MusicTT, COTT launch TT-ISRC educational campaign

The Trinidad and Tobago Music Company Ltd (MusicTT) and the Copyright Music Organisation of TT (COTT) have partnered for the launching of an educational campaign on the International Standard Recording Codes for TT (TT-ISRC).

The campaign, which aims to promote industry development, focuses on educating the music industry stakeholders and the public on the importance and benefits of ISRCs, the process to obtain an ISRC and more. TT-ISRC will enable sound recordings and music videos to be uniquely identified as originating from TT and help to avoid ambiguity and simplify the management of rights when recordings are used across different formats, distribution channels or products, the release said.

The ISRC for a recording remains a fixed point of reference when the recording is used across different services, across borders, or under different licensing deals. COTT is now the national distributing agency for these codes. COTT president Jabari Winchester said the national ISRC implementation will enable TT to have an identity in the international music eco system.

“COTT continues its efforts to ensure efficient and effective representation for all its members. This strategic partnership with MusicTT allows us to further educate on the benefits of owning ISRCs and the digital transformation of catalogue management. ISRC’s are like number plates on a car in reference to recordings in the music digital domain,” Winchester said in the release.

“This national ISRC implementation will enable us to have an identity in the international music eco system which will further allow content coming from our region to be auditable. We see the opportunities to enhance and expand our members and the wider music community’s knowledge through this marketing campaign that involves some of our major songwriters and master rights holders,” he said.

The campaign will be a combination of infographics and endorsement videos from prominent musicians and singers across genres, producers and key industry experts, all discussing the various benefits of obtaining TT-ISRCs, including enhanced royalty management, solidifying TT’s music presence on the world stage and it’s a cost effectiveness as it is a free tool to manage music catalogues, the release said.

General manager MusicTT Melissa Jimenez said, “MusicTT is happy to work alongside COTT in this educational campaign on TT-ISRCs in strengthening the local music industry’s tracking mechanisms. As we all know, the ability to gather pertinent data for our sector has been a nightmare for many years and continues to be an area of great importance. The TT-ISRC will help us to track Trinbagonian music and subsequently allow for enhanced royalty management, thereby ensuring that our musicians, producers, songwriters, and everyone else involved in the creation and distribution of our music, is adequately and rightfully paid.”

She said the information will also help major distribution companies recognise the quantity of music being produced by TT and assist in the “category’ fight as well.

“Sharing knowledge and educating is a very important first step and we strongly encourage master rights holders to apply for their codes – the codes are free. We look forward to seeing hundreds, if not thousands of registrants over the next 12 months,” Jimenez said.

For more info on TT-ISRC visit www.musictt.co.tt/isrc or follow @musicoftt on Instagram and Facebook for updates.