Oct 26 • PTN Insider/Flashwire Report
PTN INSIDER REPORT 014 / SoundExchange Launches Global AI Sound-Recording Registry / October 26, 2025
📍 1. CONTEXT / INDUSTRY SHIFT
SoundExchange just announced the Global AI Sound Recording Registry, a public system launching in 2025 that lets rights owners officially declare how their recordings can or cannot be used to train AI models.
This move follows the explosion of AI music tools ingesting commercial and indie catalogs without consent. The registry aims to create a public paper trail - a record of creator intent - before AI companies start scraping.
Participation is free and voluntary. Each recording tied to an ISRC can be marked as:
- Reserved - cannot be used for AI training.
- Contact RO - cannot be used without permission, but open for direct licensing.
- Not Indicated - no stance given (the default).
If no declaration is made, your tracks default to “Not Indicated,” meaning your position is undefined.
The registry marks a structural shift from reactive lawsuits to proactive digital rights declarations.
📂 2. CASE FOCUS / BREAKDOWN
• Integration with existing ISRC systems. The registry will sit on top of SoundExchange’s public ISRC database - the same structure used for royalty collection - giving it built-in legitimacy.
• AI compliance layer. Developers' training models will be able to reference this database before using sound recordings, similar to checking a rights ledger.
• “Contact RO” opens licensing opportunities. Instead of flat rejection, creators can signal willingness to negotiate fair AI-use licenses directly.
• Legal transparency tool, not a shield. SoundExchange notes that the registry will not prevent misuse by itself, but it strengthens the evidence trail for creators asserting rights.
• EU law connection. The declaration ties to Article 4 of the EU Directive 2019/790, which allows text and data mining unless rights holders opt out. The registry is a formal way to opt out globally.
📈 3. STRATEGY OR BUSINESS PRINCIPLE
Principle: Rights Declaration Before Ingestion.
The industry has spent years reacting after the fact - discovering that recordings were trained into AI datasets post-use. This registry flips the sequence. Rights owners can now make their stance public before training ever happens.
For AI companies, this introduces a new due diligence checkpoint. For catalog owners, it introduces a public record of authority.
Business implication: Declaring your stance early strengthens future enforcement. Silence reads as ambiguity. Visibility becomes leverage.
✅ 4. TAKEAWAYS / ACTION STEPS
- AUDIT YOUR ISRCs
Check the SoundExchange ISRC search to confirm that all your recordings are claimed correctly and shares are accurate. Clean data equals clean protection.
- CHOOSE YOUR AI POSITION
Decide if you want your recordings labeled as “Reserved,” “Contact RO,” or “Not Indicated.” Think both short-term (licensing leverage) and long-term (ownership record).
- PREPARE TO DECLARE
When the registry opens, email GlobalAIRegistry@SoundExchange.com or use their portal to log your catalog’s status. If you plan to license, prep your terms or a standard rate sheet.
- STAY CURRENT ON AI RIGHTS CASES
Watch how the courts interpret “text and data mining.” Each new ruling will shape what the registry protects - and what still needs legislation.
🔬 PTN LENS – Visual or Language Framing
Picture a “Do Not Train” tag attached to every ISRC in your catalog. The registry gives those tags an address the world can see.
🔍 5. FINAL REFLECTION / CREATOR LENS
For artists and producers, this is not about fear - it is about authorship. Declaring your stance is how you say, my recordings are not raw material for your machine.
The registry is not perfect. It will not stop every scrape or dataset. But it moves creators from invisible to documented, from reactive to deliberate.
In an age when everything is getting sampled by algorithms, this is one of the first global systems to let you formally draw a boundary - or open a door - on your own terms.
📚 PTN DIFFERENCE
And that’s the PTN difference.
We don’t just analyze the system - we operate inside it, with our eyes wide open.
Right now, we play by the rules we’ve been given — the briefs, the splits, the backend grind. But everything we build - the workflows, the trust, the visibility - is designed to give us the position to change those rules.
We’re not just getting through the gates. We’re training creators to build their own floor once they’re in — and eventually, to redesign the whole building.
📎 SOURCE SIGNALS – Full Links
PR Newswire - SoundExchange developing global AI sound-recording registry - Sept 20 2024
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/soundexchange-developing-global-ai-sound-recording-registry-302253942.html
Music Business Worldwide – SoundExchange to launch registry for rightsholders to declare whether or not they want their recordings used by developers to train AI models – Sept 23 2024
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/soundexchange-to-launch-registry-for-rightsholders-to-declare-whether-or-not-they-want-their-recordings-used-by-developers-to-train-ai-models/
Hypebot – SoundExchange AI Music Registry: Protecting Creators Rights – Sept 23 2024
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PTN INSIDER REPORT 014 / SoundExchange Launches Global AI Sound-Recording Registry / October 26, 2025
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