You'd think that with so much music existing in the digital domain that it would easy to track down the usage and royalties for a song, but unfortunately that's still not the case. Despite calls for the recording industry, there's no one single search engine that can find that data, but SoundExchange recently came up with a step in the right direction.SoundExchange now offers an online tool for looking up the ISRCs, or International Standard Recording Codes, that are related to the nearly 20 million recordings in its database.
ISRC codes have long been the standard method for identifying sound recordings, first being introduced in 1986. Each code number is comprised of a two-letter country code, a three-character code for the registrant, two numbers for the year, and five numbers assigned by the registrant. The RIAA oversees the ISRC system in the United States and its territories. The IFPI oversees ISRCs globally.
SoundExchange's search engine allows you to look up an ISRC code by artist name, song title, album, year, version and UPC/EAN. The result can be added to a cart for future reference, which can then be exported to a CSV file so the data can be inputted to a digital service's system. The IFPI also provides a lookup tool it created in conjunction with SoundExchange with identical information.
SoundExchange collects royalties for non-interactive streaming platforms like Pandora and satellite radio only.
As said before, this isn't the ultimate solution that everyone has been wanting, but it's the best solution so far in that it provides cross-check information to make sure that copyright owners are being paid at least in some areas.
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