Registering your works for screen
If our members have been specifically contracted to compose for a screen production, these are considered specifically for a film or television production. These are known as “commissioned works”.
They make up all or part of the overall sound score (aka underscore). A “cue” refers to when and where a piece of music is used in a film/tv production.
There are two types of cues that can be registered with APRA AMCOS, background, and theme. Members do not need to register all individual cues.
Simply register one work for all the background cues, and one work for the music played over the opening and closing credits (if applicable).
These are referred to as “rolled up” cues.
Work registration:
Commissioned works for screen are to be registered in the following format, via the member portal. (Please note all titles are examples only.)
- The Green Garden (Background)
- The Green Garden (Theme)
OST
If a commissioned work for screen is also going to be made available as a standalone track, within a soundtrack release we usually advise members to make a registration as a general work with the (OST) tag after the title, or as an alternative title. This can help differentiate the two royalty streams on member statements. Please include the ISRC at registration if available to you, as it facilitates accurate matching (Spotify etc).
