Guides

CWR 2.1 vs 2.2: what actually changed

CWR 2.2 is an additive revision of 2.1: no record types were removed and no layouts changed shape — fields were appended. That means a 2.1 reader can usually make sense of a 2.2 file's core, and it means the choice of which to deliver is mostly about what the receiving society accepts.

What 2.2 added

• Transmission header (HDR): explicit CWR version and revision fields, plus the name and version of the software that produced the file.
• Recording details (REC): recording title, version title, display artist, record label, ISRC validity, and a submitter recording identifier — the 2.1 REC stopped at the ISRC and media type.
• Work origin (ORN): V-ISAN and EIDR identifiers for audio-visual productions.
• Publisher links (PWR): an explicit publisher sequence reference, so a writer's link points unambiguously into one publisher chain.

Which should you deliver?

Whichever your recipient prefers — and that still varies. Most major societies accept both; some ingest pipelines remain happier with 2.1. When in doubt: 2.1 travels everywhere, 2.2 carries richer recording metadata. The generator produces either from the same catalog, and the validator detects a file's version automatically and applies the right field tables.

A note on CWR 3.x

CISAC has published CWR 3.0/3.1, but society adoption remains limited; 2.1/2.2 are what's deliverable in practice today, and they are what this site supports.

Two free checks for your CWR file. Is the file correct? Every record, share and control total against the spec, each problem on its exact line. Do its writers match their registrations? Every writer cross-checked against public registration data, including works registered under another spelling or IPI. Nothing stored: check a file at cwrcheck.com.