1. Acceptance of Terms
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and SoundSzene LLC (“SoundSzene,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) governing your access to and use of soundszene.com and all associated services (collectively, the “Platform”). By creating an account or otherwise accessing or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not access or use the Platform.
2. Description of Service
SoundSzene is an online platform that helps users discover local bands and facilitates connections between musical artists and venue operators. The Platform provides tools for browsing bands, managing band profiles, and initiating booking inquiries and negotiations. SoundSzene is a technology platform only — it is not a talent agency, booking agent, event promoter, or party to any agreement between artists and venues.
Location-based features of the Platform — including ZIP code entry during profile setup and band/venue location lookup — currently support only addresses within the contiguous United States. Addresses outside that area cannot be looked up or geocoded by the Platform.
3. User Accounts
3.1 Account Responsibilities
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must provide accurate and complete information when creating your account. You may not use another person’s account or transfer your account to another party without our written consent.
3.2 Reporting Violations
If you believe a band, venue, event, or user is violating these Terms — including impersonation, harassment, or fraudulent listings — you may submit a report using the reporting tools available on the relevant profile, event, or inquiry page. Reporting requires you to be signed in. We review reports at our discretion; filing a report does not guarantee that any particular action will be taken.
3.3 Suspension and Termination
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts, and to remove or restrict access to content, that violate these Terms or that we determine, in our sole discretion, are being used in a manner harmful to other users or the Platform — including in response to a report submitted under Section 3.2.
4. Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to create an account or use the Platform. If you are between 13 and the age of majority in your jurisdiction, you may use the Platform only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian, who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf. SoundSzene does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if we become aware that we have done so, we will take steps to promptly delete that information. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
5. Content Ownership
5.1 Your Content
You retain all intellectual property rights in content you upload to the Platform, including profile pictures, display names, band bios, audio tracks, and other materials you create and submit (“User Content”). By uploading User Content, you grant SoundSzene a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and create technical adaptations of that content (such as format conversion, compression, or transcoding) solely as necessary to operate, provide, and improve the Platform — for example, streaming an uploaded audio track to other users.
5.2 Platform-Generated Content
All content generated by SoundSzene algorithms and systems — including but not limited to discovery recommendations, match scores, follower analytics, engagement statistics, search rankings, and any other outputs produced by Platform processes — is the exclusive property of SoundSzene. You may not copy, reproduce, or redistribute such content without our written consent.
5.3 Content Removal
SoundSzene has no obligation to monitor User Content, but reserves the right to do so. SoundSzene also reserves the right, but assumes no obligation, to review, remove, or disable access to any User Content that we determine, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms, infringes a third party’s rights, or is otherwise objectionable. See Section 6 (Copyright Policy) for the process specific to copyright claims.
6. Copyright Policy (DMCA)
6.1 Respecting Intellectual Property
SoundSzene respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users to do the same. This applies to all User Content, including audio tracks, images, and text. When uploading an audio track, artists confirm they own or have obtained the necessary rights to distribute it.
6.2 Reporting Infringement
If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice to our designated copyright agent containing: (a) a description of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed; (b) identification of the allegedly infringing material and its location on the Platform; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is unauthorized; (e) a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Notices should be sent to our designated agent as follows:
DMCA Agent
SoundSzene LLC
12060 County Line Rd, Suite J, 239
Madison, AL 35756
Email: info@soundszene.com (subject line “DMCA Notice”)
Phone: 615-669-5085
6.3 Repeat Infringers
SoundSzene will, in appropriate circumstances, terminate the accounts of users determined to be repeat infringers.
6.4 Counter-Notice
If you believe your content was removed in error, you may submit a counter-notice to info@soundszene.com containing: (a) identification of the material removed and its location before removal; (b) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification; (c) your name, address, and phone number; (d) a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the applicable federal court and will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice; and (e) your physical or electronic signature. Upon receipt of a valid counter-notice, we may reinstate the material within the timeframes required by applicable law, unless the original complainant informs us that they have filed a court action.
7. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law
- Post false, misleading, or fraudulent information
- Impersonate another person or entity
- Harass, threaten, or abuse other users
- Interfere with or disrupt the Platform or its infrastructure
- Use automated means to scrape, crawl, or extract data without our written permission
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Platform
- Upload audio, images, or other content that you do not have the rights to distribute
- Send unsolicited advertising, promotional material, junk mail, or spam through any messaging or invitation feature on the Platform
- Use the Platform to build or contact a distribution list of people who have not given permission to be contacted
7.1 Contact Information You Provide
Several features on the Platform — inviting someone to join or help manage a band or venue, adding guests to a private event’s invitation list, and similar tools — let you enter another person’s email address so SoundSzene can contact them on your behalf. By submitting another person’s contact information through these features, you represent that:
- You have that person’s permission to provide their contact information for this purpose, and
- The communication is a specific, individual invitation related to the feature you are using — not unsolicited advertising, promotional material, or a distribution list
You, not SoundSzene, are responsible for ensuring you have the necessary permission before submitting someone else’s contact information. SoundSzene may limit, rate-limit, or suspend messaging features for any account that appears to violate this section.
8. Event Creation and Booking
SoundSzene provides tools that allow venue operators and artists to communicate about potential bookings and create event listings. By using these tools, you acknowledge and agree that:
- SoundSzene is not a party to any booking agreement, performance contract, or other arrangement between artists and venues
- SoundSzene has no liability for the negotiation, terms, fulfillment, modification, or cancellation of any such arrangement
- You are solely responsible for ensuring you have the authority and legal right to create events, book performers, or represent a band in booking negotiations
- Any payments, deposits, cancellation fees, or other financial terms are solely between the artist and the venue; SoundSzene does not process or guarantee such payments
SoundSzene makes no representations regarding the reliability, suitability, or qualifications of any artist or venue listed on the Platform.
9. Disclaimer of Warranties
THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOUNDSZENE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY CONTENT — INCLUDING USER CONTENT SUCH AS UPLOADED AUDIO OR IMAGES — IS ACCURATE, RELIABLE, LAWFUL, OR FREE OF INFRINGING OR OBJECTIONABLE MATERIAL. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
10. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SoundSzene and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to lost profits, loss of data, or loss of business, arising out of or related to your use of the Platform or any arrangements made through it.
SoundSzene’s total liability to you for any claims arising under these Terms shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid to SoundSzene in the twelve months preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred dollars ($100).
11. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless SoundSzene and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to your use of the Platform, your User Content, your violation of these Terms, or any booking or event arrangement you enter into through the Platform.
12. Term and Termination
These Terms remain in effect for as long as you maintain an account or otherwise use the Platform. You may stop using the Platform and delete your account at any time, as described in our Privacy Policy. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform at any time, with or without cause or notice, including for violation of these Terms.
Upon termination, your right to access the Platform ends immediately. Sections 5 (Content Ownership), 6 (Copyright Policy), 9 (Disclaimer of Warranties), 10 (Limitation of Liability), 11 (Indemnification), 13 (Dispute Resolution), and this Section 12 survive termination, along with any other provision that by its nature should survive.
13. Dispute Resolution; Binding Arbitration; Class Action Waiver
Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court.
13.1 Informal Resolution First
Before filing a claim against SoundSzene, you agree to first contact us at info@soundszene.com and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least 60 days.
13.2 Agreement to Arbitrate
If a dispute is not resolved informally, you and SoundSzene agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, rather than in court, except as set out below. The arbitrator, and not any court, has exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of this arbitration agreement. This arbitration agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
13.3 Location and Procedure
Arbitration may be conducted by telephone, video conference, submission of documents, or in person in the county of your billing or ZIP code address, or another mutually agreed location. Either party may instead bring a qualifying individual claim in small claims court.
13.4 Class Action and Jury Trial Waiver
You and SoundSzene agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding. You and SoundSzene also waive any right to a jury trial. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a class or representative proceeding.
13.5 Right to Opt Out
You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to info@soundszene.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.
13.6 Exceptions
Either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to prevent actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of a party’s intellectual property rights.
13.7 Governing Law
These Terms, and any dispute not subject to arbitration, are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.
14. Modifications to Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting a notice on the Platform or by email. Your continued use of the Platform after such notice constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
15. General Provisions
- Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and SoundSzene regarding the Platform.
- Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect.
- No Waiver: Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
- Assignment: SoundSzene may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent.
16. Contact
Questions about these Terms, or copyright notices under Section 6? Contact us at info@soundszene.com.