Skip to main content
Registration & Standards

EAN/UPC

European Article Number / Universal Product Code — the barcode-based product identifier used on physical music releases. The UPC (US) or EAN (international) appears on the product barcode and is used by distributors, retailers, and chart monitoring services to track sales.

Articles about EAN/UPC

UPC Codes for Music Releases: Why They Matter and How to Apply Them Correctly
Music Business

UPC Codes for Music Releases: Why They Matter and How to Apply Them Correctly

UPC codes for music releases are the release-level barcodes retailers, DSPs, and rights processors use to identify, group, and report your products—get them wrong and sales, charts, and royalties will be misallocated. This guide cuts through standards and vendor noise to explain GTIN/UPC basics, how UPCs differ from ISRCs , and the operational tradeoffs of GS1 versus distributor-supplied codes.

Back to glossary