Fragmented music identifier systems (ISRC, ISWC, IPI, ISNI) cause royalties to pool in unmatched 'black box' accounts

What: The music industry uses at least four separate identifier systems that do not reliably cross-reference: ISRC for recordings, ISWC for compositions, IPI for creators, and ISNI for organizations. When a streaming platform pays royalties, it matches usage data against these identifiers, but missing, duplicated, or mismatched codes cause payments to land in 'black box' accounts where they sit unmatched and eventually get distributed pro-rata to major rights holders. So what? Independent artists who lack the administrative infrastructure to ensure perfect metadata across all identifiers systematically lose royalties they have earned, with estimates of $2.5 billion in unmatched royalties globally. So what? The artists most harmed are those who can least afford it: independent creators without label or publisher support to audit and correct metadata across dozens of platforms and databases. So what? The pro-rata redistribution of black box money to major labels means that metadata failures function as a regressive tax, transferring wealth from small creators to large catalogs. So what? Artists lose trust in the royalty system entirely, leading some to bypass traditional distribution and accept lower-paying direct platforms, further fragmenting the ecosystem. So what? The collective action problem worsens: no single entity can fix the identifier fragmentation because each system is governed by a different international body (IFPI for ISRC, CISAC for ISWC, etc.) with different governance structures and adoption timelines. Structural root cause: Each identifier system was developed independently by different industry bodies at different times for different purposes. There is no single global authority with the mandate or power to create a unified music rights identifier, and the organizations that govern each system have overlapping but non-identical memberships and incentive structures.