjabi releases credit the lyricist and the music on every poster. Put the same names in the metadata. Spotify lists composers, lyricists and producers among the key roles, set at both track and release level. Apple uses Composer for the music and Lyrics for the words, and Songwriter when one person did both or nobody knows who did which. If a credit isn't known yet, leave it out: Apple doesn't accept placeholders such as TBD or Pending. Credits that get you paid explains why these lines are money as well as courtesy.

Language and genre. Set the language at album level. On Apple Music, every Indian regional language except Hindi has its own genre, and that genre must be the primary one, so a Punjabi release goes in as Punjabi. Apple's language code describes the language of the metadata, not of the audio. For lyrics in Indian languages, Apple asks for a romanised copy as the primary lyric, with the Gurmukhi original as an optional separate file.

What stays out. No URLs, social handles or future release dates anywhere in the metadata. No search terms in an artist name. No "E" in a title: mark explicit tracks as explicit and the store shows its own label.

Audio spec

Deliver the master as it was mastered. Spotify asks for 24-bit if that is the native master and 16-bit only if no higher bit-depth master exists, at 44.1 kHz or higher, in stereo, with no downsampling or processing before delivery. It prefers FLAC and accepts WAV that meets the same spec. Apple accepts 16-bit or 24-bit audio at sample rates from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz.

Distributors set their own upload rules, and YouTube notes they often require lossless files such as WAV or FLAC. A 24-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo WAV straight from the mastering engineer meets every spec here. Don't convert a 24-bit master to 16-bit to be safe, and don't send an MP3.

Artwork spec

Make the cover square and 3000 × 3000 px. Apple recommends 3000 × 3000 or larger, with 1400 × 1400 as the minimum, as a JPEG or PNG at full quality. Spotify accepts anything square from 640 to 10000 px, in sRGB colour, and asks you not to upscale. A 3000 × 3000 sRGB file meets both. A CMYK print file from the poster designer doesn't.

Apple's style guide is the strictest written rulebook I work from. Its cover rules:

• No website addresses, logos, QR codes or release dates.
• No social media handles. Apple bars them from metadata, audio and cover art alike.
• No prices, no upselling, and no references to other stores, CDs, vinyl or other formats.
• Nothing misleading, such as prominently showing an artist who doesn't perform on the release.

The Instagram poster and the store cover are different files. The poster can carry the handle and the date. The cover can't.

Content ID, the Art Track and the Official Artist Channel

On YouTube, three things are easily confused. They are separate, and you want all three.

The Art Track is YouTube's automatically generated version of a track: the recording paired with the cover art, shown in album playlists and search results. Only label and distributor partners can deliver them. YouTube also auto-generates a topic channel, titled "Artist Name - Topic", once an artist has a significant presence there.

[Content ID](/glossary#content-id) is YouTube's matching system. Once your recording is an active reference, uploads that use it are found automatically and can be monetised, tracked or blocked, territory by territory. Delivering an Art Track doesn't switch this on. YouTube stores that audio as an inactive reference, and activating it for Content ID is a separate step. Ask your distributor to confirm both.

Content ID needs exclusive rights to everything in the reference file, and YouTube lists content licensed non-exclusively from a third party as ineligible. A song built on a beat you licensed non-exclusively fails that test. Sort out the beat licence before release, not after.

Content ID will also claim your own official video unless your channel is exempt. Your distributor can add your channel, and any channel you've licensed the song to, to its allowlist. That stops new claims; claims made before the channel was added aren't released automatically.

The [Official Artist Channel](/glossary#official-artist-channel) brings your topic channel, your existing channel and any Vevo channel into one place, with all their subscribers. YouTube's requirements: one channel for one artist or band, focused on the music; at least one official release delivered by a distributor or label; compliance with YouTube's policies; and one of a Partner Manager, YouTube Partner Program membership, a label network with a Partner Manager, or a distributor listed in YouTube's Services Directory. YouTube also recommends at least one public video. You request it through your label or distributor.

The Instagram and Facebook music library

Reels and Stories draw on Meta's licensed music library, which exists through Meta's agreements with rights holders. It's a separate destination from the streaming stores. Ask your distributor whether it delivers to Meta, and check the track is searchable on Instagram under the right title and artist name before release day.

Two details catch people out. Meta says certain business accounts and certain types of post don't have access to the licensed library, and that licensed music isn't available in every country. Before you brief a creator, check the sound is available on the account they'll post from. And the count only builds if every reel uses the same sound: One sound page, and why it matters covers that.

A pre-delivery checklist

We check audio, artwork, credits and licences four weeks before release, as part of music distribution.