Image credit: Mitchel Lensink

Looking to get your music out there? Then you’ve probably come across ISRC and UPC codes. We’re here to tell you all you need to know.

You might have come across UPCs and ISRCs when looking to release your music. But, did you know that UPCs are everywhere and you come across them in your daily life all the time?

That’s because a UPC is given to nearly all products made for commercial sale. CDs, Blu-rays, soda in the store, cheese, hats, all of these things have a UPC. You’ll probably recognise it in its common form as a barcode.

So, how does this apply to your music?

What is a UPC in music distribution?

As we mentioned a UPC is given to all kinds of products. The letters stand for: Universal Product Code. It is a cataloguing system that makes it easy to identify exactly what a product is, across different companies.

So, when it comes to music, a UPC is given to a release like an album or a collection of songs. This then means that it can be easily identified by stores, distributors, streaming platforms, and beyond.

UPCs in music do more than just simply identify a music release. It can help to preserve data associated with a music release. For example, if an artist were to move their release from one distributor to another, using the same UPC allows Spotify to keep the same streaming numbers on their artist profile.

What is an ISRC in music distribution?

ISRCs are very similar to UPCs, as they are unique codes used for identification. ISRC stands for: International Standard Recording Code.

An ISRC is given to each individual recording of a track. So, an album will have a UPC that identifies it as a collection of music and then each song within that release can be easily identified using its ISRC code.

As an ISRC is related to the recording of a track, a different version of the same track will be given a unique ISRC. For example, the studio version of a track would have an ISRC unique to a live recording of the same track. Compositions themselves can be given unique identifiers, called ISWCs.

As with UPCs, artists can use their ISRCs to reidentify their music when it is uploaded elsewhere or distributed newly. So, an artist who is changing distributors and wants to upload their music somewhere new but retain their streaming statistics would use their UPC and ISRC so that the streaming stores can easily recognise it and apply its existing data.

How to get free UPCs and ISRCs

RouteNote offers free music distribution for artists around the world, so that artists of all sizes can easily get their music on the world’s top streaming services and social platforms. On upload to RouteNote, every release is given a free UPC and ISRCs are applied to all of the songs within it.

It’s as simple as creating a free account and then uploading your music with RouteNote. You can easily add your existing UPCs and ISRCs if your release has already been applied codes in the past, allowing for an easy transfer to stores.

Artists and labels can save as much as $75 releasing their music with RouteNote and gaining free UPCs and ISRCs on every release.

Sign up to RouteNote for free, unlimited releases to the world’s top music platform today.

What is the difference between a UPC and an EAN?

EANs are the European equivalent of a UPC, and contain 13 digits instead of 12. RouteNote technically provides each user with an EAN code for their releases.