Tuesday, June 27th, 2023.
Hey, it’s TJ Miller, “you want some game?” Let's #tipundathehat!
For the best indie music from indie artists, click, and follow Indie Artist Of The Week Unda The Hat. This week, Asha Imuno. Be sure to hit the like button and follow this amazing group of indie artists. They will be big time soon.
Are we just talking in codes 🤫 - Let’s go -
The first thing we want to do is show solidarity with the great minds, creatives, and writers of the WGA that are on strike. Why was there no host at the BET Awards? No writers! If you watched it, how did that work out for them? 🤔✊🏽 Writers - We stand with you!! ✊🏽🎩
Ok for the past few weeks we we've been on advertising stuff like cost per click while doing Google ads and whatnot. So let's take a few steps back, take off the advertiser hat and go unda the music admin hat. Yeah as a DIY musician, you got a lotta hats to wear. So after you get done making that hit single...wait you do think it's a hit right? If not, go back in the studio and fix it. Ok, now that you've got that right, there is a bit of paperwork that has to get done. Being that your single is going to be digital, you're going to need an ISRC code. Don't think too hard about this one though, because your digital distributor will help you. This is more or less information for you to know what it is and why it
is. The ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a 12-digit code assigned to a unique recording of a specific song. The ISRC is considered the “digital fingerprint” of a recordings distinct identity and allows the tracking of critical metadata like sales, streams, radio station plays, and the composition’s author(s), performer(s), label, and UPC (Universal Product Code). Additionally, the code is required for any songs that you plan to offer for streaming on all DSPs like Spotify and ‘nem.
Just like a fingerprint, there's only one ISRC code issued per track. Moreover, an ISRC can never represent more than one unique track. ISRCs are encoded and provide the means to automatically identify recording royalties. This means that they are used by your PROs (Publishing Rights Organizations) and other collecting societies. Can’t get paid without one.
Now you might ask yourself, what’s the difference between an ISRC code and a UPC code? UPCs are for complete album sales and ISRC codes are for individual single song sales. Back in the day, UPC (barcodes) were utilized to track sales of physical products like CDs, Vinyl, and cassettes at retail. Ultimately that information was sent to Soundscan and then on to Billboard for the chart numbers. Boy, do I have some stories to tell about them days!!! Anywho….. Being that each recording has a unique ISRC linked to it, this code should never be reused or repurposed. For example, if an artist plans on releasing a 15-song album for public consumption, they would need to assign it 15 separate ISRCs — one for each track. This includes instrumentals, remixes, and covers, all of which require different ISRCs than the original recording. So let’s say you are with one distribution company like TuneCore and decide to move your track to another company like CDbaby just to be organized and have everything in one spot. You can bring that ISRC code over to the new company no need to change it. However, if you need to make a radio edit and just shave off eight seconds of the intro you will need a new ISRC code. Lastly, remember I said your distribution company will help you out? Well, when you release on any of the digital distributors they will issue you one. But if you are really hardcore about your ownership you can buy your own at isrc.com.
This week's #IAOTW - Independent Artists Of The Week is - Asha Imuno 
This 21-year-old artist & producer from Moreno Valley, CA, is signed to LA label Guin Records. His breakout single called ZIG ZAGGING has crossed over 10M streams independently. Click on his name link, scroll down to his picture, then click and support. You won’t believe how talented this cat is.
For more information on this or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next week!!