Over the last couple weeks I have received a large amount of cue sheets, most of them were for Chicago Cubs games for their 2022 season. After researching a bit, I discovered that the Cubs play mostly on the "Marquee Sports Network" which is a regional sports channel. Tunesat does not monitor this channel, but I did see several detections for Cubs games on channels like ESPN. Needless to say, I didn't know they were using so much of my music in their games.
Though I didn't study every single cue sheet (don't have that kind of time), I checked out a handful and they were all pretty similar. Three of my tracks (all from the same album/library) were used on the sheets that I looked at (sometimes 1 track, sometimes 2 or all 3). Many of the other cues were the same from one cue sheet to the next as well. I actually wrote this album (with a co-writer) specifically in hopes of getting sports placements.
Do these cue sheets mean big bucks?
I am not counting on it, but a guy can dream lol. Regional sports programs rarely pay, and if they do I would assume it would be very low money. However, the sync/blanket fees from the library could be significant. I should be getting my final quarterly payment from this library this month. I'll try to report back when I do, though I'm not sure if the library shows all of the details other than the earnings from each album.
These placements were from an APM library, which is common for American sports placements. I believe APM has deals with most (if not all) of the major sports networks in the US. And as I said, this music was sports-themed and marketed for sports.
For anyone who is afraid of committing to exclusive libraries because "the tracks might never get used", I say take the leap! Supervisors like exclusive music because it is all pre-cleared and they don't need to worry about re-titling. Three tracks alone got at least 65 placements. This album also does well for other sports placements and likely has over 100 placements this year in the US alone from 10 tracks.
A wise composer once said "don't put all your eggs in one basket". In this business we need to diversify. Write music in various styles and for various uses (sports, reality tv, trailers, underscore). Also try working with multiple different libraries, they all have their own different networks of clients. Try non-exclusive too. More revenue streams is a good thing!
Every PRO pay period I do a PRO Statement Breakdown. Check out the next few to see if any of these placements show up.
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