Terms & Conditions Update: December 2023

In order to continue to play a leading role in industry-wide efforts to combat artificial manipulation of streams and other unfair behaviour, we have updated our Terms & Conditions to reflect stronger penalties for anyone that is caught doing this, and have introduced a ‘three-strikes policy’ for combatting this type of behaviour. These changes will not affect the vast, vast majority of hard-working and honest musicians and rightsholders and we hope you understand the need for us to make these changes.

The new policy on Artificial Manipulation of Streams can be viewed here.

The new version of the Terms & Conditions can be viewed here.

The previous version of the Terms & Conditions can be viewed here.

The changes that have been made are:

Definitions:
The definition of “Material Breach” has been updated to remove reference to Clause 14, which has been removed (see below).

A new definition has been added, “Streaming Manipulation”, to define the sort of activity being targeted by these updates.

Clause 5
Clause 5.10 has been updated to remove reference to Clause 14, which has been removed (see below).

New sub-clauses have been added (5.14 to 5.25), to determine the responsibilities of rightsholders in helping to combat these activities, along with the actions we may take and the penalties that may be applied to anyone suspected of or found to be carrying out this type of activity.

Clause 10.5
We have removed the text “For the purpose of clarification we will consider artificial manipulation of streams or other methods of dishonestly trying to inflate earnings or cause harm to our Digital Service Provider partners as abuse of the EmuBands Service.” This activity is covered by clause 5 and so is not needed to be mentioned here.

Clause 14
We have removed clause 14 since it is no longer required due to the additions to Clause 5. The old Clause 14 can be viewed on the previous version of the terms & conditions, but it’s worth noting that it already included reference to DSPs applying fines for the type of activity being targeted by these updates – therefore, DSPs having the ability to apply fines is not a new concept.

Clause 15.1
We have added the text “including but not limited to actions” to the first sentence. This means this clause can more easily cover potential new areas of inappropriate behaviour that haven’t yet been established.

Once again, we thank you for your patience and understanding while we continue to combat unfair practices within our industry. For genuine artists and rightsholders, as always, we remain at your service to help you make the most of your career.