The Global Release Identifier (GRid) is a system to identify releases of digital sound recordings (and other digital data) for electronic distribution. It is designed to be integrated with identification systems deployed by key stakeholders from across the music industry.
(GRid should not be confused with the Global Repertoire Database (GRD), a system to track ownership and control of musical works, which was planned from 2008–2014 but ultimately failed.)
A GRid consists of 18 alphanumerical characters (numerical digits and capital letters as defined in ISO/IEC 646:1991-IRV, which is identical to ASCII) that are grouped into four elements as follows:
A1” denotes a GRid.[[ISO 7064:1983]] Mod 37, 36.
When a GRid is written, printed or otherwise visually presented, the four elements of theGRid should be separated from each other by a hyphen. For clarity, it can also be prefixed with “GRid:”. Neither the hyphens nor the “GRid:”-prefix form part ofthe GRid. It is recommended that when a GRid is visually presented, the font used shouldclearly distinguish between the digits ‘1’ and ‘0’ on the one hand, and the letters ‘I’ and ‘O’ on the other hand.
The following character strings all denote the same GRid:
A12425GABC1234002MA1-2425G-ABC1234002-MGRid:A1-2425G-ABC1234002-MWhere:
A1 – Identifier Scheme element2425G – Issuer Code elementABC1234002 – Release Number elementM – Check Character elementGRid codes can be registered through becoming a GRid issuer with the IFPI or by using the GRid generator contained in the Sound Credit desktop application.