TV placement not paid yet? When it should pay, and how to claim it
By Marc Aaron Jacobs · Updated
Most likely it hasn't been paid yet. A TV airing usually reaches your statement two or more quarters after it airs, and foreign income can take two years. If the statement that covers the air date has arrived without it, check your registration and the cue sheet, then ask your society with the show, channel and air dates.
Don't ask the library. Performance royalties are paid by your society, and the library is usually who gives you your next placement.
Step 1: Has it had time to pay?
| Society | When ONTRK expects an airing to be paid |
|---|---|
| ASCAP, BMI, SESAC | About two quarters after the air date. |
| PRS for Music | About two quarters after the air date. |
| SOCAN | About three quarters after the air date. |
| GEMA | About four quarters after the air date. |
| Foreign income | Up to two years, through your home society. |
These are the windows ONTRK waits before it treats an airing as unpaid. They're not promises from the societies, so check your society's distribution calendar for exact dates. Until the statement for the air date has arrived, the payment isn't missing, it's pending.
Step 2: Make sure it isn't paid somewhere else
Search the statement by your society's work number, not the title. BMI cuts titles at 30 characters, so a long title can look like a different cue. The same cue can also be paid under a slightly different title or through a different publisher.
And one line can stand for many airings, so check the performance count rather than counting rows. The free statement reader does this search in your browser, with no account.
Step 3: Check the registration
A work your society shows as accepted can still be holding money: a party it can't identify, a publisher never named, or shares that don't add up to 100%. Fix that first, because nothing downstream can pay a work the society can't match. ASCAP members can run the registration check on their works export.
Step 4: Check the cue sheet
The production files the cue sheet that tells your society your music was in the episode. No cue sheet, or one naming the wrong cue, and the airing can't be paid to you however many times it runs. Ask your society what it has on file for the episode. See what a cue sheet is.
Step 5: Ask your society
Send the work number, title, show and episode, channel, air dates, the statement period you expected it on, and your member number. Frame it the way your society works. SESAC accepts detection data and pays on it. BMI will look into it. ASCAP pays from its own survey, so ask ASCAP which cue sheet it has on file rather than presenting a figure.
The royalty inquiry guide has the full checklist, and why a TV placement goes unpaid covers the five usual causes in more depth.
ONTRK builds this letter for you from airings you already have, from TuneSat, a library report or a TRQK export, and leaves out any still waiting on their statement. Its own TV detection is coming soon.
Common questions
How long does it take to get paid for a TV placement?
Usually two quarters or more after it airs for ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and PRS, longer for SOCAN and GEMA, and up to two years for foreign income.
Who do I contact about an unpaid TV placement?
Your performing rights society, not the library or the production. Send the work number, show, channel and air dates.
What if there is no cue sheet for the episode?
Then your society has nothing to pay the airing against, and it can't be paid to you until one is on file. Ask your society what it holds for the episode first.
Is a missing placement always unpaid?
No. Until the statement for its quarter has arrived, it's pending. It may also be paid under another title or publisher, so search by work number first.
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.
- 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.
- How do I know if my music aired on TV?: four places to look, what each one tells you, and how long each takes.
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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