What an IPI number is, and why your PRO keeps asking for it
46 · · 15 min read · Español
An IPI number is the eleven-digit number the collecting societies use to identify you — a writer, composer or publisher — as distinct from every other party with your name. Every form asks for it because the societies route money to parties by that number, through one central system they all share, and a name is not a key in that system. So the same eleven digits keep coming up, and the form is not being difficult. It is asking for the only thing about you that every society spells the same way.
- An IPI Name Number is an eleven-digit identifier for a writer, composer or publisher. It is assigned by the society you join and stored centrally in the IPI system, which every collecting society exchanges data through.
- There are two numbers, and you give out one. The IP Name Number is public and is what every form means by “IPI”. The IP Base Number sits underneath it and is not communicated outside the system.
- Every name you publish under has its own IPI Name Number, and a work registration must use the name — and the number — the work will be published under.
- A self-administered songwriter holds two: a writer IPI and a publisher IPI. The MLC states that such writers can and should have both.
- Your own number is in your society’s member portal and in its admission confirmation; anyone else’s is in the public repertory search of their society. A name search can return several people; the number from the person is the one to trust.
What is an IPI number, and what does it identify?
An IPI number identifies a party with an interest in a musical work — a writer, composer or publisher — and never the work itself.
SUISA, the Swiss society that runs the system, defines it in one sentence: “The IPI number is the international identification number of an author or publisher and is used to uniquely identify the parties involved in a work.” It is eleven digits, it is stored centrally in the IPI system, and SUISA operates that system on behalf of CISAC. CISAC’s own statement of purpose is longer and worth reading once, because it says what the number is for: “the globally unique identification of a natural person or legal entity with an interest in an artistic work across all categories of works, different roles in relation to a work (composer, arranger, publisher, etc.) and the corresponding rights in a work.”
A natural person or a legal entity. Not a song, not a recording, not a release. Three of the codes on your paperwork travel with the music and one travels with you — the four-code map makes that argument in full, and this piece does not repeat it. What the system holds about you has the shape of a passport rather than a catalogue: SUISA lists the name, the dates, the nationality and the society you belong to, and says the point of holding it centrally is that “rights management can be guaranteed at international level.”
Older forms say CAE. The number is the same, and BMI’s Songview FAQ files the two names in one sentence — the identifier “was sometimes referred to as a CAE number.” The rest of the aliases, and whether one person can hold several, are answered in the map’s FAQ, so they are not answered again here.
Why does every form ask for it?
Because societies pay by matching the party on a registration to a number, and the IPI Name Number is the one number every society shares.
SUISA’s description of the system is a description of plumbing: the numbers are “an essential part of the global data exchange between the collective management organisations,” and the reason to hold one record per party in one place is that “rightsholders can be easily identified.” The MLC says the same from the other side of the ocean, and from a different kind of collector: the standard is “widely used by performing rights organizations around the world to ensure that the royalties they pay are routed to the appropriate party.” One sentence, two organisations, and neither of them is talking about your name.
Now count the places that have asked. Your PRO’s work registration — SUISA’s rule is that a registration carries the name and the number “that will later be published in the works database.” The MLC’s, where a writer is searched for “by the writer’s name or their IPI number.” The split sheet, which asks for one per writer. And the ISWC, which cannot be allocated until every creator’s name number is on the form — the order of operations the map already set out. Four forms, one field, because each of them is trying to find the same you.
The MLC’s own position on the field is the clearest sentence in this whole subject. It “does not require any of these identifiers to be provided when becoming a Member or registering a work/song with us. However, including this information is strongly recommended.” “Not required, strongly recommended” is how a form says please.
None of those forms is asking about the money, and neither is this page: what each registration pays, and whether to join The MLC at all, are their own questions. And the field is not an American habit. SOCAN’s privacy policy says it draws party data from the IPI system and from CIS-Net, and that its Public Repertoire may publish members’ “names, work numbers, affiliated societies and IPI numbers.” The number is the one thing about you that Toronto, Nashville and Zurich all read the same way.
Which of my IPI numbers goes on the form?
The IP Name Number for the name the work will be published under; the IP Base Number is internal and never goes on a form.
The system holds two kinds of number. SUISA: the IP name number “is always linked to a name, e.g. the civil name (patronym) or the pseudonym,” while the IP base number links all of a person’s name numbers together and “is not communicated to the outside world.” The MLC says it plainer: the base number “is usually kept private,” and the name number “is available to everyone to see publicly and generally referred to as simply the IPI.” When a form says IPI, it means the name number. Every time.
Every name you have published under has its own. SUISA generates additional numbers for pseudonyms, name changes and spellings, and “All IPI numbers of a rightsholder are linked to each other in the IPI system.” One person, several public names, one private key underneath. Linnaeus did this for beetles.
The rule that decides the field is the one about publication. SUISA’s work registrations must use “the name (and the corresponding IPI number) that will later be published in the works database” — and a new pseudonym is notified to the society before a work is registered under it, not after. So the question is never “which number is mine.” They are all yours. The question is which name this song is going out under, and that name’s number goes on the form. The society rolls the money up afterwards: “The remuneration collected for all IPI numbers of a person or a publisher is summarised in one statement.”
One shape to watch for. The international format is eleven digits, and a nine-digit number from an older registration is the same number with the leading zeros dropped; the Harry Fox Agency’s own example is the fix — “123456789 becomes 00123456789.”
Do I need a writer IPI and a publisher IPI?
Yes, if you administer your own publishing: The MLC states that self-administered songwriters can and should have both a writer IPI and a publisher IPI.
The MLC’s split is exact: “If you join as a writer, you will be issued a writer IPI. If you join as a publisher, the PRO will assign a publisher IPI.” And on the case most self-releasing writers are in: “Self-administered songwriters can and should have BOTH a writer IPI and a publisher IPI.” The capitals are The MLC’s.
Why two. CISAC’s definition covers “a natural person or legal entity,” and a publisher is a party with its own interest in the work — even when the publisher is you, wearing a different hat and collecting a different share. The MLC’s identifiers page lists who holds which: songwriters, composers and lyricists carry writer IPIs; publishers and publishing administrators carry publisher IPIs. Two parties on the registration, two numbers, one person behind both.
What the second number unlocks is concrete. The MLC’s registration guide opens its Bulk Works Registration Tool to members with a publisher IPI, which is the difference between filing a catalogue and filing a catalogue one song at a time. What it costs to join a society as a publisher, and how a society admits one, is that society’s own page; nothing here states a fee or a procedure.
Where do I find my own IPI number?
In your society’s member portal and in the admission confirmation it sent when you joined; SUISA also prints it on every statement.
SUISA is the most specific, because it runs the system: “SUISA provides the personal IPI number with its admission confirmation,” every number a member holds is listed in the member portal under “Membership data,” and “The IPI number of the patronym is printed on the first page of each settlement statement.” The email you got when you joined. The account page. Page one of every statement since. It has been in three places all along, and none of them was the place you looked.
For a US writer, The MLC gives the route: “If you have already joined a PRO, you can find your IPI by going to that PRO’s website and searching for either your writer name or publishing entity in the PRO’s repertory database.” Your own number is public, so the public search finds it. For a Canadian writer, SOCAN’s own magazine states who issues it — “The IPI is assigned by a PRO (which is SOCAN in Canada) to its members” — and SOCAN’s Public Repertoire lists it beside the name.
Two gaps, stated once. ASCAP’s help pages refuse automated reads, so nothing about ASCAP’s portal is stated here. SOCAN publishes no readable page on where in its member portal the number sits, so this piece says that SOCAN assigns it and that the repertoire shows it, and stops.
How do I get a co-writer’s or a publisher’s IPI number?
Ask the person, at the session; failing that, search their society’s public repertory, where the number is listed beside the name on their works.
The template already says to get it from the person in the room, and that is the whole instruction while the room exists. The person is standing right there holding it, and a year from now they will be a search result.
The search works, and it is public. The MLC’s route is the PRO’s repertory database, searched by writer name or publishing entity. SOCAN’s is searchable “by entering the title of the song or composition, the name of any of its co-writers or music publishers, or by the work identifier number,” the results click through to writers, publishers and titles, and “The repertoire search is public, open to anyone.” For a publisher trying to find a creator’s number, the ISWC Agency built a tool for exactly that: an “ISWC IPI Context Search” that “allows music publishers to search for creator IPI numbers using a creator’s name.”
What the search cannot settle. A name is not unique; a number is. Search a common stage name and the repertory hands you several people with the same one, and from the outside there is no way to tell which is your co-writer — unless you know a title they wrote and can click through to it. And a co-writer who administers their own publishing holds two numbers, a writer one and a publisher one, so a form asking for the writer’s IPI wants the writer one. When in doubt, go back to the person. The search is the fallback, and it is a good one, and it is still a fallback.
What happens when the IPI is missing or wrong?
The MLC accepts a registration without one and recommends against it; a work cannot receive an ISWC until every creator’s number is supplied.
Missing, first. The MLC’s position is quoted above — not required, strongly recommended — and the reason it is recommended is the sentence that precedes it, that the number is how “the royalties they pay are routed to the appropriate party.” A registration filed by name alone is asking the collector to match a spelling. Upstream, the ISWC Agency’s condition is not a recommendation: “Complete metadata must be provided, including the Original Title and the IPI Name Numbers and Roles of all creators included in the work.” No number, no ISWC — that order of operations is the map’s, and it does not bend.
Wrong, second, and there are two ways. The first is a number that is real and not the right one — a name number for a pseudonym the song is not going out under. SUISA’s rule cuts the other way: the registration carries the name and number that will be published, so a song filed under the wrong name’s number is a song filed under the wrong name. The second is not an IPI at all — a society account number typed into the IPI field, which BMI warns against on its own FAQ and the map quotes. Both are corrected with your society. No society publishes a readable procedure for the correction, so none is described here.
What to do before the next registration
Find your name numbers, decide which name each work publishes under, get every co-writer’s number in the room, and file the same number everywhere.
- Find every name number you hold. Admission email, member portal, page one of a statement. If you administer your own publishing, find the publisher one too.
- Decide the published name per work, and use that name’s number. A pseudonym is notified before the registration, not after.
- Get every co-writer’s number at the session and write it on the split sheet. A name is a search; a number is a match.
- Check that the field holds an IPI and not an account number. Eleven digits; a nine-digit one takes two leading zeros.
- File the same number on every registration for the same name. The societies exchange by number, and one wrong digit is a different party.
That covers the next form. For the catalogue behind it — every work registered by name since the first one — the audit checklist’s registrations layer asks one question per writer, and this page is the answer to the one about IPI numbers.
FAQ
Do I need to join a PRO to get an IPI number?
Yes. The number is assigned when you join a collective management organisation, in SUISA’s words, and The MLC states that it “is assigned the first time a songwriter, composer, lyricist, or other rightsholder registers with a performing rights organization.” None of the sources describes another route: there is no form to request one, and no number arrives before a membership does.
Is my IPI number private?
The name number is public by design, and the base number is not. The MLC describes the IP Name Number as “available to everyone to see publicly,” SOCAN’s Public Repertoire lists members’ IPI numbers beside their names, and the base number underneath, in SUISA’s words, “is not communicated to the outside world.” Handing a co-writer your name number gives away nothing a public search would not.
Can I put my IPI on a split sheet before the song is registered anywhere?
Yes. The number is assigned to you when you join a society and belongs to you, not to any work, so it exists before the song does. Write it on the split sheet at the session, in the field the template keeps for it; that sheet is the document every later registration gets copied from.
Sources
- SUISA, What is the IPI number? — the definition; eleven digits; the system as the global data exchange between collective management organisations; a number assigned on joining a society; what the record holds; the IP name number always linked to a name and the IP base number not communicated outside the system; additional numbers for pseudonyms, all linked; the admission confirmation, the member portal and the first page of every statement; one statement for all of a party’s numbers; registrations carrying the name and number that will be published, and a pseudonym notified beforehand.
- CISAC, IPI — the purpose of the Interested Party Information system as the globally unique identification of a natural person or legal entity with an interest in an artistic work; that the base number is allocated automatically; and that SUISA administers the system under CISAC and BIEM standards.
- The MLC, All About the IPI — the two numbers; the base number usually kept private and the name number public and “generally referred to as simply the IPI”; writer IPI and publisher IPI; that self-administered songwriters can and should have both; and finding your own number in your PRO’s repertory database.
- The MLC, Know Your Identifiers — who carries a writer IPI and who a publisher IPI; the standard’s use by performing rights organisations worldwide to route royalties; assignment on first registering with a PRO; and The MLC’s position that no identifier is required and that including it is strongly recommended.
- The MLC, How to register works in The MLC Portal — a writer searched by name or by IPI number, and the Bulk Works Registration Tool for members with a publisher IPI.
- ISWC International Agency, ISWC for Creators and Publishers — that complete metadata including the IPI Name Numbers and Roles of all creators must be provided for an ISWC, and the ISWC IPI Context Search for publishers.
- SOCAN, Privacy Policy — that SOCAN collects party data from the IPI System maintained by SUISA and from CIS-Net, and that its Public Repertoire may include members’ names, work numbers, affiliated societies and IPI numbers.
- SOCAN, Words and Music, Important Codes & Numbers — that the IPI is assigned by a PRO, SOCAN in Canada, to its members, and that CAE is the older term.
- SOCAN, Words and Music, SOCAN enhances repertoire search — the search by title, co-writer, publisher or work number; results that click through; and that the search is public.
- BMI, Songview FAQ — the definition of the IPI number and that it was formerly called a CAE number. BMI’s main FAQ entry on the IPI, which the four-code map quotes for the account-number warning, returned 404 to automated reads on the date at the top of this piece, and ASCAP’s equivalent pages refuse them outright, so nothing here is cited to either page.
- Harry Fox Agency, What is an IPI Number? — the eleven-digit international format and the leading-zero example for a nine-digit number.
Every page cited here was read on the date at the top of this piece. Society portals, help pages and procedures change without notice, and several refused to be read at all — ASCAP’s, APRA AMCOS’s and PRS for Music’s among them — which is why nothing here is cited to them and why no claim is made about whether the number follows you when you change societies. Confirm anything operational against your own society’s pages before you act on it.
Keeping the register
Every registration on this page asks the same question of the same record: who is this party, and which of their numbers is this one. CatalogTracker keeps the IPI and the PRO on each party, beside the name, rather than in whichever email thread last carried it, and searches the catalogue by ISRC, ISWC, UPC, GRid, ISNI or IPI, saying which one matched. It registers nothing with anybody. It means the number is where the next form can read it. In development for iPhone.