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Since we already have plenty of threads discussing cue sheets that were never filed or filed incorrectly, I thought I’d ask this….
In circumstances when cue sheets were not filed or filed incorrectly – how have you personally gotten situations rectified? Did you have luck by contacting the production company yourself? Did your PRO help you? Did the music library where your track was licensed from help you? Was the cue sheet filed eventually but just submitted extremely late? Was there mistakes on the cue sheet that prevented the usage from being linked to you?…..and if so how were you able to track it down and have corrections made?
Curious to see what peoples success stories are on this topic – as we’ve certainly heard plenty of scenarios where cue sheets are an issue.
Great question yzzman1. I don’t have any success stories for you but I would imagine that in many cases, the publisher/library involved would have an equivalent interest or responsibility in having the cue sheet correctly filed or rectified in case it wasn’t. Also, how would you know that a cue sheet has been incorrectly filed, Tunesat perhaps or is there any other way.
I have had success both contacting the production company directly and working with the library as an intermediary. I had zero success working with ascap.
In the end, the $ wasn’t there to justify my tunesat subscription, so I cancelled it.
Currently in process with a number of cue sheet issues with BMI. From what I know of others who have gone through this is that it’s a long, long process. Once again patience and persistence.
Do you have a system in the US with your PRO where you can see unclaimed royalties ? We have here in Ireland, I have reclaimed thousands using this, all the info is there but gets lost in the translation to actual payments.
Quoted for emphasis!
Currently in process with a number of cue sheet issues with BMI. From what I know of others who have gone through this is that it’s a long, long process. Once again patience and persistence.
Just a reminder, cue sheets are only half the battle. They only tell your PRO that your music was used in a particular program. The other half of the battle is detecting the actual performances /airings of the program containing your music.
With ASCAP you are at the mercy of their survey, and their weighting formulae. Good luck. BMI is somewhat better at detecting actual performances.
I’ve had issues with missing cue sheets and/or cue sheet errors, but far and away I have lost much more money due to ASCAP’s failure to detect performances, and refusal to accept third party data. The survey rules. So, I switched to BMI.
@Denis…NO. With ASCAP the money goes into a “fund” that gets distributed a number of ways. Artists can apply for ASCAP Awards, if they can document performances that were outside the survey. I did that once and, I think they paid in the area of $150.
_Michael
Currently in process with a number of cue sheet issues with BMI. From what I know of others who have gone through this is that it’s a long, long process. Once again patience and persistence.
That’s because they have to go back and search for, and confirm the performances / airings. Again… cue sheets are only half the battle. Without corresponding performance data, they are meaningless.
From personal experience, ASCAP will not accept performance data, from anyone, but it’s own sources. That means, no tunesat and no data from the show’s producers. I had issues with several shows that have my theme music. ASCAP missed at least 60% of the performances. The producer subsequently provided air-date info to ASCAP and they refused it.
So many people get on a bandwagon here about the race to the bottom and going with PRO libraries, when a huge amount of their income is falling through the cracks in the PRO system, particularly with ASCAP. But, that’s a topic for another thread.
@Denis…NO. With ASCAP the money goes into a “fund” that gets distributed a number of ways. Artists can apply for ASCAP Awards, if they can document performances that were outside the survey. I did that once and, I think they paid in the area of $150.
Thats the way we used to do it until it went into a searchable database online. Major difference is Ireland is tiny compared to the US, so that makes it manageable and feasible.
That’s because they have to go back and search for, and confirm the performances / airings. Again… cue sheets are only half the battle. Without corresponding performance data, they are meaningless.
But what you do find, if you can get your hands on the cue sheets, is that you have been underpaid or your co-writer did not get paid. Cue sheets are not entirely meaningless.
This kind of administrative work comes difficult for a musician and I guess many folks would prefer to not deal with it. Someone who knows the ropes should offer this as a service in return for a percentage. Might be a good side business. Could any of the seniors enlighten us as to how much they have claimed and gotten back from these proceedings and how much time they have put into it. Many thanks.
Cue sheets are not entirely meaningless.
Meaningless with respect to that fact the PROS will not pay anything based upon information from cue sheets alone. For that, they rely upon their own information.
Someone who knows the ropes should offer this as a service in return for a percentage.
That is what publishers do. They administer your publishing, which includes chasing paper.
@Art, I’m going through a similar situation. How long has it been for you? BMI was able to put me in touch with someone at the production company but it’s been over a year and still no cue sheets filed. If I’m not mistaken, even if cue sheets were turned in now, I wouldn’t get paid because it’s past the threshold that BMI would pay out for. Or am I mistaken?
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