Anyone registered with PPL for IRSC codes?

spark240

I did this back in 2017 as advised when having some mastering done , the codes are embedded into the masters which apparently assist any royalty payment should there ever be any !

The system seems very poor considering the potential importance....they send you a prefix code them you use that for each song you record but add in your own date and ref, so effectively you keep a log of all the codes not them ?

anyone using this system?

duotone

I’ve honestly never heard of it, but am interested in hearing the replies. Sorry I am of no use!

camf

If you’re using an online distributor to get on Spotify, Apple Music, etc, I think you need to check with them regards Issuing IRSC numbers that are consistent with their systems. I got caught out with this recently, so best check. If you’re just going to CD, it won’t be an issue.

spark240

camf said:

If you’re using an online distributor to get on Spotify, Apple Music, etc, I think you need to check with them regards Issuing IRSC numbers that are consistent with their systems. I got caught out with this recently, so best check. If you’re just going to CD, it won’t be an issue.

Wel.... My understanding is If you use codes generated by the format I.e CD baby, Spotify etc, it’s fine for their use, but can be unreliable in tracking plays on other platforms, 

The mastering engineer I used said that registering direct with PPL Uk meant you are in Control of the codes, so you dictate what’s codes are used for any platform.

andy_k

I know it isn't directly related to PPL codes, but this might be interesting--
I released an album exactly a year ago, via CDbaby PRO, which was my first release, a remastered, previously unreleased live gig from a band I was in in the mid 80's.
I decided to get it released for nostalgic reasons, some of the band are no longer with us.
I did a bit of research on who to uses for a release, and CDbaby seemed to offer the best package, a one time fee for a release vs a subscription, and sheer number of platforms the music is released on. The PRO option is supposed to take care of registering the tracks with the relevant rights agency in your country, and seeing how many platforms there are-it is understandable that there is a lot of work getting these things registered.
In my case, I went with the PRO version, and a 12 track album cost about £100.
It takes a while to get the tracks up to all the platforms, and once it went live there were a few that seemed to have a longer delay, they reckon it can take up to 6 months to get through to all of them.
By coincidence, I found myself looking back at CDbaby, exactly a year after release, and was pleased to see all distribution figures are available, which was an interesting exercise for me.
The tables show who, where and how many times each track has been streamed or downloaded, and the income generated.
They appear to show income with figures to 8 decimal places, with the first 3 or 4 figures being zero, no real surprise there.
I was amazed to see the accounting done to 8 decimal places with no rounding, a lot of numbers to say nothing really.
I probably spent my earnings in getting a printed copy of the statement made, so there really is no value to music these days.
I then went on to look at whether CDbaby had registered my tracks with my PRO organisation, PRS in the UK, and this was an area that I knew takes some time.
It costs £100 to register as a writer with PRS, and I did sort of understand publishing when I set up my account, you can also register as a publisher, but you have to have a minimum of 15 track credits to apply, I didn't, so I couldnt, but that would be for recovery of mechanical royalties, which includes use in ads, films etc, and hard copies or radio plays I think, Via MCPS.
I'm not there yet, but it is another £100 to register.
On the PRS site, I still have no registered titles, so I raised a ticket with CDbaby, it says my tracks are still 'under review' after a year.
I am expecting the pandemic to be used  as an excuse for the delay, but have had a response to say they are looking into it.
One thing is for sure, you need a lot of patience in the modern music industry, and it seems like it is hard to keep up with it's evolution. The tables I used to decide who to release with were produced by Ari Herstand, look up Ari's take and you can find them, I haven't looked at a current version, but I suspect many of the distributers I looked at will no longer exist, after a year.
It will be a difficult choice next time, but I think CDbaby will probably be the best, at least they seem to work as they should. 

spark240

@andy_k - good info thanks !