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Re: What to do when your track gets aired to make sure you get $
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:50 pm
by hummingbird
I suggest you remove the name of the music library from your post.
I think it takes 6 to 9 months for cue sheets to be processed by BMI and royalties to be received by the writer. Others may know better, as I am SOCAN; however all my signed tracks were registered with a PRO by the library on or before use.
Re: What to do when your track gets aired to make sure you get $
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:13 pm
by mazz
I would contact the library and see if they have registered it correctly in the first place. They are the ones that can contact the production company if the cue sheet was not filed correctly.
The thing is, some libraries don't register pieces until a placement has been reported to the PRO. So the cue sheet will have your name as the writer and the library as the publisher (for instance) but if BMI doesn't have that piece registered yet, they will log it with a generic name. I'm ASCAP and I've seen placements show up as "Show XX Cues". At some point the registration gets updated to reflect the correct title. The publisher would take care of this. If you register it, that will mess things up and potentially slow payment down. EDIT: I have gotten paid for these generic titles so at least ASCAP doesn't hold up payment if the registration isn't done. The cue sheet is the verification of the placement. This is why cue sheets are so important!
No matter what, it takes some time to get it straightened out and even if it's all good, you get paid 6 months after the show airs. For instance, the ASCAP payment that comes up on April 8th 2013 is for placements in the third quarter of 2012.
Contact the library/publisher. It's their responsibility to do the registrations and follow up. That's what they get paid to do!
congrats on the placement!