Answers/Glossary/IPI / CAE number

Glossary · Technical

IPI / CAE number

By Boboy Watson·Last verified August 31, 2026·Also called IPI number, Interested Parties Information number, CAE number

IPI stands for Interested Parties Information, and the number is the way the global royalty system knows which "J. Smith" you are. It replaced the older CAE (Compositeur, Auteur, Editeur) numbering, and the two terms are still used interchangeably on forms. The IPI system operates within the CISAC framework, and the number follows you across societies and territories.

You receive an IPI when you affiliate with a performing rights organization. ASCAP and BMI both issue one on affiliation — BMI songwriter affiliation is free and ASCAP charges a $50 one-time processing fee, per their published pages in August 2026. If you also set up a publisher entity, that entity gets its own separate IPI, distinct from your writer IPI. Two roles, two numbers, and mixing them up on a registration is a common cause of misrouted shares.

Where the IPI earns its keep is on split sheets and work registrations. Names are ambiguous and artist names are not what societies index on. Putting your legal name, your PRO and your IPI on every split sheet means whoever registers the work — you, a co-writer, a publishing administrator like Songtrust — can register it accurately without chasing anyone.

The misunderstanding: assuming your IPI is your PRO member number. It is not. Your ASCAP or BMI account number is internal to that organisation; your IPI is the international identifier, and it is the one foreign societies use. Both appear in your PRO account, and it is worth writing both down somewhere you can find them.

Keep your writer IPI and your publisher IPI on hand — you will be asked for them constantly.

Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.