For accessibility reasons, these Terms & Conditions were translated from German to English. However, the German T&Cs for GEMA members are those that are legally binding.
Thank you for your interest in MusicHub. MusicHub is a service of MusicHub GmbH, with registered offices in Rosenheimer Straße 11, 81667 Munich, Germany, and with its place of business in Pfuelstraße 5, 10997, Berlin, Germany. The following Specifications of Service, General and Special Terms and Conditions of Business (as of 23.02.2022) shall govern the use of our websites and our services:
MusicHub is an online platform for music creators. It enables the upload, input and storage of files and information relating to musical works and Recordings, in particular audio files, metadata and artwork (hereinafter referred to as “Data”), and the application of various functions for processing, exporting or otherwise using this data (hereinafter referred to as “Tools”). In addition to the Tools, MusicHub offers its members further supporting services in the area of know-how transfer and customer support (hereinafter referred to as “Services”). The scope of MusicHub’s functions and services will continue to evolve – e.g., new Tools and/or Services will be added, but individual Tools and/or Services may also be discontinued after prior notice, the use of which is also subject to these General Terms and Conditions and any additional Special Terms and Conditions. The current scope of functions and services of MusicHub’s Tools and Services is hereinafter also referred to collectively as the “Offer”.
Registering and setting up a free account with MusicHub allows music creators to access parts of our Offering as a demo version of our website. For the use of most Tools and Services, however, a subscription or a GEMA membership is additionally required.
As a GEMA member, registering and setting up your account with MusicHub already allows you to access our current Offer. For the use of new Tools and/or Services, a subscription may be required in the future. For details, please refer to the descriptions of the currently available Tools and Services as well as our General and Special Terms and Conditions.
Within the Library, MusicHub allows you to upload, enter, and save data. The Library is available to you as soon as you register with MusicHub.
As a GEMA member, MusicHub allows you to send work data to GEMA as part of the Work Declaration Tool, so that the copyright-protected work underlying your track is registered with GEMA and its foreign partner collecting societies, and so that royalty payments related to the use of the work that music users (DSPs, CD manufacturers, promoters, TV/radio stations, clubs, etc.) make to GEMA can be distributed correctly by GEMA to all authors and publishers involved in the work. The Work Declaration requires a GEMA membership; it is available as soon as you register at MusicHub.
As a GEMA member, MusicHub allows you to send soundfiles to GEMA within the GEMA Soundfile Upload Tool. This allows GEMA, with your permission, to monitor where your tracks are played in public (on TV / radio, in clubs or in commercials) in order to process your royalty payments accurately. The Soundfile Upload requires a GEMA membership and is available as soon as you register at MusicHub.
As part of the Release Tool, MusicHub allows you to compile Sound Recordings together with metadata and artwork (collectively, “Recordings”) into a digital release and send it to a Distributor for distribution to selected Digital Service Providers (“DSPs”). The use of the Release Tool for distribution via a distribution partner requires a GEMA membership.
If you choose to release your music through a distribution partner affiliated distributor, separate terms and conditions apply. If you choose to distribute your music via the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION GmbH (“ZEBRALUTION”), the “Special Terms and Conditions Release for Distribution via ZEBRALUTION” apply.
The Stats Tool allows you to view and analyse data about the use and distribution of your Recordings, currently in the form of daily trend data of the DSPs that have been selected in the Release Tool for distribution via a distribution partner. The use of the Stats Tool for distribution via a distribution partner requires a GEMA membership.
Within the Balance Dashboard, MusicHub allows you to view the royalties earned from the distribution of your Recordings via one of our distribution partners, as well as request payments to your bank account. The Balance Dashboard is available in the demo version as soon as you register with MusicHub.
The Help Centre provides you with articles, instructions and tips on all MusicHub-related topics. The Help Centre is available in the demo version as soon as you register with MusicHub.
Our Customer Support will assist you via chat with any questions you may have about our Offer and its use. Your entitlement to Customer Support requires a GEMA membership.
In regular Webinars, we not only explain how to best use MusicHub’s Offer, but also highlight a variety of topics that are important to music creators. Participation in these Webinars requires a GEMA membership.
In order to improve and constantly develop our Offering, we ask our members about their wishes and priorities via surveys, interviews and focus groups and take these into account when developing our future Tools and functionalities. In this way, we give you the chance to help shape MusicHub. Participation in User Research among users requires a GEMA membership.
a. The General Terms and Conditions apply to all uses of the Offer provided on our websites www.music-hub.com and www.joinmusichub.de.
b. Certain Tools and Services of MusicHub are subject to additional, separate Special Terms and Conditions. In order to use such Tools and Services, you must accept these Special Terms and Conditions. All provisions of these General Terms and Conditions also apply to these Tools and Services, unless otherwise specified in the Special Terms and Conditions.
a. Requirements for registration and account setup:
b. Registration process / account setup:
a. The use of MusicHub for purposes that violate applicable laws or the rights of third parties, or with fraudulent intent, is not permitted. In particular, it is not permitted to,
b. The use of MusicHub is subject to our Community Guidelines, which we publish in the current version at https://intercom.help/music-hub/en/articles/6092131-the-musichub-community-guidelines. This includes rules that prohibit abuse, insults, harassment, threats and any form of hate speech towards our employees and service providers as well as towards other MusicHub members.
c. If you use MusicHub fraudulently, if you violate applicable laws or violate the rights of third parties, or if you violate our Community Guidelines, we are entitled to issue a warning to you for your unlawful conduct or conduct that contradicts our Community Guidelines. If you continue this behaviour despite the warning or if you act in a materially unlawful manner, we are entitled to suspend your account or to terminate it extraordinarily, with the consequences described in section 5. c) of the General Terms and Conditions.
You warrant and represent that you are the owner of all rights in the uploaded or entered Data that is required for use in MusicHub, or that you have obtained the corresponding permission from all other authorised parties. Rights which have been transferred to GEMA or another collecting society for fiduciary administration shall not be covered by this warranty. All rights in and to all Data shall remain reserved to you or the rightsholders, and you shall remain the exclusive owner of all corresponding copyrights, neighbouring rights and other rights. You do, however, permit MusicHub the use of the Data to the degree required to provide the respective services. Rights for the commercial exploitation of the Data shall, in deviation from the previous sentence, only be granted to MusicHub if you use a corresponding Tool, and only to the extent described in the Special Terms and Conditions applicable thereto.
a. Your MusicHub account will continue to exist until it is terminated by either party with 3 months' notice to the end of the month. To cancel your account, please send an email to support@music-hub.com.
b. If you release your music via a distributor affiliated as a distribution partner, MusicHub will take your Recordings down via the distributor as soon as your account is terminated, as revenue sharing and billing via MusicHub is no longer possible after the expiration of the notice period. You have the possibility to view the royalties received by MusicHub between the receipt and the effective date of the cancellation in the Balance Dashboard until the expiration of the cancellation period and to have them paid out to you. When the termination becomes effective, you waive your right to claim revenue sharing for all billing amounts made available in the Balance Dashboard but not requested for payment.
c. The right of extraordinary termination for cause shall be reserved to you and MusicHub. MusicHub may terminate your account without notice, in particular in the case of an infringement of your obligations arising from the provisions of sections 2. to 4. of these General Terms and Conditions as well as the warranties arising from the Special Terms and Conditions, as well as block and delete your access. In this case, MusicHub will contact you via your stored e-mail address in order to pay any outstanding revenue share to you.
MusicHub is liable for damage caused by slight negligence only in cases of breach of material contractual obligations to the amount of the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. Material contractual obligations are those whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of a contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the contracting parties may regularly rely. Beyond that, MusicHub shall be liable to you without limitation in the event of intent and negligence, culpably caused damage resulting from injury to life, limb or health, in the event of a contractually assumed guarantee or fraudulently concealed defects. In other respects, liability is excluded unless a strictly mandatory statutory liability regardless of negligence or fault takes action or MusicHub is liable due to a guarantee regardless of negligence or fault.
In the event of a culpable breach of your obligations arising from these General Terms and Conditions, in particular sections 2. to 4., as well as the obligations arising from the Special Terms and Conditions, in particular the warranties contained therein, you are obliged to compensate MusicHub for the resulting damage. Beyond that, you are obligated to indemnify MusicHub, upon first request, against all third-party claims resulting thereof, including reasonable court fees and legal fees.
German law shall apply to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The place of jurisdiction for all disputes between the parties is Berlin.
The respective current Specifications of Services, as well as General and Special Terms and Conditions, contain all arrangements between the parties; any collateral agreements shall require MusicHub's written confirmation in order to be valid. In the event that individual provisions of the Specifications of Service or General and Special Terms and Conditions are invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions; in such cases, the parties shall be obligated to agree upon a valid provision that comes as close as possible to the invalid provision.
In the event of changes in the law, changes in MusicHub's legal circumstances, changes in case law, changes in the scope of rights management due to extended service tools, technical changes and extensions of functionalities, MusicHub reserves the right to amend the General Terms and Conditions as well as the Special Terms and Conditions for the various tools and services (individually and collectively referred to as "Terms and Conditions"). MusicHub will inform you of any changes to the Terms and Conditions by notifying you of the amended sections. You have the right to terminate your account within 14 days of receiving such notice. If you do not make use of your right of termination or do not object to the change of the Terms and Conditions within 14 days after receipt of the notification of the amended Terms and Conditions vis-à-vis MusicHub, your consent to the amended Terms and Conditions shall be deemed granted. The date of receipt of the objection shall be decisive for the calculation of the deadline. In the event that you fail to object or terminate the contract in due time or at all, the Terms and Conditions in their amended version shall become an integral part of the contract. MusicHub shall make separate reference to this legal consequence when notifying you of the amended Terms and Conditions.
If you have queries regarding the Terms and Conditions, please write an e-mail to legal@music-hub.com. Please understand that, due to the Rechtsberatungsgesetz [German Act on Legal Advice], we are not allowed to provide any general legal advice and that we are only available to answer queries regarding the Terms and Conditions sent to this address.
As part of the Release Tool, MusicHub allows you to send sound recordings (sound recordings provided via the Release Tool, together with metadata and artwork, hereinafter referred to as “Recordings”) to a distributor for distribution to selected Digital Service Providers (“DSPS”). Please note that the distribution of your Recordings to the DSPs is not done by MusicHub but by the distributor. In addition to the General Terms and Conditions, the following Special Terms and Conditions apply to your Recordings for distribution via the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION – conditional on your use of the Release Tool for distribution of your Recordings by ZEBRALUTION.
a. MusicHub cannot guarantee that the selected DSPs will include your Recordings in their services, as this decision is reserved to the latter in the relevant licensing agreements between ZEBRALUTION as MusicHub's distribution partner and the DSPs. MusicHub’s distribution partner ZEBRALUTION further reserves the right not to distribute Recordings to DSPs if, in the view of ZEBRALUTION, such distribution is likely to breach provisions of the contracts with the respective DSP or to damage the relationship between ZEBRALUTION and the DSP.
b. A rejection of a release is made by the DSPs in particular if this release already exists in their offer, as otherwise the overview for the end-user is impaired and there is a risk of conflicts between the different suppliers. If you thus want to distribute your Recordings via MusicHub’s distribution partner ZEBRALUTION and they have already been released once before, you must ensure that you have a take-down notice for the respective release via the previous distributor or the label which released the Recordings previously.
c. In the event that your Recordings are rejected for the aforementioned reasons, MusicHub shall endeavour to communicate the respective justifications and possible solution approaches to you.
a. MusicHub is a platform for music creators and therefore the distribution option is also reserved for self-created music Recordings.
b. Public domain recordings are recordings for which the exclusive rights have expired. Major DSPs do not allow the delivery of public domain recordings by licensors who are not originally involved in the production, as they only want to make one official version of such recordings available. The distribution of so-called “public domain recordings” is therefore not permitted via MusicHub if you were not the owner of the exclusive rights before their expiry.
c. The distribution of Recordings that do not consist exclusively of music may be rejected by ZEBRALUTION; this applies in particular to audiobooks, radio dramas as well as recordings with noise. While such content may be accepted by some DSPs, they are usually subject to special data formats and delivery rules that cannot be accommodated by MusicHub. The decision about the distribution of such Recordings is therefore left to the decision of ZEBRALUTION in each individual case.
a. In order to enable ZEBRALUTION, as MusicHub's distribution partner, to distribute your Recordings to the DSPs, you grant MusicHub a non-exclusive, worldwide license to digitally exploit your Recordings, which is limited in time to the duration of your membership in MusicHub and is transferable to ZEBRALUTION and through ZEBRALUTION to the DSPs. MusicHub accepts this grant of rights. The grant of rights shall, in particular, include the right to reproduce, distribute, making available to the public and broadcast the Recordings, including the statutory right to claim and collect royalties for these uses, provided that they have not been exclusively assigned to a collective management organisation, but exclusively as a so-called transitory right, which only DSPs and their service providers and end consumers are entitled to exercise, but not MusicHub or ZEBRALUTION itself. The aforementioned grant of rights includes, in particular, the use of the Recordings in the course of streaming, download, social media and other digital services subject to the use of a variety of business models such as purchase, subscription, or usages financed by advertising or by other means. A description of the respective offer of the DSPs which further specifies the permitted uses can be accessed in MusicHub at https://intercom.help/music-hub/en.
b. Provided that you did not grant permission in MusicHub for a world-wide distribution, but for the distribution to take place in a limited territory, the grant of rights to the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION and by them to the DSPs shall only be made for the respective countries.
c. DSPs or their service providers may reformat or shorten your Recordings, e.g., by encoding into another audio format or making available of audio samples, in the case of YouTube Music by creating a so-called “Art Track” video where a still image of the cover artwork is added to your Recording, but only insofar as it does not constitute an “edit” (“Bearbeitung” as defined in the German Copyright Act).
d. Something else applies in cases where the business model of the DSP requires editing e.g., because the Recordings are intended for synchronisation (combination) with User Generated Content such as videos. Such uses are further detailed in the description of the offer of the DSPs under https://intercom.help/music-hub/en and you have the opportunity to exclude such offers from distribution. If you decide to provide your Recordings for Distribution by the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION to DSPs with such business models, you also grant MusicHub the respective editing right as a transitory right for further transfer to ZEBRALUTION and subsequent exploitation by the DSPs and their users.
e. The DSPs have the right to advertise the Recordings with the name, logo, biography and discography of the artist as well as the title, cover, artwork and video of the Recording in all media without creating the impression of a personal endorsement of the artist and you grant MusicHub the relevant rights in a retransferable manner to the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION and through ZEBRALUTION to the DSPs.
f. MusicHub shall also have the right to advertise Recordings as described above in 3. e. unless you inform us at support@music-hub.com that you do not want this to happen.
a. You may take your Recordings down at any time without notice of any reason through the distributor by sending an email to support@music-hub.com, in which case, a so-called “Takedown Notice” will be sent by MusicHub to the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION to all DSPs selected by you with the request to remove the respective Recordings from the service.
b. If your GEMA membership ends, this does not automatically mean that your Recordings will be taken down by the distributor, because your MusicHub account will not simultaneously be deleted. In this case, your Recordings will remain available on the DSPs via the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION until you revoke the rights yourself or your MusicHub account is terminated according to section 7. of the General Terms and Conditions and MusicHub takes your Recordings down via the distributor. You will continue to receive the revenue share and billing mentioned in section 5., which you can manage in your account. If you have not purchased a MusicHub subscription within 12 months after termination of your GEMA membership, MusicHub reserves the right to take your Recordings down via the distributor despite the continued existence of your account, in particular if the cost of billing is grossly disproportionate to the benefits from your revenues. However, there is no obligation to take your Recordings down after 12 months.
c. Furthermore, MusicHub is entitled to take your Recordings down via the distributor, with or without termination of your account, if you violate the General Terms and Conditions, especially sections 2. to 4., or these “Special Terms and Conditions Release for Distribution via ZEBRALUTION”, especially section 6. This means, MusicHub can take your Recordings down in particular, if the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION or one of the DSPs selected by you reject them, or if rights of third parties are claimed, or if the Recordings may violate legal regulations.
a. You will receive a “Royalty” calculated as a percentage of the Net Distribution Income (defined as gross royalty income less VAT) of the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION from the exploitation of your Recordings by ZEBRALUTION in the amount of ninety per cent (90%).
b. Royalties allocated to your Recordings will be reported to you by MusicHub via the “Balance Dashboard” in MusicHub, promptly after the receipt of the DSPs’ reports and after processing by the distribution partner ZEBRALUTION. The full amount of reported Royalties that have not been paid out yet will also be shown in the dashboard. You can, at any time, request MusicHub to pay out a partial amount or the full amount; you do not need to send us an invoice for this because we will issue a credit note (in German tax terms, “Gutschrift”) to you.
c. To ensure that the credit note is correct from a tax perspective, you are responsible to keep your master data in MusicHub up-to-date at all times, in particular regarding your residence, tax number, small business status and withholding tax exemption. In the event that you are not subject to unlimited tax liability in Germany, MusicHub is entitled to retain and pay withholding tax on your income, except in cases where you provide us with a valid exemption from the German Federal Central Tax Office (in German, “Bundeszentralamt für Steuern”).
e. The payment of the requested amount shall take place within 7 days, free of charge, to your SEPA account. For international bank transfers outside the Euro area and for the use of other payment methods such as PayPal which are planned for a later date, we reserve the right to charge fees which will be shown to you when you select the respective payment method.
a. You know best who has contributed to your Recordings and whether the rights in your Recordings have already been assigned before. MusicHub, the distributor and the DSPs must be able to rely on you in this respect.
b. You therefore warrant and represent to MusicHub that
This means in particular that
c. Rights which have been assigned to GEMA for fiduciary management shall not be covered by this warranty.
d. The indemnification clause in section 7 of the General Terms and Conditions of MusicHub shall also apply for the aforementioned warranties.
a. The DSPs are generally responsible for licensing the copyrights to the works underlying your Recordings from the relevant collecting society or music publisher.
b. If you are also involved as a composer, lyricist or in any other capacity in the works underlying your Recordings, a separate report of the amounts paid by the DSPs for the use of the works will be made directly through your collecting society or music publisher - this report is not subject to your legal relationship with MusicHub.
c. In case you wish to make Recordings of other people's works available for download in the U.S., you must obtain the necessary license for "Digital Phonorecord Deliveries" (downloads) in accordance with the industry practice and legal situation in the U.S. and pay the corresponding "Mechanical Royalties" (copyright fees) to the rights holders.
d. Should the copyrights to the works underlying your Recordings not be held by a collecting society or music publisher, you indemnify MusicHub, ZEBRALUTION and the DSPs from any claims by third parties.
If you are a consumer (i.e., a natural person who uses our Offer for a purpose that cannot be attributed to your commercial or independent professional activity), you have a right of withdrawal in accordance with the statutory provisions.
For the right of withdrawal, the provisions that shall apply are listed in the following:
You have the right to withdraw from the contract within fourteen days. The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.
In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us,
MusicHub GmbH
Pfuelstraße 5
10997 Berlin
E-Mail: legal@music-hub.com
by way of an unambiguous declaration (e.g., a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail) of your decision to withdraw from the contract. You can use the attached withdrawal template, which is, however, not mandatory.
To adhere to the withdrawal period, it is sufficient if you send the notification about you exercising the right of revocation prior to the end of the revocation period.
Consequences of withdrawal
If you withdraw from the contract, we must refund all payments we received from you, including delivery costs (with the exception of additional costs which result from you having selected a type of delivery other than the cheapest standard delivery offered by us), without delay and within fourteen days at the latest from your withdrawal from this contract. We will use the same method of payment that you chose for the original transaction, unless something else has been agreed with you; in no event will you be charged with any costs because of this refund.
Withdrawal template
(If you want to withdraw from your contract, please fill out this form and send it back to us)
To:
MusicHub GmbH
Pfuelstraße 5
10997 Berlin
E-Mail: legal@music-hub.com
I/we (*) hereby withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service:
Ordered on (*)/ received on (*):
Name of the consumer(s):
Address of the consumer(s):
Signature of the consumer, date (only in case of notification on paper)
(*) Please delete as appropriate
End of the withdrawal policy
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