International Standard Musical Work Code
unique identifier for musical works
The International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) is a unique identifier for musical works, similar to the book's ISBN. It is adopted as international standard ISO 15707. The ISO subcommittee responsible for the standard is TC 46/SC 9.
Format
Each code is composed of three parts:
prefix element (1 character)
work identifier (9 digits)
check digit (1 digit)
Currently, the only prefix defined is "T," indicating Musical works. However, additional prefixes may be defined in the future to expand the available range of identifiers and/or expand the system to additional types of works.
Computation of the check digit
With
d
i
{\displaystyle d_{i}}
: one of the nine digits of the work identifier (i=1 to 9) from left to right.
C
{\displaystyle C}
: check digit.
S
=
1
+
∑
i
=
1
i
=
9
i
d
i
{\displaystyle S=1+\sum _{i=1}^{i=9}id_{i}}
C
=
(
10
−
(
S
mod
10
)
)
mod
10
{\displaystyle C=(10-(S\mod 10))\mod 10}
Example: T-034.524.680-C
S
=
1
+
0
+
6
+
12
+
20
+
10
+
24
+
42
+
64
+
0
=
179
{\displaystyle S=1+0+6+12+20+10+24+42+64+0=179}
C
=
(
10
−
(
S
mod
10
)
)
mod
10
{\displaystyle C=(10-(S\mod 10))\mod 10}
C
=
(
10
−
(
179
mod
10
)
)
mod
10
{\displaystyle C=(10-(179\mod 10))\mod 10}
C
=
(
10
−
9
)
mod
10
{\displaystyle C=(10-9)\mod 10}
C
=
1
{\displaystyle C=1}
ISWC identifiers are commonly written the form T-123.456.789-C. The grouping is for easy reading only; the numbers do not incorporate information about the work's region, author, publisher, etc. Rather, they are simply issued in sequence. These separators are not required, and no other separators are allowed.
The first ISWC was assigned in 1995, for the song "Dancing Queen" by ABBA; the code is T-000.000.001-0.
The public source identifies “International Standard Musical Work Code” as unique identifier for musical works. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around International, Standard and Musical.
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