Generative AI is reshaping how creative works are made and by whom, so tracking authorship is becoming harder and more urgent. Caldecott Music Group, the Singapore-based parent company of BandLab, ReverbNation, NME, Cakewalk, and more, is responding by linking up with the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) system to bring creator identity out of the shadows and into sharper focus.
The company has become an official ISNI Registration Agency, joining the likes of Universal Music Group in adopting the ISO-certified standard designed to uniquely and persistently identify individuals behind creative works. The goal is cleaner metadata, clearer attribution, and fewer black holes in rights management.
Caldecott’s move means over 100 million creators in its ecosystem, from songwriters and producers to journalists, photographers, and graphic designers will now be identifiable via ISNI across platforms. The integration covers all corners of Caldecott’s business, which stretches across music tech (BandLab Technologies), publishing (NME Networks), and manufacturing (Vista Musical Instruments).
“We’re entering an era where creators are no longer defined by a single role, platform, or geography, they’re building multi-hyphenate careers across disciplines, shaping culture in real time, and connecting with global communities on their own terms,” said Meng Ru Kuok, CEO and Founder of Caldecott Music Group. “Partnering with ISNI enables us to support the infrastructure that empowers this new generation of creatives, ensuring every contributor is discoverable, recognised, and properly connected in a fast-evolving, borderless creative ecosystem. We see ISNI as more than just an identifier; to us, it’s a crucial part of building the foundations for collaboration between platforms and equal opportunity in a world where creative talent still too often goes unseen or unrewarded.”
“Caldecott Music Group’s commitment to improving creator recognition and attribution strongly aligns with ISNI’s mission to resolve name ambiguity and ensure creators are accurately identified across the global supply chain,” said Tim Devenport, Executive Director of the ISNI-IA in the press release.
“Their diverse portfolio and creator-first ethos make them an ideal partner to expand ISNI’s reach across the broader creative landscape. The continued growth of ISNI in the music world signals real progress toward standardisation that enables greater interoperability between creators, platforms, and partners worldwide. We’re pleased to welcome CMG to the ISNI community as a Registration Agency and look forward to working together to ensure that every creative contributor can be accurately identified and properly credited.”
The move also addresses longer-term needs: streamlined licensing, fair payment, and attribution systems that can stand up to increasingly complex creative workflows. With automation, remix culture, and AI-generated content all pushing the limits of existing metadata systems, assigning clear and persistent identities to contributors is becoming a basic requirement—not a nice-to-have.
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For Caldecott, which operates at the intersection of music tech, media, and manufacturing, the move isn’t just about music. The partnership is building infrastructure that connects creators across sectors and gives them the credit and control they often lack in today’s digital economy.
ISNI identifiers won’t stop generative AI from mimicking voices or styles. But they might help ensure that the original human creators behind the work are easier to find, credit, and compensate.
As more companies move in this direction, the industry’s fragmented data systems could begin to look more like a network and less like a guessing game.
