How do I know if my music aired on TV?
By Marc Aaron Jacobs · Updated
Check four places: your PRO statement, the cue sheet your society has on file, a TV music monitoring service, and any airing report your library sends. Only monitoring tells you about an airing soon after it happens. The others show it months later, or only if someone reported it.
Most composers check their statement first, but it only lists what your society paid. An airing nobody reported has no line at all, so a show that's missing from your statement may still have aired.
1. Your PRO statement
Download it as a CSV, not a PDF, so you can sort it. Look for the show and the channel. On BMI that's SHOW NAME and PERF SOURCE. On ASCAP it's Program Name and Network Service, though ASCAP leaves the channel blank on most background music. PERF COUNT on BMI and Number of Plays on ASCAP say how many performances a line pays.
The catch is timing. ONTRK allows about two quarters for an ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or PRS airing to reach a statement, three for SOCAN and four for GEMA, and foreign income can take two years. So a statement tells you about last year, not last week. The guides for each society explain every column.
2. The cue sheet on file
Your society knows your music was in an episode because the production filed a cue sheet. You can open the cue sheets on file in ASCAP Member Access and BMI Online Services. See how to download your cue sheets.
A cue sheet shows your music was used in the episode. It doesn't say when, or how often, the episode aired.
3. A TV music monitoring service
Monitoring fingerprints your tracks and listens to broadcast TV, so it reports the airing itself: channel, show, date and time, often with a clip as evidence. It's the only one of the four that catches an airing nobody reported. It only hears the channels it covers, so check those against where your music goes.
TuneSat does this today. ONTRK's TV monitoring for the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Australia is coming soon. See what to look for in TV music monitoring.
4. Your library's reports
Some libraries send their composers reports of where tracks were placed or aired. If yours does, keep every one. They're a record of what aired that you can check later against the statement that should pay it.
Putting them together
Each source answers a different question. Monitoring and library reports say what aired. The cue sheet says whether your society can pay it. The statement says whether it did. When a show turns up in the first two but not the last, after its quarter has settled, that's an airing to ask your society about. See why a TV placement goes unpaid.
That is what reconciliation means, and it is what ONTRK does. If you already have airing data from TuneSat, BMAT or a library report, it works today. ONTRK's own TV detection is coming soon.
Common questions
Does my royalty statement show every time my music aired?
No. It shows what your society paid. An airing that was never reported, or was reported against the wrong work, leaves no line at all.
How long after an airing does it show on my statement?
Often six months or more. ONTRK allows about two quarters for ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and PRS, three for SOCAN and four for GEMA. Foreign income can take two years.
Can I see where my music aired without paying for monitoring?
Partly. Your statements and the cue sheets on file are free, but they only show what was reported and paid. Catching an airing nobody reported takes monitoring.
Why is the channel blank on my ASCAP statement?
ASCAP leaves Network Service blank on most background music. The show is usually in Program Name, so search by show instead.
My music aired but it isn't on my statement. What now?
First check that the statement for its quarter has arrived. If it has, check your registration and the cue sheet, then ask your society. See how to file a royalty inquiry.
Related
- TV music monitoring for library composers: what monitoring is, how it differs from your PRO statement, and what to ask before you pay for it.
- What is a cue sheet, and how does a missing one cost you?: the document that decides whether an airing can be paid to you at all.
- 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.
- TV placement not paid yet? When it should pay, and how to claim it: how long each society takes, what to check first, and the steps to claim a missing payment.
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. Questions go to hello@ontrk.app and reach him directly.
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