A UPC or EAN uniquely identifies a release as a whole, across every platform and territory. Madverse assigns one automatically to every new release.
2.13.1 What it is
A 12-digit (UPC) or 13-digit (EAN) machine-readable barcode that uniquely identifies a release. No two releases may share a UPC — not even different versions of the same album.
2.13.2 Madverse-assigned UPCs
Madverse automatically assigns a UPC to every new release. You don't need to source one externally unless you're preserving an existing UPC from a prior distributor.
2.13.3 Bringing your own UPC
If transferring a catalog already live on platforms, preserving the original UPC matters — changing it during re-delivery creates a new listing rather than updating the existing one, losing accumulated streaming history and playlist placements. Catalog migration with preserved identifiers is a Professional plan feature (see 1.3).
Source: MadDesk article 2.13 (2-13)