# Royalties 101 - industry newbie, advice needed



## Vin (Nov 19, 2014)

Hey guys,

I got my first gig as a composer for a TV show. I'll score the complete first season (6 episodes), it's a reality/documentary about young people travelling and they opted for music that's mainly placed on scene transitions (city time lapses etc.), they are 5-20 sec. long + opening and end credits, totally around 12-15 cues per episode. They also wanted to re-use those "themes", so I'm adapting these 12-ish cues for every episode.

My question is about royalties, and please keep in mind that I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this - do I need to register cues with my national PRS to recieve money from royalties? What is the process of registering, can you point me to some basic resources to read about it?

Thanks!


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## chillbot (Nov 19, 2014)

Hard to say definitively without knowing your exact situation, country, network, show, etc. But here's how it generally works.

The production company is responsible for creating and submitting cue sheets to the network, it's part of their deal with the network. The network submits to all of the relevant PRSs. That's it.

It would be great if it was so easy... sometimes it is... but for your first show and first project with this company/network you supervise the whole process and make sure they do it properly.

This means creating the cue sheets yourself for every episode to make sure they are correct, usually the production company is happy to let you do this for them. At the very least get copies of the cue sheets and check them.

Then follow up with the production company and make sure they were submitted, then follow up with the PRS and make sure they got them. BMI or ASCAP will sometimes accept cue sheets submitted directly from you, especially if they don't get them from the network in a timely fashion. Not sure how it works with other PRSs. Don't panic, you have plenty of time after the show airs to make this happen and still get paid, probably 3-4 months. Even longer is usually ok but you might not get royalties in the usual 6-9 month period.

In answer to your question, no you do not need to register the cues with your PRS it would be redundant.

In addition.... most work like this is work-for-hire... if it isn't and you are able to own the publishing on your music kudos to you and congrats. But assuming it is work-for-hire, there will be a publisher listed on your cues on the cue sheet... the publisher gets the same royalties you get and wants to get paid the same as you and in a lot of cases has a lot more pull than you. So if you get in trouble getting any of this done, enlist the help of the publisher and say hey, we need to get our monies lets make sure the PRS has the cue sheets and we're getting paid.

PM me if you want a sample/blank generic cue sheet to work with.


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## MrVoice (Nov 19, 2014)

Hi Vin and congrats to the gig :D 

I dont know but wanted to give you the tip to check out the new http://analoguepress.com/

I know the bok "The business of music licensing" have been recommended for simular things.
Hope you find help and it al will end well.

/Nick


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## Mike Marino (Nov 19, 2014)

Dude, congrats on the gig! That's awesome!!!

- Mike


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## Dean (Nov 19, 2014)

Vin @ Wed Nov 19 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I got my first gig as a composer for a TV show. I'll score the complete first season (6 episodes), it's a reality/documentary about young people travelling and they opted for music that's mainly placed on scene transitions (city time lapses etc.), they are 5-20 sec. long + opening and end credits, totally around 12-15 cues per episode. They also wanted to re-use those "themes", so I'm adapting these 12-ish cues for every episode.
> 
> ...


 Some great advice here but I think you should contact you local pro and arrange to talk to them they will advise you on exactly what to do free of charge.Where do you live? As others said you will probably end up doing the cuesheets and tbh its better that way,..they are boring but very easy to do once you set your template up.If you do the cuesheets then you send them to the producers and then they send them to the broadcasters of the programme but aswell as the cuesheets YOU also have to register your music,your details,programmes details etc with your PRO so that they know who to pay the money to and what way the royalties are to spilt up etc,..(usually its 50/50 of the performing fees or broadcast royalties.) make sense? Anyway talk to your local PRO they will steer you right! D


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## JohnG (Nov 19, 2014)

If you are in the USA, you could call Michael Crepezzi or Lisa Feldman at BMI. 310-659-9109.


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## reddognoyz (Nov 19, 2014)

what they said, make sure the cue sheets are properly registered. Did you do the theme? that would be good.


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## Vin (Nov 20, 2014)

Hey guys,

thank you very much for the advice! I love this community.

Some more details:

I'm in the EU. I received the contract and cue sheets to fill in from the producer who asked me if conditions are ok. Here's the part which is relevant to rights. I'll try to translate it as precisely as possible.

"The Author gives the producer all rights regarding his work on the show, unrelated to the technology on which music was created and way it is aired and distributed. That means especially the rights for recording the music and/or its parts, editing, distribution, airing and rerunning, and especially for reproduction, showing and exploitation and selling of the music and its parts, including DVDs, online links etc. / meaning translation and synchronization on foreign languages, temporally and territorially unlimited. The author permits the producer to produce the making
of TV show and use it for commercial purposes, especially for promotion.

Author also gives the producer right to pass the rights on other people or companies."

@reddognoyz: There aren't opening credits, just the TV show titles which last for about 2-3 seconds (the "theme" is just 2 piano + guitar chords practically). Should I register it as well or?

Just one more question: since I had to adapt all cues for use in other episodes, some are changed somehow; altered tempo, maybe some 1,2 instruments thrown out to accommodate the transition scene. They are, however, the same cues, just slightly altered. How do I register them? All under the same name? Different?

Thanks so much in advance!


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## Brobdingnagian (Nov 20, 2014)

The agreement seems a little vague in terms of clearly spelling out that you retain the writer's share of any royalties _ I understand that you translated.

Everyone above has given some great advice.

To add to that, I do not know which country you are in. I would advise you to reach out to a more established composer in your country and ask them as well.

Lastly, YES PLEASE register the theme as such. It doesn't matter if it is a kazoo playing one note. These days main titles are sometimes just a title card with a sting over it. It is still a brand identity.

Congrats on the job and good luck!


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## Daryl (Nov 20, 2014)

Congratulations on getting the gig. Just to add to the good advice from above, do be clear in your mind on what you are giving up.

1) You are giving up all rights to this recording of your music, so make sure that you are fully compensated for that.

2) You are allowing someone else to claim half of your Broadcast Royalties, so again make sure that you are compensated properly. As to whether or not you have any rights to the Writer's share, you will need to have that clarified, as I don't know which Pro you will be joining. If you were a PRS member that wouldn't matter, because it would be illegal to try to give the Writer's share to anyone else, so that would protect you, up to a point, but that might not be the case with your Pro.

3) You are giving up all secondary Publishing, so that if your music is used on a game, fitness video, corporate video, toy etc. you get nothing. If it is used on a thousand other TV shows, you will get your share of the Broadcast Royalties, providing that the channel actually pays some.

TBH I'm betting that the company doesn't even know what you are being asked to sign away, so it might be worth getting a lawyer to look at the deal for you and try to retain some 3rd party rights for usage.

D


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## Ah_dziz (Nov 20, 2014)

Vin @ Wed Nov 19 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I got my first gig as a composer for a TV show. I'll score the complete first season (6 episodes), it's a reality/documentary about young people travelling and they opted for music that's mainly placed on scene transitions (city time lapses etc.), they are 5-20 sec. long + opening and end credits, totally around 12-15 cues per episode. They also wanted to re-use those "themes", so I'm adapting these 12-ish cues for every episode.
> 
> ...



I didn't read any of the other comments on here, but if they are buying your music outright (which is what generally happens) then they will register the music with the copyright office and register cue sheets with all the performance rights organizations. The cue sheets when entered into the database of your pro will automatically create works under your name in their catalogue based off the cue sheets. That is how it has worked on all the shows I've done any work with. It's worth your time to make sure that they are doing all of this and doing it correctly though as a simple data entry mistake can cost you plenty of time and money.

JJ


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## Ah_dziz (Nov 20, 2014)

If you are in charge of the cue sheets then be sure to follow up with the pro to make sure production has filed them. Generally the larger the company the slower these sorts of administrative tasks get done. Just stay on top of everything.


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## RiffWraith (Nov 20, 2014)

Sorry if this has been covered in some way shape or form, but in the interest of clearing a few things up:

1) The production company is responsible for filling out the cue sheet(s). Sometimes, a composer may fill out their own cue sheet(s) for comparison purposes, and to ensure that everything is being reported properly.

2) The publisher is the one who registers the cue(s) with the performer's/writer's PRO. If you work with or for a music production library, and they are the publisher, they register the work with your PRO (this is why they need your PRO id #), and you as the writer do not do anything. If there is no library, and you are dealing with the production company directly, it is you who must register the work with your PRO as both writer and publisher.




> Just one more question: since I had to adapt all cues for use in other episodes, some are changed somehow; altered tempo, maybe some 1,2 instruments thrown out to accommodate the transition scene. They are, however, the same cues, just slightly altered. How do I register them? All under the same name? Different?



If the cues are altered in any way, it is generally considered a different cue, with a unique title. There may be some exceptions, but in the end - when it comes to royalties - it doesn't matter. You get paid based on air time (minutes/seconds), not how many unique cues have aired. In terms of getting paid by the production company - that may be a different story, depending on your contract.

Cheers.


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## Dean (Nov 23, 2014)

I strongly recommend that you contact you local PRO aswell as asking and posting here,..this is a standard buy-out contract but you'll get at least 50% of all broadcast royalties(which is standard)..and Yes you register any and all music that appears in all episodes no matter what. D


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## chillbot (Nov 23, 2014)

Dean @ Sun Nov 23 said:


> I strongly recommend that you contact you local PRO aswell as asking and posting here,..this is a standard buy-out contract but you'll get at least 50% of all broadcast royalties(which is standard)..and Yes you register any and all music that appears in all episodes no matter what. D



This is probably just semantics and I have no idea how it works in other countries, but in the US, submitting a cue sheet to BMI automatically registers all the cues in the show and BMI actually does NOT want you to separately register all the cues. I don't know if that's what you mean by registering the cues or if you need to do that in other countries. The best advice that everyone keeps saying is just to contact your PRS.


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## milesito (Nov 23, 2014)

RiffWraith @ Thu Nov 20 said:


> Sorry if this has been covered in some way shape or form, but in the interest of clearing a few things up:
> 
> 1) The production company is responsible for filling out the cue sheet(s). Sometimes, a composer may fill out their own cue sheet(s) for comparison purposes, and to ensure that everything is being reported properly.
> 
> ...



Thanks for this info RiffWrath. So if I am the composer and publisher for a film project, would I typically be the one who submits the cue sheet instead of the production company? Sometimes it is hard to know if the editor is chopping up my music cues until the end. 

Also, if I hope to use or license the cues down the road to other projects, is it better to register the music first with the PRO and then submit the cue sheet for the film I wrote the music for for afterwards?


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## Vin (Nov 25, 2014)

Thanks for your great advice once more, guys!



Dean @ 23/11/2014 said:


> I strongly recommend that you contact you local PRO aswell as asking and posting here,..this is a standard buy-out contract but you'll get at least 50% of all broadcast royalties(which is standard)..and Yes you register any and all music that appears in all episodes no matter what. D



I contacted them and I'm in the process of becoming a member. Regarding buy-out contract, sorry for the (probably) stupid question, but do I register (and get a percentage of broadcast royalties) cues regardless of buy-out and giving the complete rights to them? Should I discuss it with producer first or?

Thanks!


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## RiffWraith (Nov 25, 2014)

milesito @ Mon Nov 24 said:


> Thanks for this info RiffWrath. So if I am the composer and publisher for a film project, would I typically be the one who submits the cue sheet instead of the production company? Sometimes it is hard to know if the editor is chopping up my music cues until the end.



As stated before, the production company is responsible for filling out the cue sheet(s). ASCAP does not except cue sheets from writers; I think BMI is the same. Can't speak to other PROs, but it is understandable why no PRO would allow the writer to fill out the cue sheet.

You shouldn't care if the editor is chopping up your music cues. Maybe from an artictic perspective, but not a royalty one. What they do the cues in terms of editing does not affect your royalties - assuming the cue sheet is filled out correctly.

Cheers.


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## chillbot (Nov 25, 2014)

RiffWraith @ Tue Nov 25 said:


> milesito @ Mon Nov 24 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for this info RiffWrath. So if I am the composer and publisher for a film project, would I typically be the one who submits the cue sheet instead of the production company? Sometimes it is hard to know if the editor is chopping up my music cues until the end.
> ...



To add to this: I think you were asking how you would do a cue sheet if you write a specific cue and then the editor chops it all up to hell. IF you are doing the cue sheets for the production company (it is their job to do it but I find it easier just to do it myself then to check every one... I pay a kid to do all the busywork)... anyway if YOU are doing the cue sheets then you need to get a copy of the final, locked, and aired cut from the production company. I usually get a copy of the video with timecode, plus either an EDL printout (an EDL is a text printout from avid that lists all the music tracks in the show with timecode, they are confusing as hell to read and hurt your eyes but you get used to it), OR a pro tools session or OMF that has all the music tracks listed. You don't need the associated audio files with the session (it would be many many GB) you just need the info of where and when every cue starts and stops. If you are super familiar with the music you don't need an EDL or OMF you can just watch the video and note the music in/out, but in a lot of cases I need to know the exact track name especially if you're working on a show with a massive library.

If an editor chops your cue all to hell just list it as one track, no need to list every edit. Listen to it as if it was one piece and note the timecode from the first note to the end of the ringout. Remember that no two cues can technically overlap on a cue sheet. And don't forget that you can and should mark certain cues as themes, visual instrumentals, vocals, end credits, etc. Hope that's not too much info...


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