International Standard Music Number (ISMN)
Please note: The ISMN service will close at 5 pm on 16 December 2024 and return from 9 am on 13 January 2025. Enquiries and applications will be responded to after that time, but response times may be affected. The National Library appreciates your patience and understanding during this time.
Why is an ISMN useful?
Using ISMNs to uniquely identify your music publications offers several advantages to Australian publishers.
Increase the internet exposure of your publications
Most publishers seek to promote their publications to as wide an audience as possible, and when you allocate an ISMN to a publication, the National Library of Australia will automatically create a bibliographic record to be shared via Libraries Australia and Trove, widening the availability of your works.
Remove uncertainty about different versions of a publication
By assigning a specific ISMN to each type of publication that you make available you remove all ambiguity and uncertainty in distinguishing one version from another. Someone looking for music may be interested in a particular edition, publisher, binding, or electronic format, in full scores or separate parts, or might be looking for a particular instrumentation. Assigning a unique ISMN to each version you offer captures all of the additional information which the composer’s name and the title of the composition alone doesn’t provide.
Get your contact details listed on the International Music Publishers Directory
If you agree to make your details public, your contact details can be included in the Music Publishers’ International ISMN Database of ISMN registered publishers administered by the International ISMN Agency. This allows potential buyers and sellers of your music worldwide to find you and obtain your works.
You can choose whether to share your details when you register as an ISMN publisher, or update your preferences using the Publisher information form. Further details about the security and privacy of your data can be found on the National Library of Australia website and International ISMN Agency website.
Facilitate stock control and barcode numbering
ISMNs can provide a mechanism for stock control and delivery and can be used for producing EAN-compliant barcodes for retail and other purposes. ISMN barcodes can be obtained for free by selecting the barcode option in the request additional ISMNs form.
What publications are eligible?
Most publications of notated music, whether available for sale, hire, or gratis, are eligible for an ISMN. These include:
- scores (including full, short, miniature, vocal and so on)
- sets of parts or individual parts if they are available separately
- song books and anthologies
- other media that is integral to a notated pubication (e.g., an electronic recording that is one of the parts of a published work)
- braille music publications
- electronic publications of notated music
- any other item that is an integral part of the published work and which is made available separately (e.g., song texts/lyrics or commentaries that are integral to the work)
ISMNs are not allocated to stand-alone sound or video recordings, or to books or periodicals even if they are about music.
Other standard numbers available from the following suppliers:
- International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) for sound recordings, run by the International ISRC Agency
- International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN) for audiovisual works, run by ISAN Australasia
- International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for books, run by Thorpe-Bowker
- International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for serials, run by the Australian ISSN Agency.
The short answer is yes — it is possible to assign different standard numbers to a publication depending on the nature of that publication. For example, it is not possible to assign an ISMN to a serial, but it might be possible to assign an ISMN to a single issue of a serial if it is also a printed music publication. Similarly, it might be the case that a publication is equally eligible for an ISBN as well as an ISMN.
Please contact us to discuss your particular situation.
Process
Register as a publisher for your first ISMN(s)
Register with the Australian ISMN Agency to gt your first list of ISMNs depending on how many you think you will need. The numbers on that list will be for your use only and cannot be used by anyone else in the world.
If you details, such as location or publisher name change, make sure to update your details.
Allocate ISMNs to your work
You then assign numbers from that list to your publications as you require, and then let us know the details of every item to which you allocate an ISMN.
Once an ISMN has been allocated to a publication then it stays fixed forever. Even if the work is no longer available, or the publisher ceases to operate, the ISMN continues to identify that publication in perpetuity.
Similarly, if a block of ISMNs have been issued to a publisher and the publisher does not use them all then those numbers will remain forever unused because they cannot be re-issued to another publisher.
When you have used your initial allocation of ISMNs, you can request additional ISMNs at any time.
The Australian ISMN Agency works to a turn-around time of ten working days for ISMN registrations and allocations. If you need a faster turn-around time, please contact us and we will do our best to meet your needs.
Meet your legal deposit obligations
The last step in the is sending your work to the National Library of Australia under legal deposit once it is published.
Legal deposit is a requirement for publications to be deposited with the National Library of Australia, and applies to both online and offline Australian publications. Learn more about legal deposit.
Have a question?
If you cannot find the answer to your questions on this page then please contact us. We are happy to clarify any questions that you might have about ISMNs.
More detailed information is also available in the ISMN Users' Manual (PDF, 155KB).
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