# ISRC Lookup Tool — Free Cross-Reference for Spotify, MusicBrainz & The MLC > Free ISRC lookup tool. Cross-reference any 12-character ISRC across Spotify, MusicBrainz, and The MLC in seconds to surface metadata conflicts, missing registrations, and trapped mechanical royalties. No account required. *Published by [TrackForge](https://trackforge.studio) — The Rights Rating Agency* **Tool URL:** https://trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup **Last updated:** 2026-10-03 --- ## What Is an ISRC Lookup? An ISRC lookup is a cross-reference of a 12-character **International Standard Recording Code** against one or more authoritative music metadata sources. The TrackForge ISRC Lookup tool queries three sources in parallel: 1. **Spotify Web API** — commercial availability, canonical artist/title/album, album artwork, label, markets, release date, and duration. 2. **MusicBrainz** — the open editorial music database, used for independent verification of recording metadata, and for the works, ISWCs, writers and publishers its editors have linked to a recording. 3. **The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) bulk data feed** — US mechanical rights, ISWC resolution, writer credits, publisher shares, and MLC song codes, as of the snapshot date returned with each result. If Spotify and MusicBrainz disagree about the album, artist or release date, the tool flags it as a conflict. If no MLC work is linked to the recording, or part of its share is unclaimed, the tool flags a registration gap — one of the most common causes of trapped mechanical royalties. --- ## Who Uses This Tool - **Record labels** verifying that their catalogue is correctly registered across platforms before a royalty cycle. - **Music publishers** checking that every ISRC is linked to a registered ISWC at The MLC. - **Catalogue buyers** running due diligence on a target catalogue before acquisition. - **Distributors** debugging why a specific track is not paying out as expected. - **Independent artists** confirming that their releases exist correctly in Spotify and MusicBrainz. --- ## How to Use 1. Open [trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup](https://trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup). 2. Choose **Single** mode for one ISRC or **Batch** mode for many. 3. Paste your ISRC(s). ISRCs are 12 characters: 2-letter country code, 3-character registrant code, 2-digit year, 5-digit designation. Example: `GBAYE0601498`. 4. Click **SCAN**. The tool queries Spotify, MusicBrainz, and The MLC in parallel. 5. Review the results: metadata from each source, any flagged conflicts, and writer and publisher details where available. 6. Export results to CSV (for spreadsheet analysis) or PDF (branded report) if needed. No account is required. MLC results come from The MLC's bulk data feed and show the date they are true as of. Prefer to ask in plain words? Use the same checks from your AI assistant through TrackForge's [MCP server](https://trackforge.studio/mcp). --- ## What the Tool Returns For each ISRC you submit, the tool returns: ### Spotify block - Canonical track title, artist, and album - Label - Release date - Duration (minutes:seconds) - Number of available markets - Album artwork: links to the cover image in up to three sizes (typically 640, 300 and 64 pixels wide), hosted on Spotify's image servers. The results page shows a small thumbnail (not on phone-width screens) and the CSV export carries the 300-pixel link. ### MusicBrainz block - Track title and artist credit, the earliest release (album, date and label), and the works MusicBrainz links to the recording with their ISWCs, writers and publishers (with IPI numbers where MusicBrainz has them) - From TrackForge's copy of MusicBrainz's public data, refreshed from MusicBrainz's data dumps twice a month, not a live query - Through the API, a lookup of a single ISRC also returns MusicBrainz's core data for its recordings in full: credits, every release with dates by country, labels and catalogue numbers, related recordings, links and aliases. The MCP server returns the same when asked for the full record - Only MusicBrainz's core data is used, which MusicBrainz dedicates to the public domain (CC0). Its tags, genres, ratings, annotations and cover art links are licensed for non-commercial use only and are not returned - Independent cross-reference against Spotify ### The MLC block - MLC song code of the linked work - ISWC (if The MLC has one for the work) - Work title and the recording artist The MLC lists - Writer names, IPI numbers and roles (no writer shares) - Publisher names, IPI numbers, roles and collection shares as The MLC lists them (the highest share each publisher holds on the work; shares are not adjusted to add up to 100%) - Any share of the recording left unclaimed, any share in dispute, and other MLC works the recording is also linked to ### Conflicts Where Spotify and MusicBrainz disagree on the album, artist or release date (e.g., Spotify says artist "Tyler, The Creator" but MusicBrainz says "Tyler The Creator"), both values are shown. MLC findings (no linked work, an unclaimed share, a share in dispute, more than one linked work, no ISWC) come with a plain-language note. ### Health status Each ISRC is graded. The first grade that applies wins, in this order: - **Critical** — the recording is on Spotify but no MLC work is linked to it (unless it is a recent release, below), The MLC holds usage for it that is matched to no work, or part of its share is unclaimed at The MLC. - **Unknown** — The MLC data could not be checked. Never read this as "not registered". - **Warning** — something to check: Spotify and MusicBrainz list different albums, The MLC holds the recording but links it to no work, no MLC work is linked and Spotify has no record of it, no MLC work is linked to a recent release (released within 60 days before the MLC data's date, or after it, so its registration may not have reached that data yet), a share is in dispute, or the linked work has no ISWC. - **Clean** — an MLC work is linked and none of the above applies. Artist and release-date differences are shown but do not change the grade. Nor does a missing Spotify or MusicBrainz record on its own. The grade stays in the API's results and the CSV; the page's badges, counts and PDF follow the verdict below. ### Verdict Each result also carries a `verdict`: what the registration data shows, dated. - **registered** — linked to one MLC work, nothing unclaimed or disputed. - **partial** — linked, but part of the share is unclaimed or in dispute. - **nobody** — no MLC work is linked to the recording (absent, held by The MLC with no work link, or usage The MLC holds unmatched). This is not proof the work is unregistered: The MLC registers works and matches recordings to them in separate steps. So the tool also checks registered work titles and says which route applies: match the recording to an existing work, or register one. - **conflict** — the recording is linked to more than one MLC work. - **unknown** — The MLC data could not be checked. Never read this as "not registered". On the page each verdict is a badge: **REGISTERED**; **SHARE GAP** (partial); **MULTIPLE WORKS** (conflict); **NO WORK LINKED** (nobody at high or medium confidence); **CHECK LATER** (nobody at low confidence: a recent release, a recording not live yet, or Spotify could not be checked, so The MLC's data may not include it yet; not a finding); and **NOT VERIFIED** (unknown, or the lookup did not finish). When several apply, the first in this order wins: unknown, conflict, nobody, partial, registered. A conflict whose linked work also has a share unclaimed or in dispute lists `partial` under `secondary_states`. Each verdict has a confidence, dated evidence items and a one-sentence `next_step` naming the registered process (for example, registering a work with The MLC). It is a finding, not advice about ownership. ### Resolve from a link or title `POST https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/isrc-lookup/resolve` accepts exactly one of `isrc`, `spotify_url` (track link or URI), `title` with optional `artist`, or `youtube_url`. It returns the candidate recordings and works, how each was resolved and how confidently, and the verdict for up to five candidate ISRCs. Several equally plausible works are all returned with `ambiguous: true`. Titles are matched against The MLC's bulk data first, with MusicBrainz as a fallback. A YouTube link is resolved from its public video title and is always low confidence. --- ## Features - Single and batch ISRC lookup (a batch is split into requests of 50 ISRCs) - Parallel queries across Spotify, MusicBrainz, The MLC - Automatic conflict detection between sources - MLC registration gap flagging - Writer and publisher details, with publisher shares as The MLC lists them - ISWC resolution from ISRC - CSV export for spreadsheet analysis - Branded PDF report export - No account required - MLC answers dated with the bulk-data snapshot they come from - Free to use --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is an ISRC code? An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a 12-character unique identifier assigned to a specific sound recording. Every time you stream a song on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube, the ISRC is the code that identifies which exact master recording was played. It is the foundation of how recorded-music royalties are tracked and paid. ### How do I look up an ISRC code for free? Paste any 12-character ISRC into the TrackForge ISRC Lookup tool at [trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup](https://trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup). The tool queries Spotify, reads TrackForge's copies of MusicBrainz's data and The MLC's bulk data, and returns metadata, writer and publisher details, and any conflicts between sources. No account is required and the tool is free to use. ### What is the difference between ISRC and ISWC? An ISRC identifies a specific **sound recording** (the master). An ISWC identifies the underlying **musical work** (the composition). One song written by Lennon & McCartney can have dozens of ISRCs — one for every cover recording — but only one ISWC. ISRCs route performance and master royalties; ISWCs route songwriter and publishing royalties. ### Why would an ISRC not be registered with The MLC? The MLC only tracks US mechanical rights for musical works. If a recording is unreleased in the US, if the songwriter has not filed a work registration (CWR), or if the publisher has not linked the sound recording to the work, the ISRC will return no MLC match. This is one of the most common causes of trapped mechanical royalties. ### Can I look up many ISRCs at once? Yes. Switch the tool into Batch mode and paste your ISRCs, one per line or comma-separated. The tool splits them into groups of 50 and sends two groups at a time; each group has about 45 seconds. An ISRC whose lookup has not finished by then is shown as Not checked: nothing is known about it yet, and you can look it up again. Results can be exported to CSV for spreadsheet analysis or to a branded PDF report. For full-catalogue cross-referencing across 7+ sources (including ASCAP, PRS, SoundExchange, and more), [request a TrackForge Assay](mailto:hello@trackforge.studio?subject=TrackForge%20Assay%20Request). ### Is my ISRC data stored when I use this tool? The ISRCs you look up are logged with the result, the browser or client name, the referring site and a keyed one-way hash of your IP address (never the address itself), so we can see how the tool is used. No account, name or email is collected. Spotify is queried live; MusicBrainz data comes from TrackForge's copy of MusicBrainz's public data, and MLC data from The MLC's bulk data feed as of the date shown with each result. ### What does "MLC song code" mean? The MLC song code is the unique identifier The MLC assigns to a musical work in its database. It is the key into MLC's writer and publisher share data, and it is how US mechanical royalties are routed to rights-holders. When no MLC work is linked to a recording, the work may be unregistered, or registered but not yet matched to the recording. The verdict's next step says whether a registered work with the same title exists. ### How accurate are the conflict flags? The tool flags differences between sources; it does not judge which source is correct. A conflict simply means "the sources disagree — investigate." In practice, Spotify tends to hold label-provided commercial metadata, MusicBrainz holds community-maintained editorial metadata, and The MLC holds publisher-filed work registrations. Each has its own provenance, so genuine conflicts are common and meaningful. --- ## From Lookup to Assay The free ISRC Lookup tool is a sample of what TrackForge's full **Assay** reveals. The Assay cross-references your entire catalogue across 7+ sources — including MLC ownership chains, SoundExchange, ASCAP, PRS, and Spotify — to quantify trapped royalties, flag duplicate registrations, and produce a cryptographically verifiable evidence bundle. To request an Assay, email [hello@trackforge.studio](mailto:hello@trackforge.studio?subject=TrackForge%20Assay%20Request). --- ## Related Reading - [ISRC Registration Gaps](https://trackforge.studio/research/isrc-registration-gaps) — The 45-point gap between Spotify coverage and MLC work registration, where $569.9M in mechanical royalties disappear. - [The Unclaimed Economy](https://trackforge.studio/research/unclaimed-economy) — 4.25M works with unclaimed US mechanical royalties at the MLC, cross-referenced against 12 data sources. - [Where the Money Goes: Royalty Leakage Map](https://trackforge.studio/research/royalty-leakage-map) — 12 lifecycle stages where music royalties disappear, 160+ failure modes across 15 data sources. - [CWR Workbench](https://trackforge.studio/cwr-tool) — Create Common Works Registration 2.1 files, check and read existing .V21 files, and understand society ACK responses in one free browser workbench. - [Why TrackForge](https://trackforge.studio/why) — The case for independent catalogue verification. --- ## Privacy and Disclaimer **Privacy.** Each lookup is logged — the ISRCs requested, the result, the browser or client name, the referring site and a keyed one-way hash of your IP address (never the address itself) — to understand how the tool is used. No account, name or email is collected. **Disclaimer.** This tool queries Spotify and reads TrackForge's copies of MusicBrainz's data and The MLC's bulk data as of the date shown; it may return incomplete data. Always verify results independently before making business decisions. By using this tool you agree to our [Terms of Service](https://trackforge.studio/terms) and [Privacy Policy](https://trackforge.studio/privacy). --- Source: [https://trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup](https://trackforge.studio/isrc-lookup)