Members of the international phonographic industry formed IFPI at the industry's first international congress in Rome, Italy, held from 10 to 14 November 1933. IFPI described its mission as representing "the interests of the recording industry worldwide in all fora" by promoting legislation and copyrights and "to protect the largely British-based recording industry" by promoting a global performance right in gramophone sound recordings.
Phonogram copyrights established The IFPI lobbied at the
Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations of 1961, which established an international standard for the protection of sound recordings, live performances and broadcasts. This convention was opposed by trade groups representing authors and composers, who were concerned that establishing such "
neighbouring rights" would undermine their own control over how their works were used and would result in prohibitively expensive licensing. Pressure from United States–based broadcasters who did not want to license the records they broadcast, among other factors, kept the United States from signing the convention; the United States would not recognise a separate sound recording copyright until 1971.
Phonogram copy protection efforts In an effort to combat copyright violation, in 1971, the IFPI advocated for the
Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (the Geneva Phonograms Convention), which 72 countries signed. In 1986, the
ISO established the
International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) standard, ISO 3901. In 1989, the IFPI was designated the registration authority for ISRC codes. ISRC codes "enable the use of copyright protected recordings and works to be controlled; facilitate the distribution and collection of royalties (performances, private copying); and assist in the fight against piracy". To further combat infringement of recorded works, the IFPI and the compact disc manufacturing industry introduced Source Identification (SID) codes in 1994. The SID codes are markings on optical discs such as compact discs (CD) and digital versatile discs (DVD) that identify the manufacturer, equipment, and master discs used to create each disc. There are two codes: the SID mastering code and the SID mould code. The SID mastering code identifies the manufacturing facility used to produce a master from which moulds are produced. The SID mould code identifies the plant where the disc was moulded (replicated). Since not all optical disc manufacturing facilities have the ability to both produce master discs and replicate discs, the SID mastering code and SID mould code on a given optical disc may or may not represent the same manufacturing facility. SID codes follow a standard format consisting of the letters "IFPI" followed by four or five hexadecimal digits. A number prefaced with "L" is a "mastering code", a serial number taken from a pool assigned by
Philips to the manufacturer. The mastering code identifies the Laser Beam Recorder (LBR) signal processor or mould that produced a particular stamper or a glass master disc from which moulds are produced. Non-"L" numbers are "mould codes", which identify the manufacturer that replicated the disc. Phillips assigns the first 2 or 3 digits of the mould code and the remaining digits are a serial number assigned by that plant to its moulds. The group set up a Website under the domain titled "International Federation of Pirates Interests", a
replacement backronym for IFPI. Ownership of the domain was returned to IFPI in late November, when a
WIPO arbitration panel concluded that "the Disputed Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the [IFPI] has rights" and that the Pirate Bay's representative "registered and [was] using the Disputed Domain Name in bad faith" and failed to adequately rebut IFPI's contention that he "has no rights or a legitimate interest in the Disputed Domain Name". The organisation's website www.ifpi.org was unaffected during the dispute.
Milestones •
1996 – Platinum Europe Awards established •
2004 – IFPI's
Global Music Report first published (an annual publication; first edition called
Online Music Report and subsequently renamed
Digital Music Report in 2005. Rebranded to current name in 2016 and combined with separate publication
Recording Industry in Numbers as combined report
Global Music Report) •
2005 – IFPI instrumental in litigation against illegal file-sharing site Kazaa, which later became a licensed service •
2009 – coordinated music industry action against The Pirate Bay, resulting in a high-profile ruling against the site's operators •
2013 – IFPI's Global Recording Artist of the Year Award is established; a list of the world's top 10 most popular artists across a calendar year. The artist in the number one spot is presented with a physical award by IFPI. •
2015 – IFPI led legal action against Russian site vKontakte which led to a Russian court ordering the service to stop its "large-scale infringement" and later saw the site become licensed in 2016 •
2017 – IFPI co-ordinated legal action leading to the closure of the world's largest stream-ripping site, YouTubeMP3 •
2019 – Changes to the European Copyright Directive—designed to create a fairer licensing environment for recorded music online—are adopted by the European Parliament, following a campaign by the creative industries, including IFPI •
2020 – A Sub-Saharan Africa IFPI regional office was opened in Nairobi, working across the region's 46 markets. •
2021 – IFPI opens first office in the MENA region in Abu Dhabi. •
2022 – A new Southeast Asia regional office opened in Singapore. •
2023 - IFPI launches four new Charts in the MENA region (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and North Africa) •
2024 - The European Parliament adopts the landmark EU Artificial Intelligence Act, following a campaign by groups including IFPI •
2025 - IFPI Launches Official Southeast Asia Charts Hub with Creation of New Charts in Philippines and Vietnam (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand; additional charts: Philippines and Vietnam) ==Certifications and awards==