ISMN-International Standard Music Number

The International Standard Music Number (ISMN) is a unique number for the identification of all printed music publications from all over the world, whether available for sale, hire or gratis--whether a part, a score, or an element in a multi-media kit.
The ISMN is designed to rationalize the processing and handling of printed music and the respective bibliographical data for publishing houses, the music trade and libraries.

* As of 1 January 2008 the ISMN consists of 13 digits starting with 979-0
* Existing 10-digit ISMNs are prefixed by 979-
* The leading M- of the 10-digit ISMNs will be replaced by 0- (zero)
* The resulting 13-digit number will be identical with the EAN-13 number that is currently encoded in the bar code

ISO Standard 10957 gives the basic rules of the ISMN system.
The thirteen-digit number allows a billion items each to carry a different number.

Please, note:
Before January 1, 2008 the ISMN consisted of four elements comprising ten digits,
for example, M-2306-7118-7
M the prefix M which distinguished the ISMN from other standard numbers;
2306 a publisher ID which identifies a certain music publisher;
7118 an item ID which identifies a certain music print; and
7 a check digit which validates the number mathematically.
The old ten-digit as well as the new thirteen-digit ISMN can be converted into a bookland code and printed with a scanner raster:
http://www.ismn-international.org/