Terms of Use

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Non-legal introduction:

This non-legal section is a summary of what is contained in the legal section:

The basic website service is free. There are no signup costs or other fees. For songs sold in the Gaming Levels, the Sifting Stages and in Mass Listenership, isongU and Music Artists make money via a percentage revenue share on music sales.

Artists are not signing over the rights to their music. The only rights isongU takes are the ones we clearly need to run the website. These include the right to host the music files you upload, the right to stream these uploaded music files and the right to sell these uploaded music files on your behalf.

What can Artists upload? A music artist must have all the legal rights to a music file before uploading the music file to the website. In addition, the music must be original music (absolutely no covers or sampling of music by other music artists).

Rendering Songs anonymous: Artists shall accept that their songs shall be rendered anonymous so that all song clips are judged without bias.

All uploaded music is Royalty-Free: All music on isongU is Royalty-Free and for promotional use only. The Game is very much a promotional tool since it delivers Mass Listenership to songs that beat the game. Artists that upload a song to isongU will accept that all such uploads will be Royalty-Free. All song plays are partial plays. All songs and artists are anonymous and when fans play a song, they get a random mystery song clip. The fan or artist is not choosing to play a specific song.  When a fan or Artist purchases your song, you shall grant them the right to play this song in it’s entirety as often as they wish.

What about Music Fans? Some terms and conditions here only apply to music artists, some only apply to music fans and some apply to all users. When terms are defined, we also define whom the terms apply to. When the term ‘User’ or “Users’ is used, then the terms apply to all users.

Is my personal information going to be re-sold? We do not sell user data. In fact, we require precious little user data to begin with. Our platform sells mystery songs, we are based on preserving the mystery, not selling it down the river.

There is no transfer of ownership or rights: At no time will any non-owners of a music file (be it music artists or music fans have any rights to sell or commercialize said music. That is true whether or not they purchased music. When an artist publishes a music file to the isongU website, no rights are transferred to other users/ buyers. Buyers only have the right to listen to your music file: Non-buying users will only have listening access to a portion of said music file (a song clip).

Mystery Song Sales: Buy or Bust: If a Fan loves a song and rates it highly (a score of 70 or higher) they get the option to buy the song. But the option to buy disappears after the 90 second song clip plays out. Once the songs is gone, it’s gone forever and so is Fan’s chance to buy the song. It’s “Buy or Bust”.

If songs are not a true mystery, there is no compelling reason to buy the song. In other words, if the song can be ID’d using a service such as SoundHound, Shazam (or its iOS equivalent), then the listener can go and listen to the song elsewhere. In order to keep mystery songs a mystery, songs would need to be exclusive to isongU.

Brief Exclusivity: An Artist may choose to make their song briefly exclusive to isongU which means the song is only exclusive to isongU while the song is in the Gaming Levels and Sifting Stages. Once a song exits the game and has a Game Over status, it is no longer exclusive to isongU. If a song clears all Gaming Levels and Sifting stages (i.e. beats the game) then we will likely try to extend exclusivity to isongU when the song enters Mass Listenership.

By exclusivity to isongU, we mean it cannot have been uploaded or released on any other platform or website or have been submitted as a demo or otherwise to any individual or organization. This means that no music ID service such as SoundHound, Shazam (or it’s iOS equivalent) or any other music ID service can have your song on their databases.

How much do Artists get paid per Song Sale: For songs that are oh-so-briefly exclusive to isongU, Artists receive $1.00 per song sale. For songs that are not exclusive to isongU, Artists receive 40c per song sale. We don’t see brief exclusivity as being a big inconvenience to Artists – which is to say we don’t see non-exclusive songs as being really ‘invested in The Game’. Hence the  lower price point.

What are Dividends? Dividends are a cut of Artist’s song sales paid to the user (Artist or Fan) who directly or indirectly signup up this Artist via their Promolink. A Promolink is a hyperlink – when it is clicked on, it takes the person to a registration / signup page.

Direct Dividends: When an artists clicks on a Promolink and signs up to isongU, the owner of that Promolink (artist or fan) gets a cut every song ever sold by that Artist on isongU, forever (forever being however long the isongU platform remains active). If the Promolink is owned by an Artist, they get a 10c cut of these song sales. If the Promolink is owned by a fan, they get a 2c cut of these song sales, but they can work their way up to 10c by scoring mystery songs.

Indirect Dividends: With Indirect Dividends, the user does not directly signup a New Artist, but their Fan or Grandfan does.

If say User X (artist or fan) signs up a New Fan, and this New Fan signs up a New Artist, the User X gets a 2c cut of every song ever sold by this New Artist, forever.

Furthermore, if User X (artist or fan) signs up a New Fan, and this New Fan signs up another fan (a Grandfan of User X) and then this Grandfan signs up a New Artist, User X gets a 2c cut of every song ever sold by this New Artist, forever.

Indirect Dividends go two generations of fans deep, which can may make Indirect Dividends exponentially scalable.

Work Credits: This is work that is credited to Artists (but not fans). When an Artist signs up a fan, this Artist get credited (within The Game) with any work that this fan does. This means that the songs this Artist must score to climb a Gaming Level are now scored by their fans instead. And this also means that the New Artists and New Fans this Artist must signup in order to climb a Gaming Level are now signed up by their fans instead. Therefore their song Auto-climbs the Gaming Levels without the Artist needing to score songs or signup artists or fans. Work Credits only extend to the fans an Artist signs up – not Grandfans.

Work Credits are given to an Artist when they signup a New Fan. If a fan buys a song, they can go to their Purchased Songs table and click to become a fan of this Artist. This means that, from whence they became a fan,  the Artist gets credited (Work Credits) for any future work by this fan. This may mean that another Artist just lost these Work Credits.

Now, to the legally binding portion.

Definitions:

The following terms shall have the following meanings for purposes of this Agreement:

  • The “Company”, the “Platform” the “Service”, the “Website” the “Web Site” or “Site” and the words “We” or “Us” all refer to isongU LLC or the website isongu.com.
  • To word “Register” or “Sign up” or “Signup” refer to the creation of a Music Artist or Music Fan account.
  • “Copyright Management Information” means the digital information conveying information regarding a Digital Master, such as your name, the names of all writers, the name of the publisher, the title of the applicable album, the name of the song and the record company name, and same shall be subject to the protection of Title 17, Section 1202 of the United States Copyright Law.
  • “Digital Master” or “Digital Masters” means a copy or copies of Recordings in digital form.
  • “Recordings” means sound recordings and underlying musical compositions that you have designated for digital distribution and sale by us, through the use of our Artist Submission Form. Any such sound recordings and the underlying musical compositions must be original compositions by you and be owned and controlled by you with rights granted and authorized by you.
  • The ‘Crowd’ or ‘Users’ collectively refers to both Music Artists and Music Fans as a whole.
  • The words “User” or “You” referred to individual Music Artists and Music Fans.
  • A “Musical Act’ “Music Artist” or ‘Artist” is an individual, group, band or collective whose core function is to create new and original songs.
  • A “Music Fan” or ‘Fan’ is an individual whose core function is to play and score anonymous songs.
  • A “Grandfan” refers to a second generation fan. If a User signs up a Fan and that fan signs up another Fan, this last fan is a Grandfan of the User.
  • A “Promolink” refers to a unique hyperlink or website address that is indelibly associated with a specific User. If a Music Artist or Music Fan uses this Promolink to signup to the platform, then they can get paid dividends.
  • The “Power of Crowds” refers to the collective power of Artists and Fans to sift out the high quality songs and deliver Mass Listenership to these high quality songs.
  • The “Wisdom of Crowds” refers to the collective wisdom of Artists and Fans to reliably and repeatedly sift out the high quality songs.
  • A “Song” refers to a Recording Music File / Digital Master of a recording. A song may also be an instrumental piece of music.
  • A “Mystery Song” refers to the way isongU takes Music Artist’s songs and renders them anonymous, meaning the songs is stripped of all imagery, song titles and Music Artist’s name.
  • A “Mystery Song Clip” refers to the playback and scoring of only portion of a mystery song.
  • Mystery Song Sales: This refers to the Buy or Bust scenario whereby a listener has to buy a song while the song clip is playing, otherwiase the option to buy is gone forever.
  • “Music Review”, “Song Review”, “Music Score”, “Song Score”, “Music Rating”, “Song Rating” “Rate a Song”, and “Score a Song” all refer to playing a song clip and then applying a quality score to that song clip based on how much you liked the song.
  • “The Game” refers to the “12 Gaming Levels” plus the “12 Sifting Stages” over which all songs must qualify in order to be accepted to Mass Listenership.
  • The “12 Gaming Levels” accumulate extra plays that Artists give at each Gaming Level.
  • “Mass Listenership” derives from the accumulation of extra song plays that are given by Artists at each Gaming Level whereby the accumulated plays are given to the songs that qualify past The Game. “Mass Listenership” also derives from the song plays that fans give. Mass Listenership may also be called “Mass Exposure”, “Mass Acclaim”, “Mass Rotation”, “Heavy Rotation”, “Music Stardom” or “Stardom”.
  • The “12 Sifting Stages” filter out the highest scoring songs that beat the  “Minimum threshold average score” required to qualify past The Game and qualify for Mass Listenership. Songs that have an average score below the minimum average score threshold are eliminated and get a status of “Game Over”.
  • The minimum definition of “Music Stardom” or “Stardom” is when a Music Artist receives at least one million plays for a song which generates at least $100,000 paid in full to the Artist all within a period of 12 months. This definition is only relevant to this platform.
  • The “Accumulator” is, in some respects, the counterpart of The Game except it is played by Music Fans only. The Accumulator also has 12 Gaming Levels. The Accumulator does not have winners and losers – all fans have the means to clear all 12 Gaming Levels by scoring a defined number of songs at each level. When a fan clears all 12 Gaming Levels of the Accumulator, they will receive a 10c cut of every song ever sold by Music Artists they sign up using their Promolink. This 10c cut of song sales is known as a “Direct Dividend”. Artists also get Direct Dividends when they sign up new artists – but artists receive a 10c cut of songs sales right from the moment they sign up the new artist.
  • The “Game Over” section of the Website is where songs go after being eliminated from The Game because their song’s average score did not meet the “Minimum threshold average score” required.
  • A “Direct Music Dividend” or “Direct Dividend” occurs when a user gets paid a 10c cut of every song ever sold by Music Artists they sign up using their Promolink.
  • An “Indirect Dividend” occurs not when a user signs up a New Artist but their Fan or Grandfan does.
  • “Indirect Dividend (via fans) occurs when a User signs up a new fan and thereafter this new fan signs up a New Artist, the User gets a 2c cut of all songs ever sold by this new Artist on the platform.
  • “Indirect Dividend (via Grandfans) occurs when a User signs up a new fan and this new fan signs up another fan (the User’s Grandfan). When this Grandfan signs up a New Artist, the User gets a 2c cut of all songs ever sold by this new Artist on the platform.
  • An ‘Audio Fingerprint’ is a summary of the attributes of sound that is used to identify a variety of audio material, including music, sound effects and radio broadcasts. It is widely used to identify commercial music recordings over the radio. The fingerprint is an analysis of the audio waveforms and includes such characteristics as beats per minute (tempo), frequency range, average power in each frequency band (spectral flatness) and acoustic resonances.

SECTION A:

Terms and Conditions for Music Artists:

 

Now, to the legally binding terms of use for Music Artists:

“YOU” THE ‘USER” (MUSIC ARTIST OR BAND) AND ISONGU.COM (THE “COMPANY”, “WE” OR “US”) AGREE THAT YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE ISONGU.COM WEB SITE (THE “WEB SITE”), IS SUBJECT TO YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS LISTED BELOW, WHICH WILL BECOME A BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND THE COMPANY (THE “AGREEMENT”). THE COMPANY IS WILLING TO ALLOW YOU ACCESS TO THE WEB SITE ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SUPERCEDE ANY ADVERTS AND/OR INFORMATION DISPLAYED ON THE WEBSITE OR IN OTHER MEDIUMS. AFTER READING THE TERMS, IF YOU AGREE TO THEM, PLEASE INDICATE YOUR DECISION BY CLICKING ON “I AGREE” AT THE END OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, INDICATE YOUR DECISION BY CLICKING ON “I DO NOT AGREE” AND YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO THE HOME PAGE OF THIS WEB SITE.

1. REGISTRATION.

In order to gain access to the services (the “Services”) offered by the Website, you will need to register as a User. Either you or the Company may take steps to terminate your user registration at any time. Upon termination of your registration as a User, you will no longer be allowed access to the Website or the Services offered through the Website. You represent that all information you provide during the registration process and at any time thereafter (“Registration Information”) will be true, accurate, complete, and current and that you will promptly update your Registration Information as necessary such that it is, at all times, true, accurate, complete, and current. The Company may use all Registration Information, subject to Company’s compliance with the Company Privacy Policy that can be found in Appendix 1: PRIVACY POLICY below. This Agreement includes terms and conditions set forth in the Privacy Policy. By indicating your agreement to this Agreement, you are consenting to have your personal data used by the Company as set forth in the Privacy Policy.

3. AGE RESTRICTIONS.

Individuals under the age of 16 are prohibited from accessing the Web Site without verified parental consent furnished to Company in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. You hereby represent and warrant that you are 16 years of age or older. SOME AREAS OF THE WEBSITE MAY CONTAIN MATERIAL THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE FOR MINORS.

4. PUBLISHING OF CONTENT.

The Service provides Music Artists with the ability to upload the Music Artist’s sound recordings (“Sound Recordings”) and the musical works (“Musical Works”) embodied therein (collectively, the Music Artist’s “Music Files”) to the Web Site.

You hereby acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for and in complete ownership of all materials that you post or publish on the Web Site, including without limitation, music, music reviews, comments and any other materials (“Content”). You represent, warrant and agree that no Content submitted by you or through your account will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, ownership, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material. You represent and warrant that you have all legal rights necessary to publish any Content on the Web Site; or that you own such Content. You hereby acknowledge and agree that Company shall, at all times, possess the right to refuse to include and/or to cause the removal of any or all of your Content for any reason and at its sole discretion. If Content is uploaded by a user that has previously been uploaded by a previous user, we will work to verify and vet the legal owner of the content and the account containing wrongful use of content shall have the content removed and /or their account disabled or terminated. In the event of a legal dispute over which party owned said intellectual property, the legal dispute will be between you, the users in question, and the Company will not engage in said dispute other than to provide information to resolve said dispute. Therefore, you hereby acknowledge and agree that the Company may, at its sole discretion, disclose your content in order to:

  • (i) comply with law enforcement, court orders, or the legal process; and/or
  • (ii) protect the rights and safety of individuals; and/or
  • (iii) settle disputes over intellectual property ownership.

The Company owns, protects and enforces patents and copyrights of its own and respects the copyright properties of others. Materials may be made available on the Web Site, or via the Web Site, by parties not within the control of the Company. It is our policy not to permit materials known by us to be infringing to remain on this Web Site. The company has provided a plagiarism tool within its review process so that users can promptly notify us if you believe any materials on the Web Site infringe upon a copyright. The Company will investigate all reports of copyright infringement via said plagiarism tool which we believe is the fastest and most judicial means of dealing with copyright infringement.

The user also has the right to also deliver notice of claimed infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).  However, because music is, by necessity, anonymous and delivered to users randomly on the Web Site without the possibility of replaying the music in question, the user must deliver notice using:

1) Their account name and

2) The exact time they encountered the infringement.

3) A recorded copy of the Song File or a video of the song file playing which may, or may not, aid in identifying the infringing content.

With these details, we can more accurately identify the song in question. We will respond expeditiously to remove the material that we find to be infringing and will follow the procedures specified in the DMCA (listed in Figure 1 below) to resolve the claim between the notifying party and the alleged infringer who provided the content in issue.

DMCA Procedures

Figure 1:             DMCA procedures for reporting claimed infringement.

Pursuant to the DMCA, written notification of claimed copyright infringement must be submitted in writing to the following Designated Agent for this Web Site:

N.P. Troy

DMCA Complaints Department,

10 Andover Drive,

Rocky Hill, CT 06067

dmca [at] isongu [dot] com

Please be advised that the Company may provide an alleged infringer with any notice of claimed infringement, including notices of claimed infringement submitted by you under the DMCA, and any communications related thereto. The Company may also provide any counter notifications received under the DMCA, and communication related thereto, to the provider of the original notice of claimed infringement. The DMAC procedure to serve counter-notice to the designated agent is shown in Figure 2 below.

DMCA Counter notice

Figure 2:   DMCA procedure for serving counter-notice to designated agent.

All notices and communications provided by you to us become the property of the Company and you hereby grant us the right to provide such notices and communications to any third party. Subsequent to the DMCA, if it is found that that alleged infringer did not in fact infringe, their content is returned to the position in the website it occupied at the time it was removed following the DMCA complaint.

If you engage in “repeat infringement” (which includes “repeat copyright infringement”, “repeat false plagiarism complaints” and “repeat false DMCA notifications”) we may terminate your registration and account without notice, and you will no longer be permitted to access to the Web Site or the Services. “Repeat infringement” shall be defined as two (2) or more instances, as determined by us in our reasonable discretion, where you have infringed upon the copyright rights of another person.

5. USE OF WEB SITE AND SERVICES.

You understand that the Services and the Web Site are available for your personal use only. Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found as a result of using the Services, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals.

You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties. You agree that we shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between you and any third party, you understand and agree that we are under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with a third party including other members of the Web Site, you hereby release the Company, its officers, employees, agents and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such dispute and / or our Services. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.

The Service provides Music artists with the ability to upload the Music Artist’s sound recordings (“Sound Recordings”) and the musical works (“Musical Works”) embodied therein (collectively, the Music Artist’s “Music”) to the Web Site.

When you use the Web Site, the Company agrees that:

  • (a) You shall retain the full ownership rights to the sound recordings (“Sound Recordings”) and the musical works (“Musical Works”) that you upload as music files to the website. isongU shall only have the right to sell said music files.

When you use the Web Site, we ask that:

    • (a) You do not upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
    • (b) You do not impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your affiliation with any person, musical act or entity;
    • (c) If you represent a musical act(s) as a manager or a promoter or a label or in any other capacity, then you agree that you will not collect monies on behalf of said musical act(s) unless you own the copyrighted work of said music act.. You accept that the music act(s) that you represent and who owns the Copyrighted music must be paid directly to the music acts banking account (or other such payment method such as PayPal), or to the legal descendants or entity that has taken ownership of the copyrighted works of said musical act that are uploaded to the web site.
    • (d) If you represent a musical act as a manager or a promoter or a label or in any other capacity, and you sign up to the website using your credentials and contact information, as well as your banking /payment details (such as PayPal), you shall agree that, unless you own the copyrighted works of said musical act, once said musical act qualifies for Mass Exposure, that your credentials and contact information, along with your banking /payment details (such as PayPal) shall be replaced with those of the musical act such that all Songs Sale proceeds shall be paid to the Musical Act.
    • (e) If you represent a musical act as a manager or a promoter or a label or in any other capacity, and you sign up to the website using your credentials and contact information, as well as your banking /payment details (such as PayPal), you shall agree that once said musical act qualifies for Mass Exposure, that your credentials and contact information, along with your banking /payment details (such as PayPal) and as well as your Promolink will be replaced by those of the Musical Act in question such that all Dividends associated with the new Promolink shall thereby be paid to the Musical Act. All Dividends that have occurred through the previous Promolink shall continue to belong to the owner of the previous Promolink, All Dividends that will, in the future, occur through the previous Promolink shall continue to be paid to the owner of the previous Promolink,
    • (f) If you represent a musical act as a manager or a promoter or a label or in any other capacity, and you plan to sign them up to the website using the artist’s precise, unique credentials, the artist’s contact information and the artist’s  banking/payment details (such as PayPal), you shall only take such action if you have the artist’s explicit permission to do so. 
    • (g) You do not upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;
    • (h) You do not upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code. We prohibit files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.
    • (i) You agree not to upload the following: 1) Non-music files or music files that are not in the .mp3 format 2) Music files containing no sound 3) Music files containing only sounds inaudible to the human ear  4) Music files which, upon playback, have the sound volume set so low, they are barely audible. or 5) Music files which, upon playback, have the sound volume set so high, they bring discomfort or potential hearing damage to the listener.
    • (j) You agree not to create fake music artists or multiple music artist accounts in order to create more potential mass exposure for your music.
    • (k) A user account may become valuable due to song sales generated by Mass Exposure or through the exponential growth of dividend payments. You agree not to sell, trade, barter, leverage or lease your account to any third parties.
    • (l) You shall not use or attempt to use another user’s account, without authorization from the Company, or create a false identity using the Services or the Web Site.
    • (m) All payments to users are derived from song sales, including all dividend payments. Therefore, all payments related to any one Song Sale, including all dividend payments,  occur during a single sales transaction, typically via PayPal. For all these payments to be processed correctly, users will need to provide a valid PayPal account email. If a user fails to provide an email or a user provides an invalid email, their PayPal transaction will fail to go through. The payment error shall be reported to the user so the user can provide a working PayPal email address so that the payment error does not occur on subsequent transactions. The service will attempt to reprocess failed transactions but it does not guarantee that all payment transactions will be processed to completion.
    • (n) For song sales, you accept that all payments to the artist are made to to a single bank account or via PayPal or similar service to a single email account. Furthermore, you accept that the company will not involve itself in the sharing of revenues derived from these payments among band members, music performers or songwriters of the music. The company is not legally responsible for parsing these payments between copyright owners, even at the request of said copyright owners. We are not liable in the event of legal disputes over the division of revenues between copyright holders, even in the event that we had prior knowledge of such injustices.
    • (o) For dividend payments to artists and fans, users shall accept that each individual dividend payment is made to to a single bank account or via PayPal or similar service to a single email account.
    • (p) You, the Music Artist (including band members connected to and registered under the Music Artist) agree not to share the Music Artist’s account details, including passwords, with friends, family,  fans or other third parties.
    • (q) You accept that the music artist’s registration email and PayPal email address used for ecommerce transactions can be the same email address or two different email addresses.
    • (r) You shall agree that the only circumstance in which a music artist name can be changed by an outside party is when another music artist trying to join the service can prove that they legally own the Music Artist name in question. When there is doubt over the legal owner of an artist name, we reserve the right to share the email of the current active account with the disputing party or parties in order to facilitate a resolution, but we reserve the right not to become otherwise involved in such disputes or their resolution.
    • (s) You agree that, when a music artist is a band, group or music collective with two or more members, that the service only recognizes the member that created the music artist account. The service will not become involved or be liable in any way for legal disputes that take place between band members over which individual has control over the account. The only way to remove a user’s control of an account is to legally prove that this individual is not a member of the band in question. When there is doubt over the legitimacy of the member that created the music artist account owner, we reserve the right to share the email of the current active account with the disputing party or parties in order to facilitate a resolution, but we reserve the right not to become otherwise involved in such disputes or their resolution.
    • (t) If a User account becomes inactive for over 2 years or if a User’s account generates unacceptable content or dishonest song scores, the Web Site reserves the right to disable or delete the account.
SONG PURCHASES  (APPLICABLE TO MUSIC ARTISTS & MUSIC FANS)

If you purchase/ download music files from the Web Site, you agree to use any music files that you purchase/ download in compliance with the following Usage Rules:

  • (a) All downloaded music files are presumed to be wholly exclusive to the service and therefore you shall not upload these files to any other website, application or service and you will not give copies of said downloaded files to a third party.
  • (b) You shall be authorized to use the downloaded music files only for personal, noncommercial use; You shall not use the music files or elements thereof for the creation of new recorded music.
  • (b) You may not combine a downloaded music file with any video or image file to create a multimedia work;
  • (c) You may not use a downloaded music file as a musical “ring tone” in connection with a phone or phone calls or audio alarms;
  • (d) The download and copy of a downloaded music file does not transfer to you any commercial or promotional use rights to the music file; and
  • (e) You agree that your act of downloading music files constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to the Terms and Conditions of Use and these Usage Rules, and that any use of the music files other than in accordance with these Usage Rules may constitute a copyright infringement.

The Company reserves the right to modify the Usage Rules at any time.

If you purchase and download music files from the Web Site, you agree to the following rules surrounding the purchase and download of said music files:

  • (a) The purchase of a music file on the Web Site may result in the music file being delivered as a non-lossless digital downloaded music file (such as an MP3).
  • (b) When music files are purchased on the Web Site, the sound quality and completeness of these music files is not controlled by the service but is the result of the manner in which the music was recorded by the music artist and therefore the sound quality and completeness of the music files is the sole responsibility of the music artist. The service will not become involved in legal disputes or be liable in any way for  issues regarding the sound quality or completeness of purchased music files.  The service reserves the right to share the email of the music artist in question with the disputing party or parties in order to facilitate a resolution, but we reserve the right not to become otherwise involved in such disputes or their resolution.
  • (c) The service reserves the right to remove all and any music files from the website that are incomplete or are of poor sound quality, regardless of whether music files have qualified for or entered into the Mass Listenership process.
  • (d) The service reserves the right to remove all and any music files from the website that are vile or disturbing or contain advertising or are devoid of music or are covers or samples or have plagiarized the lyrics or musical content of other copyrighted music works, , regardless of whether these music files have qualified for or entered into the Mass Listenership process.
  • (e) If we provide you with contact details, biography, tour information, discography details and other metadata for the band, musical act or song, we are giving you the details we have on file or that are contained in the song’s mp3 meta tag, details that were provided by the band/ musical act. We are not liable or responsible if said contact information for the band, musical act or song is incorrect.
  • (f) If you contact the band/ musical act for demos or live versions or lossless versions or replacement versions of the music file you purchased from our Web Site, we are not responsible for the delivery of these additional music files. We are only responsible for delivery of the original music file that was delivered to us by the music artist that created the music file that you purchased from our website. Subsequent to the successful purchase of said original music file, we are not liable for any interactions or legal disputes that take place between you (the purchaser) and music artist that created the music file in question.

The Company reserves the right to modify the Rules surrounding the purchase/ download of music files at any time.

6.  LIMITATIONS OF WEB SITE PERFORMANCE.

At isongU, the goal is to have enough users whereby the network effect is the mathematical certainty of music stardom, as defined herein. Like all goals, we believe that , at some future point, a song which qualifies for and enters into Mass Listenership will be mathematically certain of music stardom. However;

  1. a) The service does not currently claim outright that a song which qualifies for and enters into Mass Listenership is mathematically certain of music stardom.
  2. b) If, at some future point, a song which qualifies for and enters into Mass Listenership is mathematically certain of music stardom, that certainty can be destroyed such as when the music artist whose song enters into Mass Listenership thereafter betrays their exclusivity agreement or they behave outside the Terms of Use set forth herein.
  3. c) For any song that enters into the Mass Listenership process, the service does not guarantee this song a minimum length of time in Mass Listenership.
  4. d) That you, the music artist have not cheated The Game in any way. We reserve the right to remove music files and music artists for behavior that breaks or circumvents the terms set forth herein.
  5. e) That you, the music artist, completely own the rights to the music file in Mass Exposure.
  6. f) While we will take every precaution to ensure music artists own the music files entering Mass Exposure, we may find music files in violation of copyright subsequent to entering Mass Exposure. When a music file is found to be in violation of copyright, it may be ejected from Mass Exposure even after spending time in Mass Exposure.
  7. g) We do not guarantee song sales for songs in The Game or in Mass Exposure. We cannot pre-determine the behavior of listeners, therefore the number of listeners that will purchase songs is indeterminate.
  8. h) We do not accept responsibility or liability for any events or transactions that occur in other locations or on social media in response or in reaction to events in The Game or on the website.
  9. i) You accept that the service is promotional. You accept that when anonymous song clips are played, no mechanical royalties are paid to you, the copyright owner of the song. This is because the listener has not chosen to play your specific song, rather we have forced users to play a random, mystery song as payment to climb towards Mass Acclaim (for Artists) or to climb towards greater payments (for Fans). Because all plays are forced and random and the song clip is not a complete song and the song/artist are anonymous, mechanical royalties do not apply.

Layman’s Viewpoint:

We strongly believe that, once a network effect takes hold, The Game will begin to generate Mass Listenership and, for artists that uphold our Terms of Use and any song contracts between the Artist and the Service,  music stardom (as defined herein) will become a mathematical certainty.

  1. LIMITATION OF DIVIDEND PAYMENTS TO ACTIVE USERS:
  2. a) All users have a unique Promolink with which they can signup a new music artist or a new music fan to the Web Site.
  3. When a music artist signs up another New Music Artist to the service via their unique Promolink, they get paid a 10c direct dividend on every song ever sold on the service by this New Music Artist. The term Direct Dividend refers to the fact that the music artists signed up the new music artist directly using their Promolink.
  4. When a music fan signs up another New Music Artist to the service via their unique Promolink, they get paid a 2c direct dividend on every song ever sold on the service by this New Music Artist, but they can increase this dividend to 10c by scoring songs on the service.
  5. Music fans can play a game that is unique to music fans. This game is known as ‘The Accumulator’. There are 12 Gaming Levels in the Accumulator and to climb up these gaming levels, music fans must score a defined number of songs at each gaming level. At gaming level 1, they get paid a 2c direct dividend, but this dividend increases level by level. After they clear Gaming Level 12, the music fan shall be paid a 10c cent cut of all future song sales by new music artists they signup.
  6. All music fans shall qualify past all 12 gaming levels of the Accumulator by completing the number of song score defined by the Accumulator gaming levels.
  7. All users shall get paid Indirect Dividends when their Fans or Grandfans signup New Music Artists via their promolinks.
  8. An Indirect Dividend (via fans) shall occur when a User signs up a new fan and thereafter this new fan signs up a New Music Artist. This  shall result in a payment of 2c to said User for every songs ever sold by this new Artist on the service.
  9. An Indirect Dividend (via Grandfans) shall occur when a User signs up a new fan and this new fan signs up another fan (the User’s Grandfan). When this Grandfan signs up a New Music Artist. This  shall result in a payment of 2c to said User for every songs ever sold by this new Artist on the service.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

In no event shall Company, nor its directors, employees, agents, partners, suppliers or content providers, be liable under contract, tort, strict liability, negligence or any other legal or equitable theory with respect to the Service (i) for any lost profits, data loss, cost of procurement of substitute goods or services, or special, indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever, substitute goods or services (however arising), (ii) for any bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or the like (regardless of the source of origination), or (iii) for any direct damages in excess of (in the aggregate) one-hundred U.S. dollars ($100.00). Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you.

Because Company is not the buyer or seller in any Merchandise Transaction, if a dispute arises between one or more participants in a Merchandise Transaction, then you release Company (and its affiliates, agents and employees) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. If you are a California resident, then you waive California civil code §1542, which says: “a general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.” You, being aware of said code section, hereby expressly waive any rights you may have thereunder, as well as under any other statutes or common law principles of similar effect. You acknowledge and agree that this waiver is an essential and material term of this Agreement, and that without such waiver, this Agreement would not have been entered into by Company.

Because Company is not the buyer or seller in any actual Merchandise Transaction between Artists and fans and is not the agent of either for any purpose, Company does not have the duty to resolve and will not be involved in resolving any disputes between participants related to or arising out of any such Merchandise Transaction. Artists are individually responsible for compliance with all consumer rights laws applicable to their Merchandise Transactions, including EU Consumer Rights Laws.

International/Non-California Use.

Company makes no representation that the Content is appropriate or available for use in locations outside of California, and accessing the Service is prohibited from territories where such Content is illegal. If you access the Service from other locations, you do so at your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Dispute Resolution.

A printed version of these Terms of Use and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms of Use to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. You and Company agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to the Service must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action arose; otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina, excluding its conflicts of law rules, and the United States of America. Any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of this Agreement shall be finally settled by arbitration in Wake County, North Carolina, using the English language in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) then in effect, by one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, who shall be selected from the appropriate list of JAMS arbitrators in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of JAMS. The prevailing party in the arbitration shall be entitled to receive reimbursement of its reasonable expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees and all other expenses) incurred in connection therewith. Judgment upon the award so rendered may be entered in a court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as the case may be. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each party shall have the right to institute an action in a court of proper jurisdiction for injunctive or other equitable relief pending a final decision by the arbitrator. For all purposes of this Agreement, the parties consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the United States Federal Courts or state courts located in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Use of the Service is not authorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these Terms of Use, including without limitation, this section.

10. USE OF WEB SITE CONTENT.

All Content on the Web Site, is the proprietary property of 1) the Company or its licensors and 2) the Web Site users. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, no Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the Company or the owner of the Content. Except where it is otherwise set forth in this Agreement, any use of the Content is strictly prohibited. All trademarks, logos, trade dress and service marks on the Web Site are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Company or its licensors and may not be copied, imitated, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the Company.

9. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.

The Company is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate Content published on the Web Site or in connection with the Services, including Content published by users of the Web Site or the Services. The Company is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Web Site. The Web Site and the Services may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. The Company assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, the Web Site or the Services or the accidental termination of a user account. The Company is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment or software, or the failure of email on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site, including injury or damage to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in connection with the Web Site or the Services. Under no circumstances will the Company be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from anyone’s use of the Services, the Web Site or any Content published on the Web Site. THE WEB SITE, THE SERVICES AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND THE COMPANY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Integration and Severability.

These Terms of Use are the entire agreement between you and Company with respect to the Service and use of the Site, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic) between you and Company with respect to the Site. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms of Use will otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder.

Miscellaneous.

Company shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond Company’s reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation (including “line-noise” interference). These Terms of Use are personal to you, and are not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with Company’s prior written consent. Company may assign, transfer or delegate any of its rights and obligations hereunder without consent. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship is created as a result of these Terms of Use and neither party has any authority of any kind to bind the other in any respect. In any action or proceeding to enforce rights under these Terms of Use, the prevailing party will be entitled to recover costs and attorneys’ fees. All notices under these Terms of Use will be in writing and will be deemed to have been duly given when received, if personally delivered or sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested; when receipt is electronically confirmed, if transmitted by facsimile or e-mail; or the day after it is sent, if sent for next day delivery by recognized overnight delivery service. The captions and headings in this Agreement are intended only for convenience, and will in no event be construed to define, limit or describe the scope or intent of this Agreement, or of any provision of this Agreement, nor in any way affect the interpretation of this Agreement.

Contact.

You may contact Company by directing inquiries to our support team.

10. GOVERNING LAW.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., without reference to conflicts of law provisions and, as to matters affecting copyrights, trademarks and patents, by U.S. federal law. Any dispute or claim arising out of, or in connection with, this Agreement shall be finally settled by binding arbitration in Hartford, Connecticut, in accordance with Connecticut Chapter 909 Arbitration Proceedings: (Sec. 52-408) “Agreements to arbitrate” and the then-current rules and procedures of the American Arbitration Association by one (1) arbitrator appointed by the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator shall apply the law of the State of Connecticut, without reference to rules of conflict of law or statutory rules of arbitration, to the merits of any dispute or claim. Judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed, reduced to judgment and entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. You agree that, any provision of applicable law notwithstanding, the arbitrator shall have the authority to award the prevailing party its costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Connecticut Chapter 909 Arbitration Proceedings: Sec. 52-408. Agreements to arbitrate: An agreement in any written contract, or in a separate writing executed by the parties to any written contract, to settle by arbitration any controversy thereafter arising out of such contract, or out of the failure or refusal to perform the whole or any part thereof, or a written provision in the articles of association or bylaws of an association or corporation of which both parties are members to arbitrate any controversy which may arise between them in the future, or an agreement in writing between two or more persons to submit to arbitration any controversy existing between them at the time of the agreement to submit, or an agreement in writing between the parties to a marriage to submit to arbitration any controversy between them with respect to the dissolution of their marriage, except issues related to child support, visitation and custody, shall be valid, irrevocable and enforceable, except when there exists sufficient cause at law or in equity for the avoidance of written contracts generally.

11. CREDIT HOLDS.

Please be advised that if we receive any claim or threat or a claim that is related to your use of the Services, we may put a “hold” on any account you have with us, including any monies held on your behalf.

12. FUTURE CHANGES TO TERMS OF AGREEMENT:

This Agreement sets forth the entire agreement between you and the Company pertaining to your use of the Web Site and the Services. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or delete portions of this Agreement at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to this Agreement on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the new effective date. Your continued use of the Services or the Web Site after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Agreement. If you do not agree to abide by this Agreement or any future revised Agreement, do not use or access the Services or the Web Site. It is your responsibility to regularly review this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be revised to the extent necessary to cure the invalidity or unenforceability, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. The Company’s failure to exercise any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Please read the following carefully.

By the act of registering an account with the service, you are formally accepting these Terms of Use.

 

Authorization:

You hereby appoint us as your authorized representative for the sale and distribution of your Recordings as provided herein. The rights that are granted by you to us are nonexclusive and are worldwide. Accordingly, you hereby grant to us the non-exclusive right, during the Term to:

  • Reproduce and convert Recordings into Digital Masters.
  • Perform and make available for promotional purposes, portions of Recordings (“Clips”) by “streaming” to promote the sale and distribution of Digital Masters;
  • Identify and register your Digital Masters through the use of digital fingerprinting technology (e.g., the “Audible Magic technology), in order to help protect your Digital Masters from piracy and unauthorized duplication;
  • Identify your recorded music files through the use of digital fingerprinting technology (e.g., the “Audible Magic technology), in order to determine whether the music recording is original in nature and to determine if the music artist has previously submitted said music recording.
  • Use and distribute Copyright Management Information as embodied in a Digital Master;

NOTE: If a song qualifies for Mass Exposure, we will require further authorizations which relate to the public performance of your recordings as well as the metadata, artwork and lyrics associated with your recordings. These authorizations will be covered under a separate legal agreement.

Term of Service and Termination:

The term of Service shall commence on the date your register on the Web Site and shall continue until either: (a) terminated by you or (b) terminated by us in the event that you have operated outside the terms of agreement of this Web Site.

Because accounts may have recurring dividend payments, we need to be absolutely sure that the user wants to terminate an account and accept that the account cannot be activated again. Once an account is terminated, it is no more.  So, to be 100% sure you want your account terminated, you will need to copy the form below, fill it out in its entirety and submit it to terminate-account@isongu.com

FORM FOR THE TERMINATION OF AN ACCOUNT BY A USER

To terminate an account, please make a copy of this form, fill out the form in its entirety and submit it to terminate-an-account@isongu.com. Please allow 30 days for us to begin processing your request – we may have clarification questions before the account can be terminated.

Is this a Music Artist Account or a Music Fan Account? Check the box that applies.

MUSIC ARTIST
MUSIC FAN

If this is a Music Artist Account, enter the Music Artist name:   

Enter your First, Middle and Last names:

First: Middle: Last:

Enter your mailing address:

Street /Apt No/ PO Box:
Town / City / Postal Code:
State / Country:

Enter Account email Address:

If the account is a band, group or music collective, please list all members, their roles & emails

Member Name Member Role Email

Reason for Terminating: Do all members agree with having the account terminated?

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