My placement aired but my PRO paid nothing: cue sheets explained

If your music aired and your performing rights organisation (PRO) paid nothing, the usual reason is the cue sheet: it was never filed, it was filed late, or your cue is on it with the wrong title, writer, share or IPI number. The broadcaster's licence fee only reaches you when your society can match a broadcast to a cue sheet, and the cue sheet to a work registered in your name. The fix is almost always the same: get a copy of the cue sheet, check it line by line, and get the production (or your publisher) to correct it.

At the end there's the free Music cue sheet template (PDF and spreadsheet) with a filled-in example.

This is practical information from working musicians, not legal or financial advice. Rules differ by society and territory, so check with yours.

What is a cue sheet?

A cue sheet is the list of every piece of music used in one audiovisual production: a film, one episode of a series, a documentary, even a TV commercial. SOCAN describes it as covering theme music, background cues written for the production and independent songs on the soundtrack (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ).

Each line is a "cue": title, interested parties, timing and usage, as RapidCue, the cue sheet system run by ASCAP and BMI, defines it (RapidCue Batch Reference Guide).

Why it decides whether you get paid

Societies receive programme logs from broadcasters and platforms: they know which show went out and when. What the logs don't say is what music was in it. As SOCAN puts it, without the cue sheet those performances stay unidentified and unpaid (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ).

So the chain looks like this:

1. The show airs or streams, and the broadcaster or platform pays its licence fee to the society.
2. The society matches the broadcast to the show's cue sheet.
3. Each cue on the sheet is matched to a registered work, with its writers, publishers and shares.
4. Royalties are split by those shares and paid to members, and to sister societies abroad for their members.

A break at any step means no money for that cue. A missing cue sheet breaks step 2. A cue title that doesn't match your registration, or a missing IPI number, breaks step 3.

Note that the cue sheet is about performance royalties. Your sync fee, if there was one, is paid by whoever licensed the music under your licence agreement. The cue sheet is what pays the backend.

Who files the cue sheet?

Usually not the composer. The production company, often its music department, music supervisor or a specialist cue sheet service, prepares the cue sheet once the final cut is locked. SOCAN treats the producer's cue sheet as the authoritative one, but also accepts sheets from broadcasters, distributors, other societies and its own members (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ). In the US, production companies and networks can enter cue sheets online through RapidCue, which sends the data to both ASCAP and BMI (RapidCue).

SOCAN is unusually frank about why this matters to you: it says the quality, consistency and timeliness of cue sheets from producers and broadcasters has gone down in recent years, because filing them is often not a priority for the people it depends on. Its advice to members is to tell the production companies they work with to file, to ask for a copy for their own records, and, if they have complete information, to submit the cue sheet themselves, coordinating with their publisher (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ).

If your music came through a library or sync agent, ask how they handle cue sheets, and still ask for a copy.

What goes on a cue sheet

There are two parts: the production details at the top, and one line (or a few lines) per cue below.

The production

• Production title, and episode title, number and season for a series
• Production type: film/one-off or series, plus a category (feature film, documentary, TV series, commercial, trailer…)
• Year of production, country of production, running time
• First release or air date and network or station
• Total music duration
• Cue sheet provider and their role (producer, broadcaster, distributor, publisher, composer)
• Classification: original, revision or draft

Those fields come from the internationally harmonised template SOCAN now uses (SOCAN audiovisual cue sheet). SOCAN says the new layout is part of a global effort so that societies everywhere ask for the same information, and that a complete sheet can be taken into its systems without extra checks (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ).

Each cue

Shares are where people get confused, because conventions differ. SOCAN's template splits one 100 % between writers and publishers (typically 50 % writer share, 50 % publisher share). Many US cue sheets instead show the writer side and the publisher side as two separate 100 % columns. Follow the instructions of the template you are filling in, and make sure the shares match the ones you registered with your society.

Usage codes

Usage tells the society how the music was heard, and it is a mandatory field on every cue. The harmonised template in SOCAN's cue sheet lists these usages (SOCAN audiovisual cue sheet):

On many printed cue sheets, especially from production libraries, you will see these as short codes: BI background instrumental, BV background vocal, VI visual instrumental, VV visual vocal, MT main title, ET end title, and T theme. RapidCue's own list is longer and uses full names, including bumpers, segment themes and film themes (RapidCue Batch Reference Guide). If you are not sure which applies, describe what you see in the scene: is anyone on screen hearing the music? Is it over the titles?

How to fill out a music cue sheet (step by step)

If you are filing one yourself, or checking one before production sends it:

1. Get the final cut, not an earlier edit. Cue sheets describe what actually went out.
2. Spot every cue with its time in and time out. If the same piece comes back later in the episode, it is a new line with its own timing.
3. Use the registered title. If you delivered "Tension Bed 3 (alt mix 60s)", the sheet should carry the title your society knows, not the file name.
4. List every writer and publisher with role, society and IPI number. Leave nobody out, including co-writers and the library's publisher.
5. Check the shares add up the way your template expects.
6. Pick the right usage for each cue.
7. Fill in the production details: title, episode, air date, network, running time.
8. Send it to the society or societies the production asks you to, or as your society tells you (SOCAN takes them at CueSheetSubmit@socan.com; US productions often go through RapidCue). Keep a copy with the licence.

Before any of this, register the work with your society. A perfect cue sheet still fails if the cue it points to doesn't exist in the society's database.

When it goes wrong: missing or wrong cue sheets

On music library forums this is one of the most common complaints. One composer on Music Library Report described two network placements that had paid nothing nearly two years later; the society confirmed cue sheets were filed, but without the composer's track (Music Library Report forum). Others describe stacks of filed cue sheets with little to show for them, and the difficulty of even seeing which new cue sheets have arrived in their society account (Music Library Report forum; Music Library Report forum).

What experienced members suggest, and what the societies themselves point to:

1. Find out whether a cue sheet exists. Look in your society's online account; ASCAP members on the forum, for example, check the cue sheets section of their dashboard. Some composers keep their own spreadsheet of shows and counts and reconcile it every few weeks.
2. Ask the production for a copy. Go to the music supervisor or the production company's music department, with the show, episode, air date and your licence or delivery email.
3. If your music came through a library or sync agent, ask them. They are paid on the publisher side of the same cue, so a missing line costs them too.
4. Ask for a revision. A corrected sheet is filed as a revised cue sheet (the harmonised template has "Revision" as a classification).
5. Check your registration. Title, writers, shares and IPI must match the cue sheet.
6. Tell your society, with evidence: the cue sheet, your licence, the air date. Ask how long you have to claim. Deadlines for late claims differ from society to society.

Detection services can help you find out where your music aired in the first place. TuneSat, for example, uses audio fingerprinting to recognise music on broadcast and cable TV, even under dialogue and effects; SESAC adopted it for TV monitoring in 2010 (TV Technology). BMAT works on music usage data for societies, publishers and platforms (BMAT). Reports like these help you spot placements nobody told you about; they are evidence, not a replacement for the cue sheet.

How long until you're paid?

It varies, and nobody can promise a date. It depends on when the cue sheet arrives, your society's distribution calendar, how the broadcaster or platform reports, and, for a show seen abroad, the time it takes a foreign society to collect and pass money to yours. Counting in months is normal; counting in years when the cue sheet was late or wrong is, unfortunately, also common. SOCAN's own advice is that cue sheets should get into the system as soon as productions have aired (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ).

Outside the US: same idea, different societies

Societies everywhere rely on cue sheets for audiovisual music: PRS for Music in the UK, SOCAN in Canada, SACEM in France, GEMA in Germany, SIAE in Italy. Formats and portals differ; the core data doesn't.

Two things have helped. In 2016 BMI and ASCAP introduced a standardised cue sheet template powered by RapidCue, so producers could send one file to cuesheets@rapidcue.com instead of separate submissions to each society, with the data taken straight into both databases (MusicRow). And the harmonised international template that SOCAN uses is designed, in SOCAN's words, so that royalties are paid for a production shown in every country, not only at home (SOCAN cue sheet FAQ). That is why the society code and IPI number for every party matter: they let a society abroad recognise you.

The free template

The free Music cue sheet template (PDF and spreadsheet) has the production header, the cue table with every field above, the usage list and a completed example. Use it to check a sheet production sends you, or to file one yourself where your society accepts members' submissions.

Download the Music cue sheet template

Every placement and its paperwork, with Aerie

Most cue sheet problems start with information that was hard to find on the day: which title was registered, who the co-writer's publisher is, what their IPI number is. In Aerie, each track's Sync Passport keeps the publishing and master splits with IPI, society and publisher, and a "Used in" list of where the track was placed, with the licence and the cue sheet attached as paperwork. When production asks for writer details, or a cue sheet arrives to check, everything you need is on the same page.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cue sheet in music?

A cue sheet is a document listing all the music in a film, episode or other audiovisual production, with each cue's title, usage, duration, writers, publishers, societies and shares. Performing rights organisations use it to pay royalties when the production is broadcast or streamed.

Who is responsible for filing a cue sheet?

Normally the production company (or its music department or cue sheet service). Some societies, such as SOCAN, also accept cue sheets from members with complete information, and encourage composers to ask producers for a copy.

Do I get paid if there's no cue sheet?

Usually not for that production: the society knows the show aired but not which music was in it. Ask the production for the cue sheet, or file one if your society allows it, and ask your society about its deadline for late claims.

What does BI, BV, VI, VV mean on a cue sheet?

Background instrumental, background vocal, visual instrumental and visual vocal. "Visual" (also called featured or source) means the music is performed by, or audible to, characters on screen; "background" means score or underscore that only the audience hears.

Is there a free cue sheet template?

Yes: several societies publish their own (SOCAN has Excel and Numbers versions), and our free Music cue sheet template includes a filled-in example. Always use your society's format if it asks for one.

Sources

• SOCAN – Audiovisual cue sheet submission (template and instructions)
• SOCAN – FAQ: Industry-standard cue sheet (PDF)
• RapidCue (ASCAP and BMI) – home
• RapidCue – Batch Reference Guide (cue usage values)
• MusicRow – BMI, ASCAP reveal standardized cue sheet template (July 2016)
• TV Technology – SESAC contracts TuneSat to track TV music
• BMAT
• Music Library Report forum – Cue sheets were filed incorrectly, what should I do?
• Music Library Report forum – Not getting paid on submitted cue sheets
• Music Library Report forum – Is there a way to check what your new cue sheets are in ASCAP?