Refunds and cancellation

Last updated: October 11, 2026

Applies to: all purchases made on upcomingsounds.com — USC credit top-ups, campaign packages, curator offers, Curator Coverage Marketplace purchases, services marketplace orders, subscriptions, and gift cards.

This policy explains when you get money or credits back, how automatic refunds work, and how to request a refund. It must be read together with our Terms of Service. Nothing in this policy limits any right you have under applicable law. Mandatory consumer rights always take priority over anything stated here.

1. The short version

Most refunds on UpcomingSounds are automatic and are paid in USC credits to your wallet — you do not need to email us to receive them.
An offer that expires without a curator review is refunded automatically.
Verified coverage that is not delivered by its due date is refunded automatically.
Coverage that a curator rejects in the Curator Coverage Marketplace is refunded to your wallet.
Work that is rejected through the platform's review process is refunded to your wallet.
Campaign package fees are refundable only for campaigns that delivered nothing — no curator offers and no coverage deal — and only through the manual request process in Section 4. A campaign with even one offer or one coverage deal counts as delivered, and its package fee is earned and non-refundable.
USC credit purchases are generally final once spent, except for the automatic refunds described below and any refund required by law.
Where the law requires a refund to your original payment method (for example, a statutory withdrawal refund), we pay it that way — credits are never forced on you in place of a legally required cash refund unless you expressly agree.

2. How to request a refund

For anything not covered by the automatic refunds in Section 3, email support@upcomingsounds.com or use our contact form. Include your order reference, the purchase date, and a short description of the request. Do not send card numbers, security codes, passwords, or identity documents in your initial request.

We assess every request against the actual purchase and the remedy the law requires. Approved discretionary remedies may be issued as USC credits to your wallet where the law allows.

3. Automatic refunds (no request needed)

The following refunds are processed by the platform automatically. In each case the refund is paid in USC to the wallet of the artist who paid, and a confirmation email is sent.

3.1 Offers that expire without a curator review

When you pay for an offer to a curator, the curator has a review window to respond — 12 days for offers where you hand-pick curators, and in all cases the window shown when the offer is made. If the curator does not review the offer within that window, the offer expires and the full amount you paid for that offer is automatically refunded in USC to your wallet. Offer refunds are processed in a daily automated run: your credits normally appear within 24 hours of the offer expiring, and the confirmation email follows the refund.

3.2 Verified coverage that is not delivered by its due date

When you buy coverage in the Curator Coverage Marketplace, the listing carries the curator's delivery estimate, and your purchase has a due date (the purchase date plus the delivery estimate, or the due date shown on your order). The curator is reminded 2 days before the due date. If the curator has not submitted the coverage work by the due date, the request expires automatically and the full amount (including any platform fee charged on it) is refunded in USC to your wallet, within 24 hours of the due date passing.

3.3 Rejected submissions and cancelled work

If submitted work is rejected through the platform's review process and the transaction is marked refunded, the amount returns to your wallet automatically.
If we reject a track that has an active campaign, the campaign is cancelled automatically and all pending, not-yet-approved offer payments under it are refunded.
If we cancel a campaign for any reason, the campaign's USC credits are restored to your wallet in full.

3.4 Coverage requests rejected by the curator

If you purchase coverage in the Curator Coverage Marketplace and the curator rejects (declines) your coverage request, the purchase does not proceed and the full amount you paid — including any platform fee charged on it — is refunded in USC to your wallet automatically, without you needing to ask. The curator is not paid anything for a request they rejected (see Section 11).

4. Campaign packages — the manual package-refund process

A campaign package (Standard 45 USC, Advanced 60 USC, Pro 80 USC, Premium 100 USC) commits its credits when the campaign launches and runs for 45 days, during which your track is sent to curators across the platform.

When a campaign counts as delivered. A curator's offer under your campaign is what leads to a coverage deal for your track. A campaign therefore counts as delivered (valid) as soon as, during its run, at least one curator makes at least one offer under it — even a small one — or you receive at least one coverage deal from it. Once a campaign is delivered, the package service has been provided, the package fee is earned, and it is not refundable. This never affects the per-offer protections in Section 3: an individual offer that expires unreviewed is still auto-refunded in full, delivered campaign or not.

Campaigns that delivered nothing — zero offers and no coverage deal during the entire run — are eligible for a package refund through a manual, request-based process (the package fee is never refunded automatically):

Request it. Email support@upcomingsounds.com or use the contact form, with your campaign ID (or order reference), the purchase date, and a short note that you are requesting a campaign package refund because the campaign delivered nothing.
We review it. An admin checks the campaign record to verify that no curator made any offer and no coverage deal resulted from it during its run. If even one offer was made or one coverage deal resulted, the campaign counts as delivered and the package fee is not refundable under this section — we will tell you this by email, and the per-offer refunds in Section 3 still apply to any qualifying offers.
If the delivered-nothing condition is confirmed, we cancel the campaign. The campaign is cancelled and closed.
Credits are restored to your wallet. The full package price is restored to your USC wallet. Package refunds are paid in USC credits, never in cash, except where the law requires a refund to your original payment method (Section 6).

This manual package process is separate from the automatic refunds in Section 3, which continue to apply on their own terms: any individual paid offer that expires without a curator review is refunded in full automatically (Section 3.1), and marketplace coverage not delivered by its due date is refunded automatically (Section 3.2). If we cancel a campaign ourselves (for example, for a platform error), the package credits are restored in full without you needing to request it. Nothing in this section affects refunds required by law (Section 6).

5. USC credit purchases

USC is a prepaid platform credit (1 USC = £1 GBP at the time of purchase, at the rate shown at checkout). USC has no cash value outside the platform and is not a deposit, e-money, or a bank balance.
Purchased USC is generally non-refundable once spent, except under Section 3 and Section 6.
Unused purchased USC may be refunded where required by law, including under the withdrawal right in Section 6.
USC remains valid for one year from the date it is issued to your wallet, unless we expressly state otherwise for a specific promotion. We will email you before purchased credits expire.
Promotional and referral credits (including promo-code credits such as ARTIST10 and referral rewards) are not purchased credits: they unlock only after your first campaign has been bought and is active, they cannot be withdrawn as cash, and they are refundable only where the law requires.

6. Consumer withdrawal rights (EU/UK consumers)

EU consumers generally have 14 days from concluding an online service contract to withdraw, subject to statutory exceptions. If you expressly request a service to start within that period, a proportionate amount may be payable for the service actually supplied. Loss of the withdrawal right for a fully performed service or immediately supplied digital content depends on the specific legal conditions, including any required express consent, acknowledgement, and contract confirmation. Using a credit or starting a service does not by itself waive all consumer rights.

Rights relating to failure to supply, lack of conformity, duplicate charges, or unauthorised payments remain available where applicable. Nothing here restricts statutory deadlines, payment-provider remedies (including chargebacks), or access to a competent authority or court.

Refunds required by withdrawal law are made within the applicable legal deadline and to your original payment method, unless another permitted method is expressly agreed.

7. Services marketplace orders

Services marketplace orders are paid with a 50% deposit at checkout, with the balance payable under the order terms shown before you confirm.
If a curator does not deliver, delivers late beyond any agreed date, or the delivered service is rejected through the platform's review process and marked refunded, the amount you paid for that order is refunded to your wallet (or to your original payment method where the law requires).
If you cancel an order after work has verifiably begun, a proportionate amount may be retained for the work actually supplied, where the law permits.

8. Subscriptions (Artist Pro and Curator Pro)

Subscription fees are billed in advance for each billing period (monthly or yearly) and are non-refundable for the current period once the period has started, except under Section 6 or where the law requires.
Cancelling stops future renewals. Your Pro benefits continue until the end of the paid period, after which the free-tier effects described in the Terms of Service apply (for artists, tracks beyond the free slots are hidden, not deleted; for curators, Pro fee rates and badge end, earned balances and placements are kept).

9. Gift cards

Gift card purchases may be withdrawn from under Section 6 within the statutory period if the card has not been claimed.
Once a gift card is claimed, its value becomes USC in the recipient's wallet and follows Sections 5 and 3 of this policy. Gift card credit cannot be exchanged back for cash except where the law requires.

10. Tips

Tips are voluntary payments between users and are final once completed, except in cases of payment error, fraud, or where the law requires a reversal. A platform handling fee applies to tips and is not refundable once the tip has completed.

11. What happens on the curator's side when a refund is issued

A curator is not paid for work that is refunded because it was not delivered, was delivered after its due date, or was rejected through the review process. No earnings for that work enter the curator's withdrawable balance. A curator is likewise not paid for a Curator Coverage Marketplace request they rejected; the artist's payment for a rejected request is refunded in full under Section 3.4.
If a refund is issued after earnings were credited to a curator (for example, because of fraud, a payment error, or a successful payment dispute), we may reverse the corresponding earnings or offset them against the curator's future earnings, and we will notify the curator. Amounts already withdrawn may be recovered where the law permits.
Refunds to artists do not affect a curator's earnings from other, unaffected work.
Curator withdrawals are requests reviewed and approved by us before payment (see the Terms of Service); a pending withdrawal can be adjusted or refused if the underlying earnings are reversed under this section.

12. How refunds are paid and when

Automatic refunds (Section 3): USC to your wallet — offers in the daily automated run (normally within 24 hours of expiry), coverage within 24 hours of the missed due date, rejection/cancellation refunds (including coverage requests a curator rejects, under Section 3.4) when the decision is recorded. A confirmation email is sent for automatic refunds.
Statutory refunds (Section 6): to your original payment method within the legal deadline.
Approved discretionary refunds: USC to your wallet unless we agree otherwise in writing or the law requires the original payment method.
USC refunds are credits for use on the platform; they are not cash and cannot be withdrawn, except where the law requires a cash refund.

13. Contact

Questions about a refund: support@upcomingsounds.com. Please include your order reference and purchase date. Mandatory protections available in your country of residence remain unaffected by this policy.

Operated by UPCOMINGSOUNDS S.R.L., CUI 54564122, Trade Registry J2026072621002. Registered office: Str. Nerva Traian, nr. 27-33, Scara B, Etaj 1, Birou nr. 6, Sector 3, Bucharest, Romania.