Terms and Conditions
Songmonk is a distribution platform that allows you to upload your music to download stores and streaming platforms even without involving record labels or intermediaries (irrespective of whether you are an artist, producer, hobby musicians and/or copyright holder of music) and to get music onto the digital market and make money with them in what is probably the quickest, most direct way.
Songmonk is a service provided by the company Songzz Media GmbH. With the Songmonk model, Songzz Media GmbH allows artists not signed to a label to distribute music.
Songmonk charges an annual handling fee per release and pays you 90 % of the net revenues (which are generated via download stores, streaming or video platforms). The handling fee of € 9.99 for singles (1-2 tracks), € 19.99 for EPs (3-6 tracks), € 39.99 for albums.
Songmonk chooses suitable stores, shops or platforms (such as Amazon, iTunes or Spotify) for you, so that your content is delivered accordingly to the right stores.
We also assume that you will also want to be up to date at all times, meaning that we will auto- matically place your content in future, new stores and provide the music there. This means that Songmonk will make your content – which you have already paid for with the handling fee – available in new stores as they come onto the market without you having to pay any additional fees.
If, for example, you select the genres Electronic or Dance when you upload your music, then we will endeavor to deliver your content to specialist dance stores like Beatport, Traxsource or Juno Download. Otherwise, we will deliver your music to all possible shop models like iTunes, Spotify, KKbox or YouTube. However, shops, streaming portals and other platforms generally have the right to refuse certain content (e.g. in the event of an unsuitable genre, style or if the content is selected exclusively by the site operators). Songmonk has no influence whatsoever on this. Furthermore, please note that all stores and platforms have their own genre categories. In this regard, Songmonk will endeavor to assign the genre information contained in the publication to the genres of the individual stores to the best of its ability and at its own discretion.
A so-called takedown fee of € 39.99 will be charged if you want to have your music removed from one, several or all platforms during the minimum contractual term of 1 (one) year.
You grant Songmonk non-exclusive rights, meaning that you can continue to do whatever you want with your music. You transfer to Songmonk only the rights necessary for the distribution or delivery of your music to the stores. Before you can start the ordering process, you must confirm the agreement indicated below.
oYou don‘t need to worry about things like ISRC or UPC / Barcodes. We provide you with these at no extra cost.
If you have created a digital booklet for your publication, then please write to support@songmonk.com after ordering so that we can check the booklet before delivering it to iTunes (we are happy to inform you of the booklet specifications). If you require specific services such as mastering (or even ‚Mastered for iTunes‘), just send an Email to support@songmonk.com and we will advise you.
We will distribute your product worldwide, so your music will be available (almost) anywhere in the world.
As soon as you have generated distributable revenue of more than € 50.00 / 50 USD, we will pay it to you (less any tax deductions such as withholding tax for countries outside Germany).
You can define your release date when you place your order with Songmonk. The earliest pos sible release date is 7 days after ordering but we recommend to plan a release date 21 days in the future after ordering. The reason for this is that not all stores process the data at the same rate. Please also note that we work with many different stores worldwide, each with a variety of different mentalities. This is why we generally estimate the date of release to be the date of ordering plus 21 days.
For example, if you order “today” and set your release date to tomorrow, the software will automatically define it as “today + 7 days”.
Please note that not all stores or streaming portals will always be able to keep to a specific release date since delays may occur there due to technical requirements, maintenance inter- vals, editorial rejection or any other unforeseen circumstance related to delivery and ingestion.
The Agreement is for a minimum term of 2 years and shall be automatically renewed for periods of 1 (one) year each unless one of the parties gives the other written notice of its decision not to renew, which notice must be given at least 3 (three) months prior to the applicable renewal date.
We believe that a contract term of less than 2 year does not make any sense, because digital products need time to evolve or get the chance to generate subscribers. Any terminations are subject to takedown fees and will be deducted prior to final payment.
This agreement was most recently updated on March 06, 2020.
The following Terms of Service (“TOS”) contain the terms and conditions that govern your use of the Site. Any use of artist services through Songmonk are governed by the Songmonk Agreement and its relevant addendums. Access and use of the Site constitutes your agreement to and acceptance of all the TOS.
Songmonk (a division of Songzz Media GmbH, along with our licensees and assignees referred in this Agreement as “us” and “we” and “Songmonk”) reserves the right to revise this TOS in its sole discretion at any time and without prior notice to you other than by posting the revised TOS on the Site. Any revisions to the TOS are effective upon posting. The TOS will be identified as of the most recent date of revision. It is incumbent upon you to visit this page periodically to ensure your continued acceptance of this TOS. Your continued use of the Site after a revised version of this TOS has been posted by Songmonk to the Site constitutes your binding acceptance of such revision and the revised TOS. Notwithstanding the preceding sentences of this paragraph, no revisions to this TOS will apply to any dispute between you and Songmonk that arose prior to the date of such revision.
(a) Eligibility. Songmonk will only knowingly provide the Songmonk Site to parties that can lawfully enter into and form contracts under applicable law. If you are under the age of 18, but at least 13 years of age, you may use the Songmonk Site only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these TOS. The Songmonk Site is not intended for children under the age of 13.
(b) International Users: The Site is hosted in Germany.
(1) If you are a customer or client accessing the Site from the US, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure, that differ from German laws, then please note that you are transferring your personal data to Germany which does not have the same data protection laws as other regions.
(c) Compliance With TOS and Applicable Law. You must comply with all of the terms and conditions of these TOS, the applicable agreements and policies referred to below, and all applicable laws, regulations and rules when you use the Songmonk Site
(d) Your License to Use the Site.
(1) Songmonk and its licensors solely and exclusively own all intellectual property and other right, title and interest in and to the Songmonk Site, except as expressly provided for in these TOS. You will not acquire any right, title or interest therein under these TOS or otherwise.
(2) Songmonk grants you a limited revocable license to access and use the Site for its intended purposes, subject to your compliance with these TOS. This license does not include the right to collect or use information contained on the Site for purposes prohibited by Songmonk; create derivative works based on the Products or any third-party content available via the Site; or download or copy the Site (other than page caching). If you use the Site in a manner that exceeds the scope of this license or breach this TOS, Songmonk may revoke the license granted to you.
(3) This Section 1(d) does not pertain to your intellectual property rights. Any rights relating to materials that you upload to the Site are covered by the Songmonk Member Agreement
(e) Third-Party Services. Songmonk may use third parties to provide certain services accessible through the Site. Songmonk does not control those third parties or their services, and you agree that Songmonk will not be liable to you in any way for your use of such services. These third parties may have their own terms of use and other policies. You must comply with such terms and policies as well as these TOS when you use these services. If any such terms or policies conflict with Songmonk TOS, agreements or policies, you must comply with Songmonk TOS, agreements or policies, as applicable.
(a) Prohibited Use. Except as may be expressly permitted by Songmonk, you may not: (i) interfere with the Songmonk Site by using viruses or any other programs or technology designed to disrupt or damage any software or hardware; (ii) modify, create derivative works from, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any technology used to provide the Songmonk Site; (iii) use a robot, spider or other device or process to monitor the activity on or copy pages from the Site, except in the operation or use of an internet “search engine”, hit counters or similar technology; (iv) collect electronic mail addresses or other information from third parties by using the Songmonk Site; (v) impersonate another person or entity; (vii) use any meta tags, search terms, key terms, or the like that contain Songmonk name or trademarks; (viii) engage in any activity that interferes with another user’s ability to use or enjoy the Songmonk Site; or (ix) assist or encourage any third party in engaging in any activity prohibited by these TOS.
(b) Privacy Policy. By entering into these TOS, you agree to Songmonk collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the Songmonk Privacy Policy,
(c) Monitoring. Songmonk reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to monitor transactions and communications that occur through the Site. If Songmonk determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that you or another Songmonk user will breach a term or condition of these TOS or that such transaction or communication is inappropriate, Songmonk may cancel such transaction or take any other action to restrict access to or the availability of any material that may be considered objectionable, without any liability to you or any third party.
(d) Modification of the Site. Songmonk. may modify the Songmonk Site at any time with or without notice to you, and will incur no liability for doing so.
When you submit questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, message board postings, material submitted via web forms, contest entries, communications or any other information (“Submissions”), you grant Songmonk permission to use such submissions for marketing and other promotional purposes. You agree that Songmonk will have no obligation to keep any Submissions confidential and you will not bring a claim against Songmonk based on “moral rights” or the like arising from Songmonk`s use of a Submission.
(a) Mutual Representations and Warranties. You represent and warrant to Songmonk and Songmonk represents and warrants to you: (i) that you or it has the full power and authority to enter into and perform under these TOS, (ii) the execution and performance of your or its obligations under these TOS do not constitute a breach of or conflict with any other agreement or arrangement by which you or it is bound, and (iii) these TOS are a legal, valid and binding obligation of the party entering into these TOS, enforceable in accordance with their terms and conditions.
(b) By You. You represent and warrant to Songmonk that, in your use of the Songmonk Site, you: (i) will not infringe the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right of privacy, right of publicity or other legal right of any third party and (ii) will comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. You further represent and warrant to Songmonk that: (i) there are no claims, demands or any form of litigation pending or, to the best of your knowledge, threatened with respect to any of your Submissions; (ii) Songmonk will not be required to make any payments to any third party in connection with its use of your Submissions, except for the expenses that Songmonk incurs in providing the Songmonk Site; (iii) the use of any instructions, formulae, recommendations, or the like contained in your Submissions will not cause injury to any third party; and (iv) your Submissions does not contain viruses or any other programs or technology designed to disrupt or damage any software or hardware.
(a) DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. SONGMONK PROVIDES THE SITE AND ANY SONGMONK SERVICE ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. SONGMONK DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR ITS USE: (i) WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, (ii) WILL BE FREE OF INACCURACIES OR ERRORS, (iii) WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR (iv) WILL OPERATE IN THE CONFIGURATION OR WITH THE HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE YOU USE. SONGMONK MAKES NO WARRANTIES OTHER THAN THOSE MADE EXPRESSLY IN THESE TOS, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
(b) EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES. SONGMONK WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES RELATING TO LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA OR LOSS OF GOODWILL) ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO OR CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE SONGMONK SITE, BASED ON ANY CAUSE OF ACTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
(c) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. EXCEPT FOR A BREACH OF A PARTY’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES UNDER THESE TOS OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR INDEMNITY OBLIGATIONS UNDER THESE TOS, IN NO EVENT WILL THE LIABILITY OF EITHER PARTY IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TOS EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) THE AMOUNT PAID OR PAYABLE BY SONGMONK TO YOU DURING THE SIX MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT THAT GIVES RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY OR (ii) $100.
You will indemnify and hold Songmonk and its employees, representatives, agents, affiliates, directors, officers, managers and shareholders (the “Parties”) harmless from any damage, loss, or expense (including without limitation, attorneys’ fees and costs) incurred in connection with any third-party claim, demand or action (“Claim”) brought against any of the Parties alleging that you have breached any of these TOS. If you have to indemnify Songmonk under this Section, Songmonk. will have the right to control the defense, settlement, and resolution of any Claim at your sole expense. You may not settle or otherwise resolve any Claim without Songmonk`s express written permission.
(a) Termination. Songmonk may suspend or terminate your use of the Site if it believes, in its sole and absolute discretion, that you have breached a term of these TOS.
(b) Survival. These TOS will survive indefinitely unless and until Songmonk. chooses to terminate them.
(c) Effect of Termination. If you or Songmonk terminates your use of the Site or any Songmonk service, Songmonk may delete any Submissions or other materials relating to your use of the Songmonk. Site on Songmonk servers or otherwise in its possession and Songmonk will have no liability to you or any third party for doing so.
All notices required or permitted to be given under these TOS will be in writing and delivered to the other party by any of the following methods: (i) mail, (ii) overnight courier, or (iii) electronic mail. If you give notice to Songmonk , you must use the following addresses: Songzz Media, Freiheit 12c, 12555 Berlin or support@songmonk.com.
09. Notice and procedure for making claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringements.
(a) Songmonk respects the intellectual property of others and takes the protection of copyrights and all other intellectual property very seriously, and we ask our users to do the same. Infringing activity will not be tolerated on or through the Site or any Songmonk service.
(b) Songmonk`s intellectual property policy is to (1) remove material that Songmonk believes in good faith, upon notice from an intellectual property owner or their agent, is infringing the intellectual property of a third party by being made available through the Site, and (2) remove any Products or Submissions posted to the Site by “repeat infringers.” Songmonk considers a “repeat infringer” to be any user that has uploaded Products or Submissions to the Site and for whom Songmonk has received more than two takedown notices .
Songmonk has discretion, however, to terminate the account or permission to access the Site of any user after receipt of a single notification of claimed infringement or upon Songmonk’s own determination.
(c) Procedure for Reporting Claimed Infringement. If you believe that any Productions or Submissions made available on or through the Site or any Songmonk service have been used or exploited in a manner that infringes an intellectual property right you own or control, then please promptly send a “Notification of Claimed Infringement” containing the following information to the Designated Agent identified below. Your communication must include substantially the following:
These TOS will be binding upon each party hereto and its successors and permitted assigns, and governed by and construed in accordance with the German laws without reference to conflict of law principles. These TOS will not be assignable or transferable by you without the prior written consent of Songmonk. Songmonk may freely assign or transfer any rights granted by you to Songmonk under these TOS. These TOS (including all of the policies and other Agreements described in this TOS, which are hereby incorporated herein by this reference) contain the entire understanding of the parties regarding its subject matter, and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings between the parties regarding its subject matter. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right, power or privilege under these TOS will operate as a waiver thereof, nor will any single or partial exercise of any right, power or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other such right, power, or privilege. You and Songmonk are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, or employee-employer relationship is intended or created by these TOS. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these TOS will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of these TOS, all of which will remain in full force and effect. The headings used in this TOS are for convenience only, do not constitute a part of this TOS, and shall not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions hereof