Did you know that your songs have a unique international code? TONO ID-tags all music.
/ 05/10/2020 / Kristian DugstadYou may have been involved in microchipping a dog or cat. For many, a pet is one of the most important things we have, and the extra security an ID tag provides is of enormous value.
Whether you're an animal person or not – we know you're a music lover.
As a TONO member, we expect the music you write to be of great value to you. It is also of great value to us. That is why we ID-tag all music.
ISWC stands for International Standard Musical Work Code and is a global, permanent ID marking of musical works.
The system is managed by CISAC, the international umbrella organization of TONO societies. As of today, the system is used in 79 countries, and 52 million musical works have been registered.
– All music registered with TONO is automatically assigned an ISWC. As the Author, you do not need to deal with this number in principle, but if you need it, you can of course find it in the member service My TONO, says Jan Espen Storo, Member Manager at TONO.
ISWC is an important identification tool used by TONO companies worldwide. The number is an important tool that contributes to effective management, also across borders.
Would you like to find the ISWC number for your work? It is available under work details on mitt.tono.no
If you have ever recorded and released music, you may be familiar with the acronym ISRC. It may sound confusingly similar to ISWC, but it is something different, and just as necessary.
ISRC is an ID marking for recorded music, and stands for International Standard Recording Code. All recordings released in Norway must have an ISRC, and the system is managed by Gramo.
While the ISWC identifies the work itself, an ISRC applies to a specific recording. If you record and release ten different versions of your song, you will need ten different ISRCs. However, the ISWC is the same for all of them.
Another important difference is that ISWC is created automatically by TONO when the work is registered. An ISRC, however, is created via Gramo, and must be added to each individual recording during mastering.
Read more about ISRC at www.gramo.no/isrc
As recently as last week, TONO's international umbrella organization, CISAC, announced that the ISWC system has been updated.
The modernisation has been ongoing for two years and results, among other things, in a more efficient allocation of ISWC to newly registered works. CISAC takes over the responsibility for the creation of codes on behalf of its members, as they have already done for TONO for a long time.
“This upgrade of the ISWC could not have come at a better time for songwriters and composers. They are more dependent on revenue from the digital space now than ever before,” says CISAC President and ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.
