Label Codes
For international collections from Germany, recording rightsholder members need to provide PPL with Label Code information in order to maximise their potential payments. A Label Code (LC) is a unique five-digit code allocated to a specific marketing label that releases recordings in Germany. LCs should be displayed on all products distributed in Germany and each individual label needs its own separate LC. You can request LCs from PPL.
LCs are used by the German music licensing company GVL to allocate music usage to recordings and are therefore essential for receiving revenue from Germany. When a radio station reports airplay to GVL they provide the LC along with label name, product and recording details. GVL then match this information to its system and allocates the revenue to the specific label.