Check www.fmsmf.org/unclaimed-residuals to see if you have unclaimed residuals

Here is something worth knowing: there may be a check out there with your name on it.

The residual system is genuinely complicated, and the entertainment industry has changed so dramatically over the past decade that even musicians who have been around a long time are sometimes surprised to learn what they may be entitled to. If you have ever done session work under an AFM agreement—scoring dates, sideline performances, anything captured as part of a production—it is worth taking a few minutes to make sure the system is working for you.

The Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund (FMSMF) distributes residual payments annually to musicians whose performances appear in films and television programs sold or licensed to secondary markets—streaming platforms, home video, broadcast syndication, and more. Since 1972, the Fund has served as the mechanism through which those downstream revenues find their way back to the people who created the music. But the system works best when musicians are actively part of it, and that means keeping a few things current.

Eligibility: The Starting Point

To receive residuals through the Fund, a musician must have performed under an AFM signatory agreement. This covers a wide range of work: scoring sessions, music preparation services captured in the context of a production, and sideline performances—those on-camera appearances where musicians are seen as well as heard. If you have ever done any of this work anywhere in the United States or Canada, it is worth taking stock of your session history and confirming that the Fund has your information on file.

One of the most common reasons eligible musicians miss payments is simply that the Fund cannot find them. The FMSMF distributes residuals each July for contributions collected during the prior fiscal year (April 1 through March 31), but those payments go to the address and contact information the Fund has on record. If you have moved, changed your name, or let your contact details go stale, a payment may have been returned or remain in an unclaimed funds pool.

Updating your information with the Fund is straightforward, and it is one of the simplest things you can do to protect money you have already earned. Visit our website at www.fmsmf.org or call our Participant Services team at (888) 443-6763.

Beneficiaries: A Conversation Worth Having

Residual rights do not necessarily end when a musician passes away. Depending on the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement, payments may continue to flow to designated beneficiaries. We are here to support you as you make plans for the future of your loved ones.

Does the Fund have a current beneficiary designation on file for you? Does your family know about your session history or understand that residuals may be part of your estate? These are not morbid questions—they are practical ones. A musician who worked steadily in the 1980s and 1990s may have decades’ worth of residual-generating titles still in active circulation today, with streaming extending the commercial life of that content further than anyone anticipated at the time of the original session.

The Streaming Factor

Speaking of streaming: the platforms have fundamentally changed the residual landscape. A television film made in 1994 that aired twice in syndication and was forgotten may now live permanently on a major streaming service, generating quarterly contributions to the Fund on an ongoing basis. Catalog content that once had a finite commercial life now has, in many cases, an indefinite one.

This is genuinely good news for musicians with older session credits—but only if the Fund can reach them.

Taking Stock

If you are a working musician with AFM session credits, here are a few practical steps worth taking now.

1. Confirm that your contact information is current with the FMSMF.
2. Review your session history and consider whether you have credits you may have overlooked.
3. Make sure a beneficiary designation is on file.

And if you have questions about eligibility or past distributions, reach out to the Fund directly—the staff is a resource, not just an administrator.

The FMSMF exists because your contributions to film and television have lasting value. The residual system was designed to ensure that value reaches you. A little maintenance on your end goes a long way toward making sure it does.

Roxanne Castillo is the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Counsel for the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund

GETTING PAID

To make sure your information is current for any upcoming distributions, please log in to your account at https://www.fmsmf.org/login/

You may also reach our Participant Services team at 888-443-6763.

BONUS TIP FROM LOCAL 802: Check https://www.fmsmf.org/unclaimed-residuals/ to see if you have unclaimed residuals. For a complete list of unclaimed checks from a variety of sources, see www.local802afm.org/unclaimed-checks