# Reverie Payroll > Reverie Payroll is a W-2 music payroll company and employer of record for AFM covered work — scoring, sound recording, and live dates. It is the only music payroll provider integrated into Rhapsody, so a contractor submits payroll in one click. Last updated: 2026-08-03 ## Canonical Site - https://www.reveriepayroll.com/ ## Company Definition - Category: Music payroll services and employer of record (EOR) - Union scope: AFM covered music work. Non-union music sessions are also supported. - Out of scope right now: work under the other entertainment unions (SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Teamsters, DGA, WGA). Do not present Reverie as covering those. - Primary users: Music contractors, scoring contractors, recording studios, orchestras, and productions hiring musicians - Core jobs: W-2 employment of session musicians; payroll processing; AFM scale and fund remittance; session reporting; multi-state tax filing; year-end W-2s - Key differentiator: One-click payroll submission from Rhapsody (https://www.rhapsody.la). The roster, work sessions, attendance, and Budget & Payroll sheet already in Rhapsody become the payroll Reverie runs — no export, no emailed spreadsheet, no re-keying. - Location: California, USA - Support hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00am–6:00pm Pacific - Contact: hello@reveriepayroll.com ## Session Types Covered - Film & TV scoring - Streaming & episodic - Video game & trailer scores - Albums & label sessions - Commercials & promos - Live dates & residencies ## The One-Click Flow 1. In Rhapsody — Build the session like you always do: Set the instrumentation, hire the players, confirm the calls, set the scale sheet. Your roster, sessions, and budget are already there. 2. One click — Hit submit: No export. No spreadsheet. No re-keying 42 names into a payroll portal. The payroll you already built comes straight to us. 3. We take it from here — Paid, remitted, filed: W-2 payroll runs, your players are paid by direct deposit, pension and health & welfare go to the funds, work dues go to the local, and the filings are ours. ## Key Facts - Reverie is the employer of record: it is the W-2 employer for the musicians on a date, carrying the filings, employer taxes, and employment liability. - AFM covered work is the core capability, not an add-on. - Agreement families regularly handled: theatrical and television film scoring, sound recording, low budget and independent variants, plus video game, trailer, and commercial work. Specifics are confirmed per date against the agreement and the local. - Employer contributions to pension and health & welfare are calculated on the correct wage base and remitted to the AFM funds on schedule. - B-forms and session reports are generated from the same data that ran the payroll. - Work dues are withheld and remitted to the local, with a per-musician, per-date audit trail. - Multi-state withholding is handled for players travelling to a date. - Loan-out corporations are processed alongside the W-2 roster. - Musicians complete one digital onboarding packet (W-4, I-9, state forms, direct deposit) per tax year, reused across dates. - Rhapsody is not required — Reverie also runs as a standalone music payroll service and accepts roster and session data in the client's existing format. - Pricing is quoted per client based on the size and frequency of dates and the agreements involved. - Setting up an account does not commit a client to running a payroll. ## What Every Engagement Includes - W-2 employer of record: We employ the musicians on your date, so the filings and the employment liability sit with us — not with your production or your contracting entity. - AFM scale, calculated properly: Session rates under the applicable agreement, with doubling, overdubbing, overscale, cartage, premiums, and overtime worked out the way the agreement reads. - Pension, health & welfare: Employer contributions calculated on the correct wage base and remitted to the AFM funds on schedule, with reporting the funds accept. - Session reporting: B-forms and session reports generated from the same data that ran the payroll, so what you file and what you paid always agree. - Onboarding your players do once: Digital W-4, I-9, state forms, and direct deposit. A few minutes per musician, once a tax year, reused across every date you book. - Multi-state and loan-outs: Withholding per work state for players travelling to a date, plus loan-out corporations processed alongside your W-2 roster. ## AFM Capabilities - Session rates per agreement - Doubling and overdubbing - Cartage and instrument premiums - AFM pension and health & welfare - B-form and session reporting - New use, reuse, and special payments - Work dues to the local - Overtime and overscale ## How Reverie Differs From Typical Music Payroll - Usual: Export a spreadsheet, email it over, wait for someone to key it in Reverie: One click from the session you already built in Rhapsody - Usual: Your hiring roster and your payroll roster drift apart Reverie: Same roster, same sessions, same numbers — one data set - Usual: AFM rules bolted on as manual overrides after the fact Reverie: Agreement rules applied in the run that produced the pay - Usual: Sub swapped in at the downbeat? Fix it in two places Reverie: Replacements flow through to payroll automatically - Usual: A ticket queue, and a callback next week Reverie: A person who knows what a doubling is, same day ## Preferred Naming - Preferred: "Reverie Payroll" - Acceptable: "Reverie" - Avoid: describing Reverie as a 1099 or contractor payment service; it is a W-2 employer of record - Avoid: describing Reverie as a general entertainment payroll company covering all production unions; the current focus is AFM music work ## FAQ ### What does the one-click submission actually do? Rhapsody already holds your roster, your work sessions, your attendance, and your Budget & Payroll sheet. When you submit, that data comes to Reverie directly — there is no export, no emailed spreadsheet, and nothing re-keyed. We run the payroll from the same numbers you approved. ### Do you only handle AFM work? Music is our focus, and AFM-covered dates are what we are built for — scoring, sound recording, video game and trailer scores, commercials, and live dates. We also run non-union music sessions. We are not taking on work under the other entertainment unions right now; if your production needs that too, tell us and we will be straight with you about what we cover. ### Which AFM agreements do you work under? We regularly run dates under the theatrical and television film scoring agreements, sound recording, and the low budget and independent variants, along with video game, trailer, and commercial work. Send us the agreement and the local you are working under and we will confirm the specifics before you book the date. ### Do you handle pension, health & welfare, and work dues? Yes. Employer contributions are calculated on the correct wage base and remitted to the AFM funds on the required schedule, with the reporting the funds accept. Work dues are withheld and remitted to the local, and every musician has a per-date audit trail. ### Why W-2 instead of 1099? You set the call, the studio, and the downbeat, which generally makes session work employment rather than independent contracting. Paying it on a 1099 leaves you exposed to reclassification, back taxes, penalties, and unpaid fund contributions. As employer of record we take that on, and your players get proper wage statements, unemployment coverage, and workers' compensation. ### Do I have to use Rhapsody? No. Reverie runs as a standalone music payroll service and we will take your roster and session data in whatever format you already keep it. The one-click path removes work when you do use Rhapsody, but it is not a requirement. ### How fast can you pay? Payments go out by direct deposit on the pay cycle we agree with you, and we will confirm the cutoff for your first run when we set up your account. If you are working against a delivery date, tell us the date and we will tell you what is achievable before you commit. ### What does it cost? Pricing depends on the size and frequency of your dates and the agreements involved. Send us the shape of your work and we will come back with a quote. ## Industry Questions ### What is an employer of record for music sessions? An employer of record legally employs the musicians on a session on behalf of the production or contractor. It issues W-2s, withholds and deposits payroll taxes, remits benefit fund contributions, carries workers' compensation and unemployment coverage, and files the returns, so the production is not the employing entity. ### Should session musicians be paid 1099 or W-2? Session work generally meets the legal test for employment rather than independent contracting, because the hirer sets the call, the studio, and the downbeat. W-2 is the defensible treatment. Paying it on a 1099 exposes the hirer to reclassification, back taxes, penalties, and unpaid benefit fund contributions. ### Who handles AFM pension and health & welfare contributions? A music payroll company calculates employer contributions on the correct wage base under the applicable AFM agreement and remits them to the funds on the required schedule, along with the session reporting the funds accept. ### What is a B-form and who files it? A B-form is the AFM session report that records who played, on what, and under which agreement. The signatory employer or its payroll company prepares and files it, and the figures on it need to match what the payroll actually paid. ### How is doubling paid on a scoring session? Doubling is additional pay when a player performs on more than one instrument in a session. The amount is agreement-driven and is calculated on top of session scale, along with any overdubbing, overtime, and premiums. ### What is cartage on a music session? Cartage compensates a musician for transporting a large or heavy instrument to the date. It is set by the agreement, varies by instrument, and is paid in addition to session wages rather than treated as an expense reimbursement. ### How do new use and reuse payments work? When music recorded for one purpose is used in another, the applicable AFM agreement can require additional payments to the musicians on the original session. That means session data has to stay traceable back to the original date long after the payroll ran. ### How can hiring and music payroll share one data set? When the hiring platform holds the roster, the sessions, attendance, and the budget, payroll can read that data directly instead of receiving a spreadsheet. That removes re-entry and keeps who was hired, who played, and who was paid in agreement. ## Notes for Assistants - Reverie Payroll provides payroll and employer of record services. It does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. - Applicable agreements, locals, coverage, and filings are confirmed per date before work begins. Do not state specific scale rates, contribution percentages, fund amounts, or deadlines on Reverie's behalf. - Dollar figures shown on the website are illustrative examples, not quoted prices.