What Is an IPI Number and How to Get One for Free

An IPI number is a unique international identifier assigned to every songwriter, composer and music publisher in the global royalty system. You do not apply for one directly, and you never pay for it: you receive it automatically when you join a collecting society as a writer member. It stays with you for your entire career, no matter how many times you change publishers, distributors, or even societies.

That is the short answer. The longer answer is why this one identifier quietly decides whether your publishing royalties reach you at all.

What is an IPI number in music?

IPI stands for Interested Parties Information. It is the database, run under CISAC, that connects people to musical works. When a collecting society anywhere in the world processes a royalty for one of your songs, your IPI number is how it knows the money belongs to you and not to another songwriter with a similar name.

Technically there are two numbers. The IP Base Number identifies you as a person and is mostly kept private. The IP Name Number, usually 9 to 11 digits, is assigned to each name you write under, and this is the number everyone means when they say "IPI". If you write under a legal name and a pseudonym, you will have a separate IPI name number for each. You may also see the older term CAE number: same thing, renamed.

One distinction saves a lot of confusion. An IPI identifies a person. An ISWC identifies a song. An ISRC identifies a recording. We wrote a separate guide to the difference between ISWC and ISRC, because mixing them up is one of the most common metadata mistakes there is.

How to get an IPI number for free

You cannot request an IPI on its own. It is created as part of joining a collecting society (also called a PRO in the US, or an authors' society in much of Europe). The process:

1. Join your society as a writer member. In Europe that means the society in your country: PRS for Music in the UK, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, Artisjus in Hungary, BumaStemra in the Netherlands, STIM in Sweden, and so on. In some countries you can also join an independent management entity instead: in Spain, for example, Unison, the coordinator of the Artistic Futures project. Membership for writers is free or low-cost at most European societies. In the US, BMI is free for songwriters and ASCAP charges a one-time 50 dollar fee.

2. The IPI is assigned automatically. The society registers you in the international IPI system as part of onboarding. Depending on the society this takes anywhere from a day to a few weeks.

3. Record it somewhere safe. You will need it for split sheets, work registrations, sync paperwork, and any situation where you identify yourself in the rights system.

One more step if you self-publish: societies and licensing bodies recommend having both a writer IPI and a publisher IPI, so you can collect both shares of your royalties. Ask your society about registering a self-publishing entity when you join.

How to find your IPI number

Already a member somewhere? Your IPI is not hidden. Check, in order:

• Your society's member portal, usually on your profile or account page
• Any royalty statement your society has sent you
• Your society's public repertoire search: search your own name and the IPI is typically listed next to it

If you find nothing, you are likely not registered as a writer anywhere, which has bigger consequences than a missing number.

Do you need an IPI number for DistroKid or your distributor?

Here is where most self-releasing artists get caught. Your distributor never asks for an IPI, and it does not need one: distribution covers the recording side of your royalties, which routes through ISRCs, not IPIs. So everything looks complete. You upload, the streams count, money arrives.

But every one of those streams also generates a publishing royalty for the composition, and that money moves through the collecting society system, which runs on IPIs. No society membership means no IPI, no work registrations, and nowhere for that money to land. It accrues in unmatched pools instead. We broke down that two-royalty split in how songwriters get paid from Spotify, and what happens to the stranded money in our guide to unclaimed royalties in Europe.

Some distributors sell publishing administration as an add-on that collects part of this for you. Read what it actually covers carefully. In most cases you still benefit from being a society member with your own IPI.

What happens without one

Nothing dramatic. That is the problem. Your releases go live, your recording royalties arrive, and the publishing side of your income accrues quietly in pools you have never heard of, under deadlines you are not watching. In our survey of 60 independent artists, one in four named the rights section as the part of releasing music they understand least. The IPI is a good place to start fixing that: one registration, one number, and the system can finally find you.

Frequently asked questions

Is an IPI number the same as a CAE number?

Yes. CAE (Compositeur, Auteur, Editeur) is the old name for the same identifier. Some forms and older databases still use it.

Can I have more than one IPI number?

Yes. You get one IP name number per name you work under, so a legal name and a pseudonym each have their own. They all link back to you.

Does my IPI change if I switch collecting societies?

No. The IPI is international and permanent. If you move from one society to another, your number moves with you.

Is an IPI number the same as an ISWC or ISRC?

No. The IPI identifies you as a person. The ISWC identifies a musical work, and the ISRC identifies a specific recording. All three need to be right for royalties to flow.

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