What is a cue sheet, and how does a missing one cost you?
By Marc Aaron Jacobs · Updated
A cue sheet is the list of every piece of music used in an episode or a film: each cue, how long it ran, how it was used, and who wrote and published it, with their societies and shares. The production prepares it and files it with the performing rights societies.
It matters because it is how your society knows your music was in that episode. When the episode airs, the society pays against the cue sheet. No cue sheet, or one with the wrong title, writer or share, and the airing cannot be paid to you, however many times it runs.
What is on a cue sheet
- •The production: series, episode title and number, or film title.
- •Each cue: its title, and how long it was used.
- •How it was used: background, visual vocal, theme, and so on. Usage affects what a performance pays.
- •Writers and publishers, with their societies and their shares.
How a cue sheet goes wrong
- •It was never filed. The episode airs, and the society has nothing to pay against.
- •The cue is listed under another title, or as an unnamed cue, so it never reaches your registered work.
- •A writer or publisher is missing, or the shares are wrong, so part of the money goes nowhere or to the wrong place.
- •It was filed late, after the society had already distributed that period.
None of these show up on your statement as an error. The line is simply not there.
How to check
Ask your society whether it has a cue sheet on file for the episode, and what it lists for your cue. For an ASCAP member this is also the first question ASCAP will ask about a missing performance, so it is worth knowing the answer before you raise anything.
To know which episodes to ask about, you need a record of where your music aired. That comes from broadcast monitoring, matched against the statements that should have paid it: see why a TV placement goes unpaid.
Common questions
Who files the cue sheet?
The production company, or someone working for it, prepares the cue sheet and files it with the performing rights societies.
Can I see the cue sheet for an episode my music was in?
Ask your society whether it has one on file for that episode and what it lists for your cue.
What happens if there is no cue sheet?
The society has nothing to pay the performance against, so the airing goes unpaid and nothing on your statement shows it.
Related
- Why didn't I get paid for my TV placement?: the five reasons an airing goes unpaid, and how to tell which one it is.
- How to ask ASCAP, BMI or SESAC about a missing royalty: what to include, and why each society needs a different letter.
- Is my music registered at ASCAP?: find the works that are holding money right now.
Who makes this
ONTRK is built by Marc Aaron Jacobs, a composer who runs the libraries Tonal Chaos and Tonal Chaos Trailers, and who built DropCue. ONTRK started as the thing he wrote to read his own ASCAP statements. Questions go to hello@ontrk.app and reach him directly.
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