WELCOME TO UPCOMINGSOUNDS.COM

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and UPCOMINGSOUNDS S.R.L. for the use of upcomingsounds.com and all related services. Please read them in full — Section 1 identifies the company, and the sections that follow explain accounts, USC credits, campaigns, fees, refunds, and your rights.

1. UpcomingSounds is operated by UPCOMINGSOUNDS S.R.L. ("UpcomingSounds", "we", "us", "our"), a company registered in Romania under CUI 54564122 and Trade Registry number J2026027621002, with its registered office at Str. Nerva Traian, nr. 27-33, Birou 6, Scara B, Etaj 1, Sector 3, Bucharest, Romania.
2. These Terms form a legally binding agreement between you and us for use of upcomingsounds.com and all related services (the "Platform" or "Services"). By creating an account or using the Services, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, our Refund Policy, and our Cookie Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.
3. Eligibility. You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract. Accounts are for one person (or one legal entity acting through an authorised representative); you may not hold multiple accounts to abuse promotions, referrals, or free tiers.
4. Consumers. If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms removes or reduces any mandatory protection you have under the law of your country of residence.

1. Roles. Artists upload music and buy promotion. Curators (including playlist curators, YouTube curators, influencers, radio curators, bloggers, labels, and other reviewers) review music, make offers, and sell coverage and services. One account has one role unless we agree otherwise.
2. Approval. Artist and curator accounts are reviewed by us before full access is granted. We may approve, reject, or ask you to re-apply. Rejection of an application is not a termination and creates no entitlement to compensation.
3. Curator phone verification. Curators must verify a phone number by one-time SMS code before full access. Standard carrier message and data rates may apply; we do not charge for the SMS. Your phone number is used for verification and account security.
4. Verification status. Curators may additionally be granted "verified" status after a separate verification review. Verified status is a trust signal only; it is not a guarantee by us of any curator's audience size, quality, or performance. We may grant, refuse, or revoke verification at our reasonable discretion, and curators who lose verified status keep their accounts and earnings but lose verified-only features (such as the Curator Coverage Marketplace, where verification is required).
5. Social sign-in. You may register or sign in via third-party accounts (including Google, Facebook, X/Twitter, and Spotify). You are responsible for the accuracy of information received from those providers.
6. Account security. Keep your credentials confidential and notify us immediately of unauthorised use. You are responsible for activity under your account unless it results from our breach of security obligations.
7. Accuracy. You must provide accurate, current information (including payout details, Section 11) and keep it updated. Payments delayed or misdirected because of inaccurate details you supplied are your responsibility.

1. What USC is. "USC" is the Platform's prepaid service credit. 1 USC = £1 GBP at the time of purchase, at the exact rate and price shown at checkout. USC is a means of paying for Services on this Platform only. USC is not money, not a deposit, not electronic money, and not a bank or payment account balance. It has no value outside the Platform, is not transferable between users except through Platform features that expressly allow it (such as tips), and cannot be exchanged for cash except where the law requires a refund.
2. Buying USC. You buy USC through the wallet using our payment providers (Stripe and PayPal). Your wallet balance is calculated from your purchase, spending, and refund records. If our records contain an obvious error, we may correct it and will tell you what changed.
3. Validity. Purchased USC never expires. Once issued to your wallet, it remains valid until you spend it.
4. Promotional and referral credits. Promo-code credits (for example ARTIST10), referral rewards, gift-card credits, activity bonuses, and other incentive credits are separate from purchased USC. They unlock only after your first campaign has been bought and is active — never at signup. They cannot be withdrawn as cash, may carry their own expiry dates shown when issued, and may be voided if obtained through fraud, multiple accounts, or abuse (Section 14).
5. Spending. Paying with USC is final at the point of purchase of the relevant Service, subject to the automatic refunds and statutory rights in the Refund Policy. Refunds are paid in USC to your wallet, not cash, except where the law requires repayment to your original payment method.

1. What a campaign is. A campaign promotes one track for 45 days. The package price buys 45 days of exposure for your track to the Platform's full curator network — both verified and non-verified curators (Section 4.2). Current packages are Standard 45 USC, Advanced 60 USC, Pro 80 USC, and Premium 100 USC; the package price and included features (such as dashboard spotlight, featured-track shelf, or banner placement for higher tiers) are shown before you confirm. Prices may change for future campaigns with notice on the Platform.
2. Distribution. During a campaign your track is made available to curators across the Platform — the full curator network, both verified and non-verified curators. The full network includes the verified curators who also offer coverage through the Curator Coverage Marketplace (Section 6): the flat campaign package price already includes your track being made available to those curators during the campaign, and no separate marketplace purchase is needed for that exposure. Verified and non-verified curators differ in verification status: verified curators have completed the separate verification review described in Section 2.4, and non-verified curators have not. Verification status is a trust signal only; it is not a promise or guarantee of any curator's audience size, reach, influence, or of the impact or results of any exposure, and Section 4.3 applies to exposure from curators of every verification status. Curators respond with one of three outcomes: Accept, Reject (with written feedback), or an Alternative offer. Inclusion in a campaign does not oblige any curator to respond, accept, or feature your track.
3. No guaranteed outcomes. We do not guarantee that any campaign will produce offers, placements, playlist adds, streams, followers, chart positions, revenue, or any other result. Curators decide independently. Any statement elsewhere on the Platform must be read subject to this clause.
4. Offer window and expiry refunds. Paid offers made under a campaign carry the response window shown when the offer is made (12 days for offers where you hand-pick curators). If a curator does not review an offer within its window, the offer expires and the amount you paid for that offer is automatically refunded in USC under the Refund Policy.
5. Campaign package fee — when a campaign counts as delivered, and package refunds. The campaign package fee is committed when the campaign launches and is not refunded automatically.
   1. Delivered campaigns. A curator's offer under a 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 — of any size or value — 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 does not affect the per-offer protections: any individual paid offer that expires without a curator review is still auto-refunded under Section 4.4, and coverage refunds under Section 6.3 still apply.
   2. Campaigns that delivered nothing. If a campaign delivers nothing at all during its entire run — zero offers and no coverage deal — you may request a refund of the package fee. Package refunds are a manual, request-based process: (i) you request the refund via support or the contact form, identifying your campaign; (ii) an admin reviews the campaign and verifies that no curator made any offer and no coverage deal resulted from it; (iii) if that condition is confirmed, we cancel the campaign; and (iv) the package credits are restored to your USC wallet — in credits, not cash, except where the law requires repayment to your original payment method.
   3. If we cancel a campaign ourselves for any reason, the package credits are restored in full without any request, whether or not offers were made. Statutory rights are unaffected. See the Refund Policy, Section 4, for the full procedure.
6. Track rejection. Tracks are subject to review. If we reject a track with an active campaign, the campaign is cancelled and pending, not-yet-approved offer payments under it are refunded automatically.
7. Campaign changes. We may extend a campaign's duration; we will not shorten a live campaign in a way that removes paid features without restoring the corresponding credits.

1. How offers work. Curators may work from offer templates (including direct offers and alternative options). An offer records the track, the curator, the amount ("contribution"), and its status. Curators must act on offers honestly and within the stated window.
2. Curator obligations. Curators agree to: (a) listen to and genuinely consider submissions they accept payment for; (b) provide honest, professional feedback or the agreed coverage; (c) deliver submitted work by the applicable deadline or delivery estimate; (d) never use bots, fake streams, fake followers, or artificial engagement of any kind, and never guarantee streams or placements; and (e) comply with the rules of any third-party platform (such as Spotify or YouTube) in delivering coverage.
3. Artist obligations. Artists agree to: (a) submit only music they have the rights to promote (Section 13); (b) not demand positive reviews — curators may accept, reject, or propose alternatives honestly; (c) not attempt to move paid arrangements off-Platform (Section 15.2).
4. Work review. Submitted work may be reviewed and approved or rejected through the Platform's review process before curator earnings are released. Rejected work that is marked refunded returns the payment to the artist's wallet under the Refund Policy.
5. Free alternatives. A curator may offer a free alternative deliverable instead of the paid work; free alternatives carry no payment and no fee.

1. Listings. Verified curators may publish one active coverage listing at a time; listings require our approval before going live. Approving a new listing deactivates the curator's previous listing.
2. Prices. Coverage prices are set by the curator within the Platform's permitted range (currently 5–900 USC per coverage). The price, what the coverage includes, and the curator's delivery estimate are shown before purchase.
3. Delivery and automatic refund. A paid coverage request has a due date (purchase date plus the curator's delivery estimate, or the due date shown on the order). The curator is reminded 2 days before the due date. If the curator does not submit the coverage work by the due date, the request expires and you are automatically refunded in full in USC under the Refund Policy. If the curator rejects your coverage request, the request does not proceed and the full amount you paid is automatically refunded in USC to your wallet under the Refund Policy, and the curator is not paid for a request they rejected.
4. What "coverage" means. Coverage is the specific deliverable described in the listing (for example a playlist add, video review, article, or post). It is not a guarantee of streams, followers, or any downstream result (Section 4.3 applies).

1. Orders. Artists may request services from curators and other sellers through the services marketplace. Sellers respond with quotes; an accepted quote forms an order on the terms shown (scope, price, delivery terms).
2. Deposits. Service orders are paid with a 50% deposit at checkout, with the balance payable as shown in the order flow. Platform fees for service orders are set out in Section 9.1.
3. Delivery and disputes. Sellers must deliver as described. Delivered work is subject to the Platform's review/acceptance process; refunds for non-delivery, late delivery, or rejected delivery follow the Refund Policy, Section 7.
4. Contract formation. The contract for coverage and services is between the artist and the curator/seller. We provide the marketplace, payment collection through the wallet, review tooling, and dispute handling described in these Terms; we are not the seller of the coverage or services, but we do control platform rules, work approval, and fee deductions as described here, and nothing in this clause removes liability we cannot lawfully exclude.

Reserved.

1. Platform fees. We charge the following fees, which are deducted before curator earnings become withdrawable:

   Where	Fee
   Services marketplace orders	18% of the order amount; 10% for Curator Pro curators
   Campaign offer work and verified coverage	20% of the contribution where the contribution is over 15 USC; otherwise a flat 2 USC
   Tips	A handling fee applies to each tip, shown in the tip flow

2. Fees are not separately invoiced; they are deducted within the Platform. Fee percentages are those in force when the relevant order/offer is created. We may change fees for future transactions by updating these Terms and the relevant Platform pages; changes do not apply retroactively to completed transactions.
3. Taxes. Prices shown include or exclude taxes as indicated at checkout. Curators and sellers are independent contractors (Section 12) and are solely responsible for their own taxes, including income tax, VAT/GST, and social contributions on their earnings, and for any registration or reporting their local law requires. We may request tax or identity information where the law requires it and may withhold payouts where the law requires.

1. Plans and billing. Artist Pro and Curator Pro are subscriptions billed monthly or yearly in advance, payable by card or, where offered, from your USC wallet. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. The price and renewal terms are shown before you subscribe and in your subscription management page.
2. Cancellation. You may cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period, and Pro benefits continue until then. Subscription fees are non-refundable for the current period except under the Refund Policy and statutory rights.
3. Downgrade effects — artists. When an Artist Pro subscription ends after any grace period we provide, published tracks beyond the 2 free slots are hidden, not deleted. Hidden tracks are restored automatically if you resubscribe, or when you bring your published tracks within the free limit.
4. Downgrade effects — curators. When a Curator Pro subscription ends: the Pro fee rate ends and the standard fee rate applies to new work; Pro deposit terms revert to the free tier; the Pro badge is removed. You keep all USC you have earned and all placements already made.
5. We may change plan prices or features for future periods with at least 30 days' notice; changes take effect from your next renewal after the notice period.

1. Earnings. Curator earnings (contributions less the fees in Section 9) accumulate in the curator's wallet balance after the underlying work is approved and any related refund window or dispute is resolved.
2. Withdrawals are approved before payment. Withdrawals are made by request and are reviewed and approved by us before payment. We pay approved withdrawals to your chosen method: PayPal (to your PayPal email), Wise (email or the bank details you provide), or Revolut (handle, IBAN, or email). You are responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the payout details you provide and for any fees your provider charges.
3. Reversals. If earnings arose from work that is later refunded (non-delivery, rejection, fraud, or a successful payment dispute), we may reverse those earnings or offset them against future earnings, and may adjust or refuse a pending withdrawal to the same extent (see Refund Policy, Section 11).
4. We may require identity verification before paying out where the law (including anti-money-laundering rules) requires it, and may delay or refuse payouts reasonably suspected of fraud until reviewed.

Curators and sellers act as independent contractors, not employees, agents, or partners of UpcomingSounds. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment relationship. Curators control how they review and present music, subject to Sections 5.2 and 15. We do not direct curators' editorial opinions.

1. You keep ownership. You retain all rights in the music, artwork, text, and other content you upload ("Your Content"). Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership to us.
2. Licence to us and to curators. By uploading Your Content you grant us and the curators who receive it a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, play, stream within the Platform, display, and reproduce Your Content for the purpose of operating and providing the Services — including curator review, campaign delivery, your public profile, embeds and widgets you enable, and reasonable promotion of the Platform itself using your public profile material. This licence ends when you delete the content, except for copies already shared, embedded, or retained for legal/accounting records, and except that curators may retain records of work they performed.
3. Your warranty. You warrant that you own or hold all rights, licences, consents, and permissions needed to upload and promote Your Content (including master and publishing rights and performer consents), and that Your Content does not infringe any third party's rights. You are responsible for all royalties and claims arising from Your Content.
4. Curator content. Feedback, reviews, and coverage created by curators remain theirs, licensed to us and to the receiving artist for use in connection with the Services (including quoting a review in the artist's promotion, with attribution to the curator, unless the curator opts out of attribution).
5. Platform content. The Platform, its design, software, and branding are our property or our licensors'. You may not copy, scrape, or reuse them except as the Services expressly allow.

1. Referral programme. If you share your referral link and a new user signs up and later buys and activates their first campaign, a referral reward (in USC credit) may be credited to you at the rate shown in your referral dashboard. Rewards are never released at signup — they release only when the referred user's first campaign is bought and active. Rewards are promotional credits under Section 3.4, not cash.
2. Promo codes. Promo codes (such as ARTIST10) grant the credit stated in the promotion, subject to the same rule: credits unlock only after your first campaign has been bought and is active. Codes may have expiry dates, eligibility limits, and one-per-person limits.
3. Anti-abuse. Self-referral, multiple accounts, fake signups, or coordinated abuse void the affected rewards and may lead to suspension. Our determination of abuse must be reasonable and based on Platform records.
4. Gift cards. Gift cards are purchased for a stated USC amount, are claimed into the recipient's wallet as USC, follow Sections 3 and 5 of the Refund Policy, and cannot be redeemed for cash except where the law requires.
5. Tips. Users may tip curators (and, where enabled, artists) from their wallet. Tips are voluntary, attract the handling fee in Section 9.1, and are final once completed except for payment error or fraud.

You agree not to:

1. Upload content that is illegal, infringing, defamatory, or harmful, or that contains malware.
2. Circumvent the Platform — attempt to move transactions with users you met on the Platform off-Platform to avoid fees, or solicit others to do so. (This does not restrict lawful independent dealings unconnected to Platform-introduced transactions.)
3. Use bots, scrapers, or automated means to access the Platform except as we expressly permit; generate fake streams, plays, followers, reviews, or engagement; or buy or sell artificial engagement.
4. Harass, abuse, threaten, or discriminate against any person; impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity, audience, or credentials (including curator audience statistics).
5. Create multiple accounts to abuse promotions, referrals, or free tiers; commit payment fraud; or initiate chargebacks for Services actually delivered instead of using the Refund Policy and support process (genuine statutory chargeback rights are unaffected).
6. Interfere with the Platform's security, attempt unauthorised access (including to other users' accounts), or misuse our support or impersonation-resistant processes.

1. We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, send a notice to support@upcomingsounds.com identifying: the work claimed to be infringed; the infringing material and where it appears; your contact details; a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorised; and a statement, under penalty of perjury where applicable, that you are authorised to act for the rights holder, with your physical or electronic signature.
2. We will review notices promptly, remove or disable access to material that appears infringing, and notify the uploader, who may send a counter-notice with their contact details, identification of the removed material, and a statement of good-faith belief that removal was mistaken. We may restore material after a counter-notice unless the complainant notifies us of court action within the period the law allows.
3. Repeat infringers. We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
4. Designated copyright agent (DMCA). For notices under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, our designated agent is: Copyright Agent, UPCOMINGSOUNDS S.R.L., Str. Nerva Traian, nr. 27-33, Birou 6, Scara B, Etaj 1, Sector 3, Bucharest, Romania — email: support@upcomingsounds.com. The same notice-and-action procedure above applies to all copyright notices, wherever sent.

1. By you. You may close your account at any time through the Platform or by contacting support. Sections that by nature should survive (payments owed, Sections 13, 18–20) survive closure.
2. By us, for cause. We may suspend or terminate your account, with notice where practicable, if you materially breach these Terms (including Sections 5.2, 13.3, or 15), commit fraud, or create legal or security risk for us or other users.
3. By us, without cause. We may discontinue the Services or close accounts without cause on at least 30 days' notice.
4. Effect on balances.
   1. If we close your account without cause, or discontinue the Services, unused purchased USC is refunded to your original payment method and curators are paid their approved, withdrawable earnings.
   2. If we terminate for cause involving fraud or abuse, we may withhold promotional/referral credits and amounts reasonably connected to the fraud, to the extent the law permits; purchased USC not connected to the fraud and curator earnings from genuine completed work remain payable/refundable as above.
   3. Promotional credits are never cash-refundable. We will give you a statement of any amounts withheld and the reason, and you may dispute it via support.
5. We may suspend (rather than terminate) an account while we investigate suspected breaches; suspensions affecting payouts or balances will be reviewed within a reasonable time.

1. Artists and curators should first try to resolve delivery or quality issues through the Platform's messaging and review process. Our work-approval and refund decisions under these Terms and the Refund Policy are made on Platform records and apply to Platform payments; they do not limit either party's legal rights against the other.
2. If you initiate a payment chargeback for a delivered Service, we may suspend your account and reverse the corresponding credits or earnings while the dispute is resolved.

1. The Services are provided "as is" and "as available" to the extent the law permits. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation.
2. No outcome guarantees. Without limiting Section 4.3: we do not guarantee placements, streams, followers, revenue, curator responses beyond the refund mechanics described, or the accuracy of curator-reported audience statistics (which are provided by curators and verified only as described in Section 2.4).
3. Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, including consumer rights to a service performed with reasonable care and skill and to the remedies in the Refund Policy.

1. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for: death or personal injury caused by negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; wilful misconduct; or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
2. Subject to Section 20.1, our total aggregate liability arising from or in connection with the Services in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of (a) the total amounts you paid to us in that period and (b) £100.
3. Subject to Section 20.1, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, loss of profits, revenue, streams, followers, or goodwill, except where such losses were reasonably foreseeable and the law does not permit exclusion.
4. Curator work. The contract for coverage and services is between artist and curator (Section 7.4). Our liability for a curator's failure to perform is limited to operating the refund mechanics in the Refund Policy, except where the failure results from our own breach.

You agree to indemnify us against third-party claims, damages, and reasonable legal costs arising from Your Content, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of law or third-party rights, except to the extent caused by our own breach. This section does not apply to consumers to the extent it would be unfair under applicable consumer law.

1. We may update these Terms. For material changes (including fee increases, credit validity, or refund rules), we will give at least 30 days' notice by email or prominent Platform notice before the change takes effect, and the change will not apply retroactively to completed transactions. If you do not accept a material change, you may close your account before it takes effect and Section 17.4(a) applies to your balances.
2. We may add, change, or retire features; features behind limited rollouts ("launch gates") may be available only to some users, and availability of a feature in marketing material does not guarantee it is enabled for every account at all times.

1. Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of Romania. Consumers retain mandatory protections of their country of residence and may bring claims in the courts available to them there where the law requires; EU consumers may also use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform.
2. Entire agreement; severability; waiver. These Terms and the policies they incorporate are the entire agreement for the Services. If a clause is held unenforceable, the rest continues. Failure to enforce a clause is not a waiver.
3. Assignment. You may not assign your account or rights under these Terms without our consent. We may assign to a successor in connection with a sale or reorganisation, with notice.
4. Notices. We may notify you by email or Platform message. You may contact us at support@upcomingsounds.com or at the registered office in Section 1.1.
5. Language. These Terms are in English. Translations may be provided for convenience; the English version prevails in case of conflict, except where local law requires otherwise.