ASCAP processes music used in several advertising mediums. Please click on a medium below for more information.

TV Commercials
Radio Commercials
Network Promos
Short Form Infomercials (5 minutes or less)
Long Form Infomercials (5 minutes or more)
Public Service Announcements
Movie Trailers

TV Commercials, Public Service Announcements & Movie Trailers
ASCAP processes television commercial, PSA and movie trailer performances reported by Competitrack, a sophisticated digital monitoring system, on the basis of a census survey (i.e., complete count of performances). If your music is used in a TV commercial, PSA or movie trailer, complete the steps referenced below. If the TV commercial, PSA or movie trailer is not monitored by Competitrack, please see the Recorded Sub-Sample section below.

1. Register Your Music
   A work registration must be on file at ASCAP in order to match information about your work to our survey data and correctly distribute royalties. Confirm the music in question has already been registered in Member Access. If the work has not been registered, you must register the work with ASCAP first. When you register your music, you are submitting information about your original musical work, not about the advertisements in which it was used.
2. Submit Your Claim Through a Member Services Message in Member Access
   Log in to Member Access and submit your claim as a Message. Create a new Message and select the category “Advertisement Claims” and choose the “TV Commercial, TV PSA, Movie Trailer” topic. You will need to include the following information in your Message to ensure your claim is processed:
   
   1. First Airdate of Advertisement
   2. ASCAP Work ID
   3. Product/PSA Name
   4. Source of Music (link to a website containing your musical work)
   5. Competitrack Ad Codes (You can obtain Competitrack Ad Codes from http://www.competitrack.com/. Simply create a free Competitrack account and search for the commercial on the Competitrack website. Please click here to contact Competitrack and request a free account.)
   6. MP3 file of your musical work if a link to a website containing your musical work is not provided above

   

Note: If you submit your claim after the deadlines, your payment may be delayed until a future distribution. We are no longer accepting any claims for performance periods not listed above.

Network Promos
ASCAP processes all promos on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, Univision, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime based exclusively on information submitted by these networks to ASCAP. If your music is used on a station or network not listed above, please see the Recorded Sub-Sample section below.

Recorded Sub-Sample
Beginning with January 1, 2017 performances, ASCAP will rely solely on Soundmouse fingerprint technology to identify music used in:

1. Radio Commercials
2. Public Service Announcements
3. Short Form Infomercials
4. Movie Trailers not monitored by Competitrack
5. Promos not on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, Univision, HBO, Cinemax or Showtime
6. TV Commercials not monitored by Competitrack

If you haven't already done so, please contact Soundmouse to set-up a free Music Manager account, which will allow you to upload your audio files and metadata via their online portal. As a first step, please contact Soundmouse directly to set up your account by emailing them at the email address below.

Email: helpdesk@soundmouse.com
Please use the following subject line: ASCAP Music Manager Account Creation

When you have access to the Soundmouse online portal and are ready to supply your audio and metadata, please be prepared to provide the following required data fields:

Library name (if applicable) Audio File Name (= unique identifier) Track Title ISWC (optional) ASCAP Work ID (required -- not the ASCAP Web Reference Number) Composer and Publisher Name(s)

If music with different versions of audio (different instrumentation, timbres, keys) is used for the same advertisement/product you need to source each version separately to ensure digital detection.

In order to be detected by Soundmouse, your audio and metadata should be sent to Soundmouse within 45 days of the performance period. Please see the chart below for a list of deadlines.

Example: Your audio and metadata should be sent to Soundmouse by March 15, 2017 if the radio commercial airs on January 10, 2017.

Note: These performances are processed based upon a sample survey. Please click here for a list of our Cable TV sample dates.

TV Long Form Infomercials Television long form infomercials (infomercials of longer than five minutes in duration) are processed for royalty distribution purposes in the same manner as other program performances, using information ASCAP obtains primarily from cue sheets and performance data supplied by ASCAP licensees and third parties. If your music is used in a television long form infomercial, follow the steps set out below.

1. Submit Your Claim Through a Member Services Message in Member Access

Select the category "Advertisement Claim" and the topic "TV Long Form Infomercial", include a description of the claim, and attach all supporting information (i.e., a cue sheet and any other relevant documentation, including any known alternate titles). We do not accept airdate schedules for processing claims and only rely on the schedule data provided by third parties. A link to an Infomercial Music Cue Sheet template is provided below. You may track the progress of each television long form infomercial claim by checking your Message inbox in Member Access.

Infomercial Cue Sheet Template (EXCEL)

Note: If alternate titles that are not included in the original claim are utilized in subsequent performance quarters, ASCAP must be notified of such utilization through the submission of a new claim via Member Access following the procedure set forth above.

Performance crediting for all advertisement music is subject to the ASCAP Weighting Formula and the rules and policies pertaining to performance claims. For additional information about how ASCAP surveys performances in television long form infomercials, click here.