SESAC Selects Tunesat (NYC) To Monitor Performances In TV Broadcasts

May 10th, 2010 by Janice Brown

SESAC has officially partnered with TuneSat to use its proprietary audio-recognition technology to track SESAC performances across its network of 110 national broadcast and cable channels.

“After a decade of industry attempts to streamline the process, tracking performances on TV is still a largely manual endeavor,” said Hunter Williams, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development with SESAC.

“Cue sheets are notorious for being filed incorrectly, late, and in some cases, not at all, which adversely affects payments to songwriters and composers. We are very excited about the impact we believe TuneSat will have on improving the process and thereby increasing the accuracy in royalty reporting to rights holders.”

TuneSat’s audio-recognition technology detects music in as little as 3 seconds and even in very noisy (“dirty audio”) environments. This means short pieces of music layered underneath sound effects and voiceovers, such as those used in broadcast TV, can be detected by the system.

“Copyrighted music used in broadcast TV content is usually buried under a vast array of voiceovers and special effects,” said Chris Woods, EVP of TuneSat. “In many cases, rights holders are not properly compensated because their music is often unrecognizable and goes unreported. Our technology replaces antiquated cue sheet methodology and addresses inefficiency by offering the most compelling technology solution in the marketplace.”

TuneSat’s technology will benefit SESAC’s affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers by enhancing the PRO’s ability to capture performances of its repertoire on television, especially background and promotional uses of popular songs and production library music.

When integrated, the TuneSat detection data will help ensure the timeliness and accuracy of payments by supplementing and streamlining SESAC’s system for processing television performances.