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Understanding Cue Sheets
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By Brian Beshears
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Understanding Cue Sheets
If the mere mention of cue-sheets, synchronization royalties,and performance royalties cause you to curl up in the fetalposition and break into a cold sweat, you¡¯re not alone. A basicunderstanding of these music licensing terms should help youbreathe easy and let you focus on what¡¯s really important,producing great work.
Synchronization Royalty: A licensing fee paid to the owner of apiece of music for the right to synchronize the music with youraudio and/or visual works. Many music libraries will charge thisfee each and every time you synchronize a song in your work. Onthe contrary, Studio CutzMusic Library offers a Lifetime Synchronization License,also known as a royalty free license or a buyout license. Thismeans that we charge a one-time fee, and allow you tosynchronize the music as frequently as you like.
Performance Royalty: Royalties paid by a broadcaster on anannual basis to a performing rights organization such as Ascap,Bmi, or Sesac. It is important to note that 99% of allbroadcasters pay a fixed amount each year for performanceroyalties. The same broadcasting fee applies whether the musicwas a buyout, standard license, a popular hit song, or arelatively unknown piece of production music. As a general rule,unless you are the actual broadcaster (ie; television station,cable network, etc.), performance royalties are not somethingyou should ever have to pay for.
So where do cue-sheets fit into the picture? A cue sheet ismerely a form filled out with the details of all the music usedin a particular program; the composer name, publisher name, howmany minutes and seconds of each track was used, etc. Cue-sheetsare required for each program that is broadcast. If your work isnot being broadcast, no cue-sheets are required.
The purpose of a cue-sheet is so that the composer and publishercan properly collect their performance royalties from that fixedamount the broadcaster has already paid to Ascap and Bmi. Nomoney is saved by not filling in a cue-sheet, and no extra moneyis paid by anyone as a result of properly filling in acue-sheet. It is simply a means to make sure that the moneyalready paid by the broadcaster is properly dispersed to thedeserving writers and composers.
People often ask how a music library is able to create highquality music and license it at such low prices. Much of theanswer lies in cue-sheets. If a cue-sheet is properly filledout, our composers get their fair share of the broadcast royaltypie and we can keep our licensing fees low. If cue sheets arenot properly turned in, the money goes into a ¡°surplus¡± account,which eventually gets distributed out to the most played artistslike Britney Spears and Garth Brooks.
So the next time you work on a production for broadcast, don¡¯tbuy Garth a new belt buckle¡. Take a moment to fill out a simplecue-sheet. You¡¯ll be helping a composer collect a buck or twothat are rightfully his, and you¡¯ll help keep the cost ofproduction music affordable!
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