Reference

Glossary

Every identifier, role and abbreviation these docs use, defined.

Every abbreviation and term these docs use. Music rights vocabulary is precise and unforgiving, and two terms that sound alike often name different things.

Work against recording#

This distinction runs through the whole API. Get it right and most of the rest follows.

Term	What it is	Who owns it
Work	The composition. The melody and the lyrics.	Writers and their publishers
Recording	One captured performance of a work.	Whoever owns the master, usually a label or the artist

One work can have many recordings: an original, a live version, a cover by another artist. They share the work. They do not share the recording.

We use "work" everywhere for the composition. We never call it a "song" in one place and a "work" in another.

Identifiers#

Term	Full name	What it identifies	Format
ISRC	International Standard Recording Code	One recording	12 characters, as in `USRC12345678`
ISWC	International Standard Musical Work Code	One work	`T-123.456.789-0`
IPI	Interested Party Information number	One person or company, a writer or a publisher	9 to 11 digits
UPC	Universal Product Code	One release, such as an album	12 to 14 digits
MLC song code	The MLC's own work identifier	One work, in the MLC database	As in `A12345`

An ISRC identifies a recording. An ISWC identifies the work behind it. Sending both lets us cross-check them, and we tell you when they disagree.

An IPI identifies a party, not a work. One person can hold several IPIs, so an IPI alone is not a unique key for a person.

Organisations#

Term	Full name	What it does
PRO	Performing Rights Organisation	Collects performance royalties for writers and publishers. ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN and PRS are PROs.
MLC	The Mechanical Licensing Collective	Collects mechanical royalties in the United States.
SoundExchange		Collects digital performance royalties for recordings, not works.
Musicmark		A joint registration route into ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN.
AMRA		A digital collection society. We submit to it in CWR format.
DSP	Digital Service Provider	A streaming or download service, such as Spotify or Apple Music.

File formats we produce#

Term	Full name	Goes to
CWR	Common Works Registration	AMRA and other societies. A fixed-width text format.
EBR	Electronic Batch Registration	Musicmark, for ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN. A spreadsheet.

Parties and roles#

Term	What it means
Writer	A person who created the work. A composer, a lyricist, or both.
Publisher	A company that administers a writer's work and collects on it.
Original publisher	Role code `E`. The publisher a writer signed with directly.
Administrator	Role code `AM`. A company that administers on behalf of a publisher.
Sub-publisher	Role code `SE`. A publisher acting for another publisher in one territory.
Controlled	You represent this party. An uncontrolled party appears on the work but is somebody else's to administer.

Writer role codes#

Code	Role
`CA`	Composer and author. The default.
`C`	Composer.
`A`	Author, meaning the lyricist.
`AR`	Arranger.
`AD`	Adaptor.
`SR`	Sub-arranger.
`SA`	Sub-author.
`TR`	Translator.

Shares#

Four different percentages. Share semantics explains why they must never be copied into one another.

Term	Field	What it measures
Work ownership	`writer_ownership_pct`	The writer's share of the work.
Mechanical collection share	`publisher_collection_share`	What the publisher collects on mechanicals.
Performance collection share	`publisher_pr_share`	What the publisher collects on performance.
Master share	`master_share`	Ownership of the recording.

Royalty types#

Term	Paid when
Mechanical	A work is reproduced, including on a stream. Collected by the MLC in the United States.
Performance	A work is performed or broadcast publicly. Collected by the PROs.
Sync	A work is synchronised to picture, as in a film or an advertisement.

API terms#

Term	What it means
Catalogue	A group of works inside Record. Usually one artist or one client.
Upsert	Create the record, or update it if it already exists. Keyed on `client_work_ref`.
Dry-run	A request that validates and reports but stores nothing.
Gap	A field that is missing. Reported in `gaps`.
Validation issue	A field that is present but wrong. Reported in `validation`.
Idempotency key	A header that makes a retried commit safe.
Enrichment	Our process of filling gaps from industry data sources after ingest.