Barcodes can be used on all music-related items from physical CD's / Vinyl Records / Cassettes to Digital Downloads as well as for general merchandising items such as T-Shirts etc., and are generally used as a stock-control mechanism.
Aside from this, they are used as a way to determine overall sales numbers if registered for the UK Official Charts Company.
Your music release will need a Barcode if you want local stores or online outlets (such as iTunes / Amazon etc) to stock it.
You will also need a valid Barcode number in order to register for PPL / Neighbouring Rights.
The Barcodes we provide are licenced from GS1 (US) and are 100% compatible with all Barcode systems in retail stores across the World and have never been rejected by any retailer.
NOTE : It is recommended that different formats (ie. CD / Vinyl / Cassette) have separate BARCODE numbers for accounting / stock-control purposes.
There are two widely-used Barcode types:-