The Composer's Cue Sheet Guide (With a Template You Can Copy)
The Composer's Cue Sheet Guide
A cue sheet is the document that tells your PRO your music was used. It lists every piece of music in a production: what it was, who wrote it, who publishes it, how long it played, and how it was used.
Without it, your performance royalty does not get calculated. Not reduced. Not delayed. Not calculated at all.
The production company files it. You are the one who does not get paid when it is wrong. That asymmetry is the whole reason this guide exists.
I am a composer and I run two catalogs, so I chase these documents and read these statements myself. Here is what actually goes on one, what the codes mean, and what to do when nobody files it.
What goes on a cue sheet
Every cue in the production gets its own row. Each row needs:
| Field | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Production title | Series or film name, exactly as broadcast | Wrong title, no match against broadcast data |
| Episode title and number | For series | Royalties are calculated per episode |
| Cue title | The name of that specific piece of music | Must match your PRO registration exactly |
| Composer(s) | Every writer, legal names | A name that does not match your registration does not pay you |
| Composer PRO | ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, PRS, SOCAN | Tells the societies who collects |
| Publisher(s) | Publisher of record | This is the publisher share, half the money |
| Publisher PRO | Society for each publisher | Same reason |
| Ownership shares | Percentage split per writer and publisher | Wrong splits pay the wrong people |
| Duration | How long the cue is audible, to the second | Duration drives the payment amount |
| Use code | How the music was used | Changes the weighting, see below |
Timecode start is often requested too. It is useful for verification even where it is not strictly required.
The use codes, and why they are not a formality
The use code says how the music appeared. It is not descriptive trivia. Use classifications affect performance weighting, so the same thirty seconds can pay very differently depending on which code it carries.
| Code | Meaning | What it looks like on screen |
|---|---|---|
| BI | Background Instrumental | Score under dialogue or action |
| BV | Background Vocal | A song with audible lyrics under a scene |
| VI | Visual Instrumental | A musician playing on camera |
| VV | Visual Vocal | A singer performing on camera |
| MT | Main Title | The opening title music |
| ET | End Title | The closing credits music |
| Logo | Logo | Production company or distributor sting |
The distinction that trips people up is background vs visual. Visual means the performance is happening on screen: you can see the band, the singer, the piano. Background means the music is in the mix but the source is not on camera. A song playing on a car radio while nobody performs it is background, not visual.
Main and end titles are usually classified separately because theme uses carry their own treatment.
Getting this wrong is worse than a missing cue sheet in one specific way. A missing cue sheet pays zero, which you notice. A featured vocal logged as background pays something, so nothing looks broken and you never investigate.
A template you can copy
Paste this into a spreadsheet and fill a row per cue. It carries every field a US PRO needs.
| # | Cue Title | Start | Duration | Use | Composer | Comp PRO | Comp % | Publisher | Pub PRO | Pub % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Title | 00:00:12 | 0:42 | MT | Jane Doe | ASCAP | 100 | Doe Music | ASCAP | 100 |
| 2 | Cold Open | 00:01:30 | 1:15 | BI | Jane Doe | ASCAP | 100 | Doe Music | ASCAP | 100 |
| 3 | Diner Scene | 00:08:04 | 0:35 | BV | Jane Doe | ASCAP | 50 | Doe Music | ASCAP | 50 |
| 4 | Diner Scene | 00:08:04 | 0:35 | BV | Sam Roe | BMI | 50 | Roe Songs | BMI | 50 |
Two things that template is showing you deliberately.
Co-written cues get one row per writer. Cue 3 and 4 are the same piece of music, same timecode, same duration, split across two rows because two writers with different PROs share it. Shares add to 100 per side.
Writer and publisher shares are separate columns. They are two different halves of the money. A cue can be 100 percent your writing and 0 percent your publishing if you signed the publishing away.
Who actually files it
The production company, normally through a music supervisor, post-production coordinator, or clearance coordinator. Responsibility should be assigned in writing at the start of post-production, though on smaller productions it frequently is not assigned to anybody.
You are not responsible for filing it. You are responsible for checking it, because you are the only person in the chain whose income depends on it being right.
The realistic failure modes
In roughly the order they happen:
- Nobody was assigned the task. Most common on documentaries, corporate work, branded content, and one-off productions with no post supervisor.
- Filed without your publisher, so you collect the writer share and the publisher share goes uncollected.
- Your name spelled differently than your PRO registration. Middle initial present on one and not the other is enough.
- Wrong PRO listed, so the wrong society gets the claim.
- Durations rounded or estimated rather than measured.
- Use codes applied loosely, usually everything marked BI because it was faster.
What to actually do
Put it in the agreement. One line naming who files the cue sheet and by when turns an assumption into an obligation. This is the single highest-leverage thing on this list and it costs nothing at the point you are already negotiating.
Keep your own cue list while you score. Cue title, timecode in and out, duration, use code, writers, publishers, splits. If the production files nothing, this is what you hand your PRO. If the production files something wrong, this is what proves it.
Ask for a copy of the filed sheet. Then read it against your own list, field by field. The whole check takes ten minutes and it is the only point where an error is still cheap to fix.
Register the works before the production airs. A perfect cue sheet cannot match an unregistered work.
Chase it in January. ASCAP can retroactively credit members through the last completed survey year for royalties missed because of a late cue sheet, if notified by January 31, and December 31 for publishers. BMI handles adjustments through its own process. That window is real and it closes.
The honest limitation
If a producer simply never files, your practical options are limited. You can supply your PRO with the production details and your own cue list and ask them to pursue it, and that often works, particularly on a broadcast production the society already tracks.
What you generally do not have is a clean legal remedy, unless your contract created one. Which is the argument for the contract line, made from the other direction.
Keeping the information ready
Most of the pain here is not the form. It is that the information the form wants is scattered: writer splits in a deal memo, publisher details in an email, IPI numbers in a PDF somebody sent you in 2023.
That is the case for keeping writers, publishers, splits, PRO affiliations and IPI numbers attached to each track in one place, so filling a cue sheet is transcription rather than archaeology. DropCue stores that alongside your catalog. On the Studio plan, the Royalty Tracker imports your PRO statements so you can check what actually paid against what you delivered, which is how a missing cue sheet becomes visible in the first place.
Related: How PROs Actually Pay Composers | ASCAP vs BMI vs SESAC | How Music Royalties Actually Work
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a music cue sheet?
A document listing every piece of music in a film, TV episode, or other production, with the title, composers, publishers, PRO affiliations, ownership splits, duration and use type for each cue. PROs use it to match broadcasts to compositions and calculate performance royalties.
Who is responsible for filing the cue sheet?
The production company, usually through a music supervisor, post-production coordinator, or clearance coordinator. The composer does not file it but should always check it, because the composer is the one who loses the royalty when it is wrong.
What do the cue sheet codes BI, BV, VI and VV mean?
BI is background instrumental, BV is background vocal, VI is visual instrumental, and VV is visual vocal. Visual means the performance happens on camera. Background means the music is in the mix but the performer is not on screen. MT and ET cover main title and end title.
Does the use code change how much I get paid?
Yes. Use classifications affect performance weighting, so two cues of identical length can pay differently depending on whether they were logged as background, visual, or a title theme.
What happens if the cue sheet is never filed?
Your PRO has no record that the music was performed, so no performance royalty is calculated. The upfront sync fee is unaffected, which is why a placement can pay in full on the front end and nothing on the back end.
Can a late cue sheet still be fixed?
Often, if you act quickly. ASCAP can retroactively credit members through the last completed survey year when notified by January 31, and December 31 for publishers. BMI has its own adjustment process. Contact your PRO with the production details as soon as you notice the gap.
How long should a cue sheet duration be?
The time the cue is actually audible in the finished program, measured to the second, not the length of the file you delivered. A four minute cue used for forty seconds is forty seconds on the cue sheet.
