TrackForge

Check a catalogue against The MLC: which recordings have no linked work or an unclaimed share. See a song's writers, publishers, ISWC and IPI numbers. Validate CWR files before you send them.

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Hosted MCP Server

npx add-mcp 'https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp'

Installs into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and more

Documentation

What you can ask

Real answers from the server, shortened: the catalogue check on 5 October 2026, the others on 3 October. An assistant puts them in its own words.

Check my catalogue against The MLC. How many of these recordings have no linked work, and how many have unclaimed shares?

Checked
300 recordings, in 6 requests of 50
No linked work
102 of 300: 89 at high confidence and 13 at low
Unclaimed shares
67 of 300: 36 linked to one work and 31 linked to more than one
Each verdict
registered 111, partial 36, nobody 102, conflict 51, unknown 0
MLC data as of
29 September 2026

The 300 were drawn at random from MusicBrainz’s public data (US and UK ISRCs), not from a label’s catalogue. A random sample can take in recordings a publisher would not register, such as classical recordings of public-domain works and spoken audio, so its figures are not a measure of any catalogue. One request takes up to 50 recordings, and a larger catalogue goes in several.

Is ISRC USIR20400274 registered with The MLC, and is any share unclaimed?

Verdict
registered, high confidence
Evidence
Recording linked to MLC work M1972U, “MR. BRIGHTSIDE”, ISWC T0721040692
MLC data as of
29 September 2026
Next step
No gap found by this check as of 2026-09-29.

Who wrote the song on that recording, and which label first released it?

Writers
Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning, each with an IPI number
Publishers
The Killers Publishing; Universal Music Publishing Ltd.
Earliest release
“Mr. Brightside”, 29 September 2003, Lizard King Records, catalogue number LIZARD007X
Source
MusicBrainz, which lists 188 releases of the recording

Here is the CWR file I am about to send. Is it valid, and what should I fix?

Result
Not valid: 1 error and 1 warning in 1 transaction
Line 3, error
Work title is blank. Every NWR/REV record must have a non-empty work title (positions 20-79).
Line 4, warning
Publisher IPI Name # fails its check digits. That normally means a typo or a transposed digit.
Always stated
Validation does not guarantee acceptance by a society.

The file was a made-up test file with its title removed.

Ask for a person

If you want someone at TrackForge to look at your catalogue, say so and agree to be contacted. The assistant records your name and email address, and a person replies by email. Nothing is sent automatically.

Having a publisher does not mean your songs are registered

A publisher or administrator on record shows a relationship, not a finished registration. The MLC collects US mechanical royalties from streaming and download services, and it can pay them out only when a recording is linked to a registered work with its shares claimed. This server checks that link, recording by recording.

  • Start from what you have. A list of ISRCs for a catalogue, or one ISRC, Spotify track link, song title or YouTube link.
  • Dated evidence. Every MLC answer comes from TrackForge’s copy of The MLC’s public bulk data and carries the date it is true as of.
  • A next step. When no work is linked, the answer says whether to match the recording to an existing work or register one, and who can do it.
  • Free, with no account. No sign-in and no API key.

How to read an answer

registered
The recording is linked to one MLC work with nothing unclaimed or in dispute.
partial
The recording is linked to one work, and a share is unclaimed or in dispute.
nobody
No MLC work is linked to the recording. That does not by itself mean the work is unregistered: the next step says whether to match or register.
conflict
The recording is linked to more than one MLC work.
unknown
The data could not be read. It is never a negative finding.

How to add it

Any AI assistant

An assistant needs three things to use the server. Look in its settings for connectors, integrations, tools or MCP servers, and add a custom one.

Address
https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp
Connection type
Streamable HTTP. Some assistants call it a remote MCP server or an HTTP server.
Sign-in
None. Leave any sign-in, OAuth or API key field empty.

Where that setting is differs from one assistant to the next. Steps are given below only for an assistant TrackForge has tested, with the date of the test.

Claude

Tested on 3 October 2026, as a custom connector on claude.ai.

  1. In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors.
  2. Select Add, then Add custom connector.
  3. Give it a name, such as TrackForge, paste the server address and select Continue. Claude shows No sign-in as detected. Select Add.
  4. On the connector’s page, select Connect.
  5. Ask your question in a new conversation. The first time each tool is used, Claude asks whether to allow it.

The steps were checked on a Max plan. Claude’s screens can differ between plans and change; the server address and No sign-in are all it needs. Custom connectors work on Free, Pro and Max plans, and the Free plan allows one. On Team and Enterprise plans an Owner adds it first under Organization settings, Connectors, and members then select Connect.

ChatGPT

Tested on 5 October 2026, in Developer mode on chatgpt.com.

  1. In ChatGPT, open Settings, then Security and login, and turn on Developer mode.
  2. Open Plugins, select the plus button, then Create custom MCP server, then Create MCP App.
  3. Give it a name, such as TrackForge, paste the server address and set Authentication to No Auth.
  4. Tick “I understand and want to continue”, select Create, then Connect.
  5. In a new conversation, select the plus button, type TrackForge and choose it. Then ask your question.

The test ran on a Free plan. OpenAI’s documentation lists Developer mode for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts, and ChatGPT’s screens can change. Given a short list, ChatGPT looked the recordings up one at a time; ask for the catalogue check by name to have a list checked together.

Command-line assistants

Tested: Claude Code on 3 October 2026 and Codex CLI on 5 October 2026.

One command adds the server.

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http trackforge https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp

Codex CLI:

codex mcp add trackforge --url https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp

Limits and privacy

Each session has 60 usage units per 5 minutes and 600 a day. A lookup costs 1 unit, a catalogue check 1 unit per 10 ISRCs and a CWR validation 2. A catalogue check takes up to 50 ISRCs and a CWR file up to 256 KB. So one conversation can check up to 600 recordings every five minutes and 6,000 a day, less whatever its other calls use.

Each call is logged for usage measurement: the tool, the kind of input, the ISRCs looked up, the outcome, the assistant’s name and version, and a keyed one-way hash of the address, never the address itself. Titles, artist names and CWR file content are not logged. Contact details are stored only when you ask for a follow-up. Privacy Policy · Terms of Service

What it is not

  • Answers are findings from registration data as of the date shown. They are not legal advice and not a statement of who owns a song or who may use a recording.
  • The registration check reads The MLC’s data, which covers US mechanical royalties. It holds no PRS for Music, PPL or SoundExchange data.
  • Writer, publisher, ISWC and release details come from MusicBrainz’s public-domain core data. Its community edits that data, so it is evidence, not proof.
  • A Spotify link is used only to find the recording’s ISRC. Spotify’s own data is not returned.
  • TrackForge is independent of Anthropic, OpenAI, The MLC, MusicBrainz and Spotify, and none of them endorses this server.

Questions

How do I check a catalogue against The MLC with an AI assistant?
Add the TrackForge MCP server (https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp) to your assistant, give it the catalogue’s ISRCs and ask how many recordings have no linked work and how many have a share unclaimed. A request takes up to 50 ISRCs and returns a verdict for each recording (registered, partial, nobody, conflict or unknown), a count of each verdict and the date the MLC data is true as of. A larger catalogue goes in several requests: one conversation can check up to 600 recordings every five minutes.
What is the TrackForge MCP server?
It is a free remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) server at https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp. It gives an AI assistant four tools: a catalogue registration check for up to 50 recordings against The MLC’s data; a song registration check, which works as an ISRC lookup or from a Spotify link or a title; CWR 2.1 file validation; and a way to ask a person at TrackForge to follow up. Its answers are findings from registration data as of the date shown, not legal advice and not a statement of who owns a song. No account or API key is needed.
Which AI assistants can use it?
It is built for any AI assistant or app that can add a remote MCP server by its address: it uses the open Model Context Protocol over Streamable HTTP and needs no sign-in. Tested so far: Claude, as a custom connector on claude.ai, and Claude Code, both on 3 October 2026; ChatGPT, in Developer mode, and OpenAI’s Codex CLI, both on 5 October 2026. Other assistants are added to this page once they have been tested, each with its test date.
How do I check whether a song is registered with The MLC using Claude?
Add https://api.trackforge.studio/api/v1/mcp as a custom connector in Claude under Customize, Connectors, then ask with an ISRC, a Spotify track link or a song title. The answer gives a verdict (registered, partial, nobody, conflict or unknown), the date the MLC data is true as of, and a next step.
Where does the data come from, and how current is it?
MLC answers come from TrackForge’s copy of The MLC’s public bulk data, refreshed weekly, and every answer carries the snapshot date. Writer, publisher, ISWC and release details come from TrackForge’s copy of MusicBrainz’s public-domain core data, refreshed about twice a month. The server never queries The MLC live.

Help and documentation

  • MCP server documentation: Every tool, input and limit, and how to read each verdict.
  • auth.md: The same details in a form for automated clients.
  • ISRC Lookup: The same check in your browser, with CSV and PDF export.
  • CWR Workbench: Create, check and read CWR files in the browser, including files over 256 KB.
  • Support: How to read an answer, and who to contact.
  • Registry entry: The server’s description for MCP registries: studio.trackforge/music-registration-check.
  • ISRC Registration Gaps: How the gap between Spotify coverage and MLC work registration leaves mechanical royalties unpaid.
  • The Unclaimed Economy: Works with unclaimed US mechanical royalties at The MLC, cross-referenced against other sources.
  • What is CWR?: The Common Works Registration format, and how a work reaches a society.
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