Music cue sheets & licenses
The list of every piece of music in your film and proof you may use it — the most common deal-killer for indie films.
The money-saving moment
While you're mixing, when every cue is right in front of you. Logging cues takes an hour during the mix. Doing it later means re-watching your film with a stopwatch — and discovering the one track nobody actually licensed after a buyer's lawyer asks about it.
What a cue sheet is
A table of every piece of music in the film: title, composer, performer, publisher, how it's used (background, featured, over credits), where it starts, and how long it runs. Performing rights organizations use it to pay composers; distributors use it to verify your licensing.
The two licenses per song
Every piece of pre-existing music needs TWO clearances: the sync license (the composition — from the publisher) and the master license (the recording — from the label). Licensing one without the other is the classic indie mistake, and 'cleared for festivals' does NOT mean cleared for commercial theatrical, streaming, or home video.
The Indie Greenlight requirement
Films enter our catalog with a sworn confirmation that music is cleared for commercial theatrical exhibition — because a show that sells out and then can't legally screen helps no one. If any track is 'festival only,' fix it or swap it before you submit.
The cheapest correct paths
An original score with a composer agreement (in your chain-of-title folder) is the cleanest. Library music with worldwide, all-media, in-perpetuity terms is nearly as clean. Famous songs are the expensive path — if a needle-drop matters that much, license it in writing before you fall in love with the cut.
Questions? hello@indiegreenlight.com