If you have started learning about music publishing, you have probably encountered another acronym that seems unnecessarily complicated: IPI.
Your distributor asks for an ISRC.
Your publishing administrator asks for an IPI.
A collection society may display an ISWC.
Your PRO gives you a membership number.
At first glance, all of these can look like different versions of the same thing.
They are not.
An IPI identifies a person or organization that has an interest in copyrighted works. In music publishing, that usually means a songwriter, composer, arranger or publisher.
It does not identify a recording.
It does not identify a song as a musical work.
And it is not simply your account number with ASCAP, BMI, PRS or another performing rights organization.
Understanding that distinction is important because IPI information is one of the ways the global publishing ecosystem connects compositions with the people and companies that should ultimately receive royalties.
What Does IPI Mean?
IPI stands for Interested Party Information.
The IPI system is maintained as part of CISAC's global rights-data infrastructure and is used to identify natural persons and legal entities with interests in creative works.
CISAC describes the purpose of the system as providing globally unique identification for interested parties across different creative roles, including composers, arrangers and publishers. It is also an important part of the information exchanged between collective management organizations around the world. CISAC
The simplest way to think about it is:
IPI identifies the person or organization behind the rights.
If you are a songwriter, the IPI system helps distinguish you from another songwriter with a similar or identical name.
If you operate a publishing company, the publishing entity can also be represented within the IPI system.
That matters because global music rights databases cannot safely rely on names alone.
There may be thousands of creators called John Smith, Maria Garcia or Alex Brown.
A unique identifier gives rights organizations a more reliable way to know which person is actually being referenced.
Why Does an IPI Number Exist?
Imagine two songwriters called Daniel Lee.
Both write pop music.
Both have works registered internationally.
One lives in Canada and the other lives in Australia.
If royalty systems only relied on the text "Daniel Lee," it would be extremely easy for works or payments to become associated with the wrong person.
The IPI system helps solve that identity problem.
It creates a persistent identity layer that societies, publishers and other music-rights organizations can use when documenting who is connected to a musical work.
This becomes even more important when a song has multiple writers.
A single composition might involve a lyricist, composer, producer with a writing share, publisher, sub-publisher and publishing administrator.
Every party needs to be correctly identified.
Publishing at global scale is therefore not only about copyright law.
It is also a data-management problem.
Is an IPI Number the Same as a PRO Membership Number?
No.
This is one of the most common mistakes songwriters make.
Your IPI and your account or membership number with your performing rights organization are not necessarily the same thing.
BMI, for example, explicitly warns members not to use their BMI account number as their IPI when registering works. BMI describes IPI/CAE as an international identification number used to identify writers and publishers participating in a work. Broadcast Music, Inc.
Your PRO account number primarily helps that organization manage your account.
Your IPI exists within an international rights-identification system.
If a form asks for your IPI, do not simply paste whatever number appears at the top of your PRO dashboard.
Verify what the number actually represents.
What Does CAE Mean?
You may sometimes see the term CAE/IPI instead of simply IPI.
CAE stands for Composer, Author and Publisher.
CAE was an earlier identification system that preceded the modern IPI framework, and the terminology remains common in some rights systems and interfaces.
This is why you may encounter labels such as:
CAE Number
IPI Number
CAE/IPI Number
In practical music-publishing workflows, these terms are often used around the same songwriter or publisher identification data.
If a publishing platform asks for an IPI/CAE, it is usually asking for the rights-holder identifier associated with your songwriter or publishing identity, not your distributor account or recording identifier.
IPI Base Number vs IPI Name Number
This is where the subject becomes more nuanced.
People frequently say, "My IPI number," as though there is only one type of number in the system.
CISAC's infrastructure actually distinguishes between an IP Base Number and IP Name Numbers.
The IP Base Number uniquely identifies the interested party itself.
That means the actual person or legal entity.
Separate IP Name Numbers can then represent names connected with that party.
For example, a songwriter might write under:
their legal name;
a professional songwriter name;
and an alternative name or alias.
Those names can be associated with the same underlying interested party.
CISAC's current system documentation shows both the IP Base Number and the IP Name Number as separate pieces of information. cis-wiki.cisac.org
This distinction explains something that often confuses creators: you may search a repertory database and see more than one number connected to different versions of your name without necessarily being multiple completely different people in the rights system.
Can One Songwriter Have More Than One IPI Number?
The answer depends on what someone means by "IPI number."
At the identity level, the IPI system is designed to avoid creating duplicate identities for the same interested party. CISAC's rules instruct societies not to allocate a new IPI to somebody who already has an existing IPI record. CISAC
However, multiple name numbers can exist for different names or aliases connected to that person.
BMI gives a practical example of this. It states that writers with multiple names or AKAs may have multiple IPI/CAE numbers displayed for those names and instructs members to use the number corresponding to the name under which the work is being registered. Broadcast Music, Inc.
So if you see multiple numbers connected to yourself, do not immediately assume something is wrong.
First determine whether you are looking at:
your base identity;
a name-specific record;
an alias;
or a separate publishing entity.
Those are different situations.
Do Songwriters and Publishers Have Different IPI Information?
They can.
A songwriter is one interested party.
A publishing company is another legal entity and can have its own rights-holder identity.
This becomes particularly relevant for self-administered songwriters who establish a publishing entity.
The MLC, for example, explains that writers and publishers need to be identified correctly and notes that a self-administered songwriter may need both writer and publisher information when registering works within publishing systems. pages.themlc.com
Do not assume that your songwriter IPI automatically represents a publishing company you operate.
If a form asks specifically for Publisher IPI, verify that you are providing the identifier for the publishing entity rather than simply repeating the songwriter's details.
How Do You Get an IPI Number?
For most songwriters, the IPI process begins when they affiliate with a performing rights organization or collective management organization.
When your affiliation is processed, the relevant rights organization submits and maintains your information within the international IPI ecosystem.
You generally do not need to approach CISAC and manually create your own identifier as though you were creating a social media account.
The rights organization handling your affiliation manages that process.
Examples of organizations that may participate in this broader ecosystem include BMI, ASCAP, PRS, GEMA, SACEM and many other national or regional societies.
The specific membership rules depend on the society and country involved.
How Long Does It Take to Receive an IPI?
There is no universal processing time that applies to every society.
An IPI may not appear immediately after you complete a PRO membership application.
Your society first needs to process your affiliation and the relevant information then has to become available through the appropriate rights databases.
If you recently joined a society and cannot find your IPI yet, that does not automatically mean your registration failed.
Check your member portal first.
If it is still unavailable after your membership has been fully processed, contact the society that registered you.
Avoid creating additional affiliations or duplicate identities simply because a number did not appear immediately.
Duplicate metadata tends to create more problems than waiting for the original information to propagate correctly.
Where Can You Find Your IPI Number?
The best place to start is the organization with which you are affiliated.
Many PROs display IPI information inside their member portals or repertory databases.
BMI, for example, allows creators to locate their IPI information through its Online Services and through Songview. Its documentation also notes that each registered legal name or AKA can have its own associated number. Broadcast Music, Inc.
Depending on your affiliation, you may also find IPI information in public repertory search systems.
If you are unsure which number is correct, compare the following information:
your legal or professional name;
your PRO affiliation;
your existing registered works;
and, if applicable, your publisher name.
Do not guess.
Publishing data can remain attached to a catalog for years.
It is worth verifying the correct identity before registering dozens of works.
Is an IPI Number Public?
IPI information is used throughout the music-rights ecosystem and some repertory databases expose songwriter and publisher IPI information publicly.
BMI, for example, describes IPI/CAE as publicly accessible identification information and makes it searchable through Songview. Broadcast Music, Inc.
This is different from a private account credential.
An IPI is not a password.
It is not a secret authentication token.
Knowing somebody's IPI does not give you access to their royalty account.
This is another reason why confusing an IPI with a private PRO account number can be problematic.
The two serve very different purposes.
Does an IPI Prove Copyright Ownership?
No.
An IPI identifies an interested party.
It does not, by itself, prove that the person owns a particular percentage of a composition.
Imagine a songwriter has a valid IPI.
That proves the rights ecosystem has an identity record for that songwriter.
It does not prove that they wrote 50% of a specific song.
Ownership of a musical work depends on the actual rights and agreements surrounding the composition.
The work registration connects those parties with the relevant shares.
So if somebody sends you an IPI number during a copyright dispute, treat it as identification information, not automatic proof of ownership.
You still need to understand the work registration, agreed songwriting splits and any relevant publishing agreements.
Why Is an IPI Important for Song Registration?
Because a songwriter's name alone is not reliable enough.
When a musical work is registered, publishing systems need to associate the composition with the correct writers and publishers.
Adding the correct IPI helps remove ambiguity.
Suppose your collaborator registers a song and enters your name incorrectly.
Or there are several writers around the world with the exact same professional name.
Without reliable identity information, it becomes harder for societies and administrators to know which rightsholder should be connected to the work.
Correct IPI information creates a stronger link between:
the composition;
the songwriter;
the publisher;
and the rights organizations responsible for administering the work.
That relationship ultimately matters for royalty accounting.
Can a Wrong IPI Cause Royalty Problems?
Potentially, yes.
Publishing royalties depend heavily on accurate rights data.
If the wrong creator is connected to a work, or the correct creator cannot be confidently matched, the registration may require additional investigation or correction.
In December 2025, CISAC launched an ISWC IPI Context Search specifically to help publishers identify creator IPI information more accurately. CISAC noted that missing or incorrect IPI information can contribute to registration delays, misallocation and royalty problems. CISAC
This is a useful reminder that identifiers are not pointless administrative details.
They exist because global publishing systems need a reliable way to connect millions of works with millions of interested parties.
What Is the Difference Between IPI and ISRC?
These identifiers operate on completely different sides of music rights.
An IPI identifies a person or legal entity with an interest in a work.
An ISRC identifies a particular sound recording or music video recording.
Suppose you write and record a song called Falling Slowly.
You, as the songwriter, have an IPI.
The finished studio recording has an ISRC.
If another artist later records a cover of the same composition, their recording receives a different ISRC.
Your identity as songwriter does not change simply because another master was created.
This difference follows the larger divide between publishing rights and recording rights.
If you need a deeper explanation of recording identifiers, our ISRC guide covers how they behave across remixes, remasters and distributor changes.
What Is the Difference Between IPI and ISWC?
IPI identifies the interested party.
ISWC identifies the musical work.
ISWC stands for International Standard Musical Work Code.
Imagine three people write one song together.
There is one musical composition.
That composition can have an ISWC.
But all three writers have their own rights-holder identities represented through the IPI system.
Conceptually:
IPI → Who?
ISWC → Which composition?
ISRC → Which recording?
This is probably the easiest way to remember all three.
The systems work together because a music catalog contains more than one type of asset.
A songwriter is not a composition.
A composition is not a recording.
And a recording is not the same thing as the person who owns or created it.
IPI vs UPC: Are They Related?
Only indirectly.
A UPC is typically used at the release or product level in digital music distribution.
An IPI exists in the publishing and rights-holder identity layer.
For example, an album could have:
one release-level UPC;
ten tracks with ten ISRCs;
several underlying compositions with ISWCs;
and multiple songwriters with their own IPI information.
All of those identifiers can be involved in the same album.
They simply describe different things.
Our UPC vs ISRC guide explains the recording and release side in more detail:
Read UPC vs ISRC: What’s the Difference?
What Happens to Your IPI If You Change PROs?
Changing your performing rights organization should not mean inventing an entirely new rights-holder identity.
The purpose of IPI is global identification.
CISAC's rules specifically instruct societies not to allocate a new IPI where an interested party already has an existing record in the system. CISAC
There are also practical examples of societies asking transferring songwriters to provide their existing IPI during the transfer process. STIM, for example, includes the songwriter's existing IPI in its instructions for creators moving their affiliation from another society. Stim
Your society affiliation may change.
Your underlying creator identity does not suddenly become a different person.
The important part is making sure your affiliation information is updated correctly rather than creating duplicate identities.
Should You Get a New IPI If You Change Your Artist Name?
Usually, changing an artist or professional name does not mean you need to become a completely new interested party in the publishing system.
This is where IPI Name Numbers become useful.
The IPI structure can associate different names and aliases with the same underlying person.
If you begin writing professionally under a new name, contact your PRO or society and follow its process for adding or updating an alias.
Do not attempt to solve the problem by registering yourself as a completely different songwriter unless the relevant society specifically instructs you to do so.
Maintaining a clean identity history is much better than creating duplicate creator records.
Does Your Stage Name Need an IPI?
Your songwriting identity and artist branding are related but not identical concepts.
If you perform under a stage name but register compositions under your legal name, your existing publishing records may already be sufficient.
If you also write and register works under the professional name, your PRO may need that alias documented in your IPI information.
BMI, for example, maintains separate IPI/CAE information for different names or AKAs associated with a writer. Broadcast Music, Inc.
The best rule is simple:
Use the rights identity that your PRO has actually registered.
Do not invent an IPI for your stage name because a publishing form asks for one.
Do Producers Need IPI Numbers?
If a producer is also a songwriter or composer on the musical work, publishing systems may need their songwriter identity and IPI information.
This is common in modern music.
A producer might create chords, melodies or other compositional elements and receive an agreed writing share.
But being credited as producer does not automatically establish a songwriting share.
Production credit and composition ownership are separate questions.
Before registering a composition, collaborators should agree on who actually owns the songwriting shares.
Once those splits are established, the correct writer identities and IPI information can be attached to the work.
This is why split sheets are valuable.
They settle the rights conversation before the publishing registration begins.
What If a Co-Writer Does Not Have an IPI Yet?
Do not make one up.
A writer who has not yet affiliated with a rights organization may not have IPI information available.
How the work should be registered depends on the society or publishing administrator handling the registration.
The important part is accurately documenting the co-writer's real identity and ownership share.
If that person later affiliates with a society and receives an IPI, the relevant publishing records can be updated according to the administrator's process.
The wrong identifier is generally worse than temporarily having incomplete information.
Does an IPI Collect Royalties?
No.
An IPI is an identifier.
It does not itself collect anything.
This distinction sounds obvious, but it is important.
Receiving an IPI does not mean every publishing royalty from every country will suddenly reach your bank account.
You still need the appropriate rights administration.
Your works need to be properly registered.
Relevant societies, publishers or administrators need to know who controls the rights.
Usage needs to be matched against those registrations.
Your IPI helps those systems identify you throughout the process.
Think of it as part of the addressing system.
It helps tell the rights network who you are.
It is not the entire collection infrastructure.
Do You Need an IPI for Music Distribution?
Usually, standard digital distribution of your master recording does not revolve around your songwriter IPI.
Distribution is primarily concerned with the sound recording.
That is why artists are more likely to encounter ISRC and UPC fields when submitting a release.
IPI becomes much more relevant when you move into publishing administration and composition-level rights management.
This is another example of why music distribution and music publishing should not be treated as interchangeable services.
Distribution handles the release of the recording.
Publishing handles the rights attached to the underlying composition.
We explain the full distinction in our guide to music publishing:
Read What Is Music Publishing?
Why DistroVibe Publishing Asks for IPI Information
DistroVibe Publishing administers composition rights rather than only distributing master recordings.
That means songwriter identity becomes important.
If you already have an existing IPI through a supported rights organization, preserving that information helps connect your publishing profile with the identity that already exists in the international rights ecosystem.
DistroVibe's current publishing service allows creators with existing BMI IPI information to provide it through their publishing profile, while its wider publishing administration is powered through its BMG partnership and global collection network. DistroVibe
The objective is not to create a new identity every time you use a different music service.
The objective is to preserve accurate rights information around the songwriter and the works being administered.
Why Clean IPI Data Matters More as Your Catalog Grows
If you have written two songs, fixing a metadata error is annoying.
If you have written 500 songs across twenty years, it becomes a catalog project.
The same applies to publishers.
A publishing company administering thousands of works cannot realistically solve identity questions manually every time a royalty statement arrives.
That is why global identifier systems matter.
CISAC's IPI infrastructure supports documentation, accounting and royalty-distribution processes across its network of societies. CISAC
For creators, the practical lesson is much simpler:
Keep your rights data organized while the catalog is small.
Know your IPI.
Know your PRO.
Keep a record of the names or aliases under which you register works.
Keep your songwriting splits.
Know whether you have a publishing entity.
Preserve your existing identifiers when you move between services.
Clean data now can prevent years of confusion later.
Common IPI Mistakes Songwriters Should Avoid
Most IPI problems are not complicated technical failures.
They begin with simple assumptions.
A songwriter enters their PRO account number instead of their IPI.
Someone copies another writer's number from an old spreadsheet.
A producer is registered under a nickname that is not connected to their rights identity.
A writer changes societies and somebody creates a duplicate profile.
An independent artist creates a publishing company but continues entering the songwriter's IPI whenever a form asks specifically for a publisher identifier.
None of these situations requires advanced music-industry knowledge to avoid.
They require careful records.
Before submitting publishing information, confirm:
the writer's registered name;
their rights organization;
the correct IPI information;
the agreed writing share;
and any publisher connected with that share.
Do that once correctly and the data becomes much easier to reuse across the catalog.
Your IPI Is Part of Your Publishing Identity
Independent artists are increasingly comfortable managing their own recording metadata.
They know their Spotify artist URL.
They preserve their ISRCs.
They keep their UPCs when transferring releases.
Publishing deserves the same level of attention.
Your IPI is part of the infrastructure that tells the global rights ecosystem who you are as a songwriter or publisher.
It does not determine whether you wrote a song.
It does not prove copyright ownership.
It does not replace your contracts.
And it does not automatically collect every royalty.
But it gives the industry a consistent identifier that can be connected to the musical works in which you have an interest.
That becomes more important every time you register another composition.
If you are just starting out, find your IPI and save it somewhere reliable.
If you use multiple writing names, understand which records belong to them.
If you change PROs, preserve your existing identity instead of assuming you need to start again.
If you create a publishing entity, keep the songwriter and publisher information separate.
And if you use publishing administration, make sure the administrator receives the same accurate rights information that appears in your existing society records.
Music publishing can feel complicated because so many systems are involved.
But most of it comes back to three simple questions:
What is the work?
Who owns it?
And who needs to be paid?
IPI exists to help answer the second and third questions reliably.
For independent songwriters building a catalog, that makes it a small number worth taking seriously.
