The International Standard Recording Code

ISRC International Agency Bulletin 2006/01
Approval of Agents to Issue ISRCs

8 March 2006

The International ISRC Agency announces today that National ISRC Agencies may now accept applications from agents to allocate ISRC codes on behalf of record producers. This should ensure that the benefits of the ISRC system are available to users that may not have the resources or skills to do it for themselves. In particular, smaller producers will have easier access to those online retailers that require an ISRC to have been issued before it can be sold.

This announcement follows a successful trial in the USA.

These arrangements are voluntary and small record producers (as well as all other producers) may still assign their own ISRC codes if they wish.

National Agencies should establish their own procedures for approving agents but they must ensure that agents abide by the rules ("Procedures for Allocation of ISRCs by Agents") set out below. National Agencies must ensure that their rules are fair and non-discriminatory, for instance between members of industry associations and non-members. The rules set out below are issued by the International ISRC Agency for the purpose of ensuring that ISRC allocation is managed in an accurate and efficient way where there is no uncertainty as to who is responsible for ISRC allocation.

This information will be incorporated into the ISRC Handbook in due course.

Enquiries from National Agencies about this new facility may be addressed to:

International ISRC Agency
c/o IFPI Secretariat
10 Piccadilly
London W1J 0DD
United Kingdom
isrc@ifpi.org
www.ifpi.org/isrc

Enquiries about becoming an agent should be addressed to the National ISRC Agency in the relevant territory. Note however that not all National Agencies may choose to use this facility and there may be some delay before those that wish to are ready to accept applications. A list of National ISRC Agencies is available at www.ifpi.org/isrc.

Procedures for Allocation of ISRCs by Agents

1. Definitions.

For the purposes of these procedures, the following definitions apply:

Recording: A sound recording or music video recording to which an ISRC can be allocated.

Independent Artist: An artist or group of artists who
(i) are not signed to a label, other than a label set up purely to own the rights in their own Recordings,
(ii) produce their own Recordings and
(iii) do not expect to create more than 50 Recordings per year.

Small Label: A producer of Recordings that does not qualify as an Independent Artist but does wish to allocate ISRCs to its own Recordings.
Note: Although it is expected that these arrangements will be most attractive to small companies, they are available to any producer.

Small Producer: A producer of Recordings that is either an Independent Artist or a Small Label.

Agent: An entity allocating ISRCs on behalf of a Small Producer that has been approved as such by a National ISRC Agency.

2. Applications to Allocate ISRCs on Behalf of Small Producers

An Agent may apply to a National ISRC Agency to be approved to assign ISRCs to Recordings on behalf of a Small Producer under the following conditions:

2.1 The Agent and the Small Producer enter into a formal agreement that authorizes this.
Note: this may be a formally signed contract, a click-through agreement or part of standard terms of business. In any case, the terms of the appointment must be completely clear to both parties.

2.2 The agreement appoints the Agent exclusively with respect to some well-defined part of the Small Producer's repertoire (the Nominated Repertoire). For instance, the appointment may cover the entire repertoire, "all recordings made since 1 January 2001" or "all classical recordings." Nominating only that part of a label's repertoire, which is licensed to the Agent for other purposes, is also acceptable but very careful records need to be kept to support this.
Note: the appointment as an Agent for ISRC allocation is to be considered entirely separate from any other appointment as licensee or distributor of repertoire. Other appointments may be exclusive or non-exclusive, and may not be connected with the appointment as an ISRC Agent.

2.3 The Small Producer commits to ensure that no other Agent is appointed to allocate ISRCs to Recordings in the Nominated Repertoire and that it does not itself allocate ISRCs to Recordings in the Nominated Repertoire.

2.4 The Agent commits to inform the Small Producer of the ISRCs that have been allocated to the Recordings.

2.5 The Small Producer commits to use the ISRCs allocated by the Agent in future exploitation of the Recordings.

2.6 The Agent commits to keep good records and to make relevant records available to the Small Producer on demand.

2.7 The Agent and the Small Producer may agree such terms (financial and other) with respect to the appointment as agent as they desire, provided they do not conflict with this Procedure.

2.8 If an agreement to act as Agent for a Small Producer is terminated or expires, then all records must be transferred to that Small Producer.

2.8.1 If the Small Producer is a Small Label, then control of the Registrant Code must also be transferred to the Small Label.
Note: This will allow the Small Label to continue to allocate ISRCs without fear of duplication. Alternatively, it will allow a subsequently appointed Agent to do so.

2.9 If an Independent Artist who has previously used the services of an Agent establishes a relationship with a new Agent, the ISRCs allocated by the previous agent should continue to be used. No new ISRCs should be allocated to Tracks that have already had one allocated.
Note: The Agent may use the previously allocated ISRCs in managing the Independent Artist's repertoire but this would be outside the scope of their appointment as an Agent.

2.10 If a Small Label which has previously used the services of an Agent establishes a relationship with a new Agent, it should transfer to the new Agent (i) all records obtained from the old Agent and (ii) control of its Registrant Code. The new Agent should continue to use this Registrant Code for the Nominated Repertoire.
Note: Where a label has had different Agents for different Nominated Repertoires, then the arrangements for new Agents should ensure (i) that each Registrant Code is under the control of a single Agent or of a Producer and (ii) that no more Registrant Codes are issued than is necessary.

3 Use of Registrant Code

The Agent must use an appropriate Registrant Code as follows:

3.1 If the Small Producer is an Independent Artist, then the Agent shall obtain a single Registrant Code from the National ISRC Agency in the territory where it is based. The Agent shall inform its National ISRC Agency that the Registrant Code is to be used by an Agent on behalf of Independent Artists.

3.1.1 It shall use this Registrant Code in respect of all Independent Artists for which it acts.

3.1.2 The Agent shall ensure that Recordings to which an ISRC is assigned are registered with appropriate metadata in the industry database relevant to the Independent Artist, i.e., the database that they would have registered with if they had done so themselves. If the country of residence of the Agent and the Independent Artist are different, this will require careful consideration and probably consultation between the parties.
Note: If the Agent and the Independent Artist are based in different territories, then the ISRCs allocated will carry the Country Code (see ISO3901 and ISRC Handbook) of the Agent not the Independent Artist. This is NOT a concern because, once allocated, the ISRC is a "dumb number" and no inference should be made from the Country Code about the territory where the recording was made or is owned.

3.2 If the Small Producer is a Small Label, then the Agent shall obtain a Registrant Code on behalf of the Small Label from the National ISRC Agency in the country of residence of the Small Label. The Agent shall inform the National ISRC Agency that the Registrant Code is being requested by an Agent on behalf of a Small Label that has authorized it for this purpose.

3.2.1 It shall use this Registrant Code for all Recordings from the Nominated Repertoire of the Small Label.

3.2.2 The Agent shall ensure that Recordings to which an ISRC is assigned are registered with appropriate metadata in the industry database relevant to the Small Label. This will normally be the database associated with the country of residence of the Small Label.