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Legal

DIGITAL MUSIC DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

INDIA • WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION • KOLKATA JURISDICTION. This is the same agreement every artist and label e-signs inside the DistriBeats Console — between you and Klaslead Productions Private Limited (CIN U72900WB2020PTC241342), operating DistriBeats.

Last updated · August 2026

Parties and effective date

Klaslead Productions Private Limited

Brand: DistriBeats · CIN: U72900WB2020PTC241342 · Reg. No.: 241342

337/286, Balaram Mallick Road, Ghutiyabazar, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal 712103, India

+91 33 3592 0141 · artists@distribeats.com

This Digital Music Distribution Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made between Klaslead Productions Private Limited, a private limited company incorporated on 18 November 2020 under the Companies Act, 2013 (CIN U72900WB2020PTC241342), with its registered office at 337/286, Balaram Mallick Road, Ghutiyabazar, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal 712103, India, which operates the digital music distribution service known as DistriBeats (“DistriBeats”, the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”), and the individual, band, label or other legal entity that accepts this Agreement through the DistriBeats Console (“you” or “your”, and where relevant the “Artist” or “Label”).

In plain words: you keep ownership of your music. You give us a non-exclusive permission to send it to music stores and platforms around the world, collect what they pay for it and pass your share to you. This Agreement explains that permission, what each plan includes, how money moves, what you promise us, what we promise you, and what happens if something goes wrong. Clause headings and the plain-language summaries are there to help you read it; the clauses themselves are what bind us both.

Version 2026.19, effective 8 November 2026. This Agreement starts for you on the earliest of the date you e-sign it, create or activate a Console account, buy a plan or a PayOnce release, or submit your first release (your “Effective Date”). From 8 November 2026 this version replaces earlier versions for every account, in the way described in clause 51.

This Agreement is governed by the laws of India, with disputes resolved by the steps in clauses 55 and 56 and arbitration seated at Kolkata, West Bengal. If you live outside India, nothing in this Agreement takes away any right you have under the mandatory consumer or other law of your own country that cannot be excluded by contract (see clause 56.3).

1. Definitions

  • 1.1 In this Agreement the following words have these meanings. Other words defined elsewhere in the Agreement carry the meaning given there.
  • 1.2 “Account” means your DistriBeats Console account and every artist profile, roster, release, balance and setting held under it.
  • 1.3 “AI-Generated Content” means any sound recording, composition, lyric, vocal, voice, artwork or video that has been created wholly or substantially by a generative artificial-intelligence or machine-learning system, including tracks made with text-to-music or voice-cloning tools, whether or not a human later edited it. Content in which AI tools were used only for ordinary technical tasks (for example noise reduction, stem separation of your own recording, or mastering assistance) is not AI-Generated Content unless the system created the musical or vocal performance itself.
  • 1.4 “AI Plan” means AI Pro or PayOnce AI (also called PayOnce AI Made).
  • 1.5 “Annual Plan” means Pro (also called Pro Artist), AI Pro, Rising Label or Macro Label, each billed for an annual term.
  • 1.6 “Artificial Streaming” means any stream, download, view, play, follow, save, pre-save, playlist add, click or other engagement that does not come from a real person freely choosing to listen or engage, including activity generated by bots, scripts, click farms, stream farms, looped or muted playback, incentivised or paid listening schemes, account sharing set up to inflate plays, or services that promise guaranteed streams or placements.
  • 1.7 “Collab Plan” means the free DistriBeats plan, also called DistriBeats Free or Collab Artist, described in Schedule B.
  • 1.8 “Console” means the DistriBeats website, dashboard, mobile web app and related tools through which you upload Content, manage releases, read statements and request payouts.
  • 1.9 “Content” means everything you or anyone on your behalf supplies to us: sound recordings (masters), the musical works and lyrics embodied in them, performances, artwork, photographs, videos, Dolby Atmos or other immersive mixes, metadata, credits, lyrics text, biographies, artist images, logos, identifiers and promotional materials.
  • 1.10 “Distribution Partners” means the delivery partners, aggregators, rights-management and content-recognition services, technical vendors and other third parties we use to deliver Content to Stores and to receive reports and money from them. We do not publicly name our Distribution Partners and may change them at any time.
  • 1.11 “Enterprise Services” means DistriBeats API, the DistriBeats White Label Distribution Dashboard and any other service we designate as an enterprise service, as described in clause 41.
  • 1.12 “Label Plan” means Rising Label or Macro Label, and “Roster Artist” means an artist added to a Label Plan account.
  • 1.13 “Net Receipts” means the money we actually receive from Stores (directly or through Distribution Partners) that the relevant Store attributes to your Content, after any amounts the Store, Distribution Partner or payment provider has already deducted before the money reaches us, such as taxes withheld at source, store-side fees, fraud or Artificial Streaming adjustments, refunds, chargebacks and currency costs. Net Receipts do not include estimates, projections, analytics figures or amounts a Store has reported but not yet paid.
  • 1.14 “PayOnce” means the DistriBeats PayOnce plan (Human Made) and PayOnce AI (AI Made), under which a one-time fee is paid per release, as described in clause 37.
  • 1.15 “Plan” means the plan your Account is on from time to time (Collab, PayOnce, PayOnce AI, Pro, AI Pro, Rising Label or Macro Label), together with its Plan Terms, meaning the plan-specific features, limits and prices shown in the Console, on our pricing pages and in Schedule A at the time you buy or renew.
  • 1.16 “Policies” means our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, Cookie Policy, Fraud Policy and other policies published on distribeats.com, as updated from time to time.
  • 1.17 “Royalty Share” means the percentage of Net Receipts that belongs to you under your Plan, as set out in clause 23 and Schedule A.
  • 1.18 “Stores” means the digital music services, streaming and download services, video and short-form video platforms, social media platforms, fitness, gaming and in-app music services, content-recognition systems and any other third-party services to which DistriBeats or its Distribution Partners deliver Content, including where available Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, YouTube Content ID, Amazon Music, JioSaavn, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, Deezer, Tidal and many others. Store availability can differ by Plan, territory and release.
  • 1.19 “Takedown” means a request to Stores to remove a release or track from sale and streaming.
  • 1.20 “Term” has the meaning in clause 7.4.

2. Interpretation

  • 2.1 Headings, plain-language summaries and examples are for convenience only and do not limit the meaning of a clause.
  • 2.2 “Including”, “for example” and similar words introduce examples and do not limit the general words before them.
  • 2.3 References to a law include that law as amended, re-enacted or replaced, and any rules, regulations or notifications made under it. A reference to the Income-tax Act means the Income-tax Act, 2025 and, for any earlier period to which it still applies, the Income-tax Act, 1961.
  • 2.4 The singular includes the plural and the other way round. A “person” includes an individual, firm, company, trust, society, band or other association.
  • 2.5 “Days” means calendar days unless “business days” or “working days” is stated. Business or working days mean days other than Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in West Bengal, India.
  • 2.6 Where we say we “may” do something, we have the right but not the obligation to do it, and we will exercise that right reasonably and in good faith.
  • 2.7 If an obligation in this Agreement must be done “in writing”, email or a message through the Console counts unless the clause says registered post or a signed document is needed.

3. Scope of this Agreement and the documents that make it up

  • 3.1 This Agreement governs DistriBeats’ distribution service: delivering your Content to Stores, administering it there, collecting Net Receipts, accounting to you and paying you, and the related Console tools and add-ons.
  • 3.2 The following documents form part of this Agreement: (a) Schedules A to E at the end of this Agreement; (b) the Plan Terms of your Plan; and (c) the Policies, to the extent they are relevant to distribution. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data and is incorporated by reference.
  • 3.3 Enterprise Services are not governed by this Agreement alone. They are governed by a separate Enterprise agreement as explained in clause 41.
  • 3.4 Order of precedence. If documents conflict, they apply in this order: (a) for Enterprise Services only, the signed Enterprise agreement; (b) this Agreement (including its Schedules); (c) the Plan Terms; (d) the Policies; (e) help-centre articles, FAQs, marketing pages and support replies, which are guidance only. A later, more specific written arrangement signed by an authorised signatory of the Company prevails over this Agreement for its subject matter.

4. Eligibility, age and capacity

  • 4.1 You must be at least 13 years old to create an Account or use the Console. Persons under 13 may not use DistriBeats at all.
  • 4.2 If you are under 18 (or under the age of majority where you live, if higher), you may use DistriBeats only if your parent or legal guardian has read this Agreement, agrees to it on your behalf and gives verifiable consent to our processing of your personal data as required by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its rules. Under Indian law a minor cannot enter into a binding contract personally, so in that case your parent or guardian enters into this Agreement for your benefit and is responsible for your compliance with it.
  • 4.3 Payouts are made only to a person who is at least 18 years old. If you are under 18, payouts will be made only to a bank, UPI or PayPal account held in the name of your parent or legal guardian, who must complete identity verification (KYC). We may ask for proof of guardianship.
  • 4.4 You confirm that you have full legal capacity and authority to accept this Agreement. If you accept on behalf of a band, label, company or other organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind it, and “you” then means that organisation as well as you personally to the extent you act without authority.
  • 4.5 You may not use DistriBeats if you are barred from receiving the service under the laws of India or of the country where you live, or if your Account was previously banned by us.
  • 4.6 You must give us true, complete and current information about yourself, including your legal name, country of residence and contact details, and keep it updated. Your country of residence determines your billing currency, prices and payout method and cannot be changed to obtain a different price.

5. Your account and its security

  • 5.1 You are responsible for everything done through your Account, whether by you or by anyone using your login details, until you tell us that your Account has been compromised.
  • 5.2 Keep your password and sign-in methods confidential, use a strong unique password, and turn on two-step verification where the Console offers it. Do not share your login with managers, producers or friends; label owners should add team members only through the tools the Console provides for that purpose.
  • 5.3 Tell us immediately at artists@distribeats.com if you suspect unauthorised access. We may lock the Account, pause payouts and require re-verification to protect you, and we are not responsible for losses caused by your failure to keep your login secure, except to the extent caused by our own negligence.
  • 5.4 Changes to payout details may trigger a security hold of up to 15 days and additional verification before the next payout.
  • 5.5 One person or organisation may not open multiple Accounts to get around plan limits, trial rules, bans or release caps. We may merge, restrict or close duplicate Accounts.

6. How the service works

  • 6.1 You choose a Plan, create an artist profile, upload Content and metadata, choose release options and Stores (where your Plan allows), and submit the release. We review it (clause 14), deliver it to Stores through our Distribution Partners (clause 15), collect Net Receipts and credit your Royalty Share to your Account (clauses 23 to 28).
  • 6.2 We are a distributor and service provider. We are not your record label, publisher, manager, agent, lawyer, accountant or collecting society, and we do not own, buy or employ your music or you.
  • 6.3 Stores are independent businesses. They decide for themselves whether to accept, display, recommend, playlist, monetise or remove Content, and they set the rates and rules for what they pay. We pass on what they pay; we cannot make them pay more or sooner.
  • 6.4 We may change, add or remove Stores, features, file limits, technical requirements and Console tools to keep the service working, lawful and secure. Clause 36 explains how we handle price changes and clause 51 how we handle changes to this Agreement.

7. The licence you grant us

  • 7.1 Grant. You grant DistriBeats a non-exclusive, worldwide licence, for the Term, to do the following with your Content in every form of digital media and technology now known or developed later: reproduce, store, host, encode, transcode, compress, fingerprint, package and technically adapt it; deliver and make it available to Stores; authorise Stores to sell, stream, download, communicate to the public, make available on demand, synchronise into user-generated videos and short-form content where the Store offers that use, and otherwise exploit it in line with their standard terms; register it with content-recognition systems where your Plan includes them; and collect all money paid for those uses.
  • 7.2 Sub-licensing. You allow us to sub-license the rights in clause 7.1 to Distribution Partners and Stores, and to allow Stores to grant end-users the rights they normally grant (for example personal streaming, offline listening, adding your track to a user video where the Store allows it).
  • 7.3 Territory. The licence covers the whole world, unless you restrict territories in the Console for a release, in which case it covers the territories you select. We state the territory expressly so that the default territorial limit in section 19(6) read with section 30A of the Copyright Act, 1957 does not apply.
  • 7.4 Term. The licence starts on your Effective Date and continues for as long as this Agreement continues, release by release, until the release is taken down under clause 21 or this Agreement ends under clauses 47 or 48, plus the wind-down period in clause 49. This Agreement has no fixed end date and does not need renewing; we state the duration expressly so that the default five-year period in section 19(5) read with section 30A of the Copyright Act, 1957 does not apply. Your Plan’s billing term (for example an annual subscription) is separate from the Term of this licence.
  • 7.5 Non-exclusive. The licence is non-exclusive. You remain free to license your Content to others, for example for synchronisation in films, adverts and games, live performance, physical copies or radio. However, you must not deliver the same recording to the same Store through another distributor at the same time (clause 18).
  • 7.6 Written licence. This Agreement is a licence in writing for the purposes of section 30 of the Copyright Act, 1957. Your electronic acceptance and e-signature are signatures for that purpose, as explained in clause 20.
  • 7.7 Technical processing. Encoding, normalisation, resizing, cropping artwork to Store formats, generating previews or clips, fingerprinting and similar technical processing is part of the licence. It does not change ownership and is not a distortion or modification for the purposes of moral rights.
  • 7.8 Royalty-free to the extent of our share. You do not owe us anything for the licence beyond your Plan fees and our share of Net Receipts (if any) under your Plan.

8. What you keep: ownership and moral rights

  • 8.1 You keep ownership. Nothing in this Agreement assigns, transfers or sells to DistriBeats any copyright, performer’s right, trademark or other right in your Content. This Agreement is a non-exclusive licence under section 30 of the Copyright Act, 1957, not an assignment under sections 18 and 19. The rules that apply to assignments, including the lapse rule in section 19(4), therefore do not apply.
  • 8.2 Sound recording and underlying works. A sound recording is a separate work from the musical work (composition) and literary work (lyrics) recorded in it. This Agreement licenses the sound recording you deliver and, to the extent you own or control them and they are needed for the uses in clause 7, the underlying works. It does not give us your publishing or performing rights in compositions, and it does not affect any right of authors of underlying works to receive royalties under the provisos to sections 18 and 19 of the Copyright Act, 1957 or through collecting societies.
  • 8.3 Publishing and collecting societies. We do not act as your music publisher or register your compositions with collecting societies or performing rights organisations unless we agree in writing to do so. Store payments for the underlying compositions are usually made by Stores to publishers and collecting societies directly and are not part of Net Receipts.
  • 8.4 Moral rights. Your moral rights under section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1957, and the moral rights of performers under section 38B, are not affected. We will use the artist names and credits you supply. You agree that Store-standard technical processing, previews, clips, crops, loudness normalisation and display formats are not a distortion, mutilation or modification prejudicial to your honour or reputation.
  • 8.5 Performers’ rights. Where a performance is embodied in your recording, you confirm that every performer has consented to the recording and its exploitation as described in this Agreement, as required by sections 38 to 39A of the Copyright Act, 1957.
  • 8.6 Identifiers are not ownership. ISRC, UPC/EAN and other codes identify recordings and products. They do not show who owns them and assigning one does not give us or anyone else any ownership (see clause 16).

9. Your name, likeness and promotional use

  • 9.1 You allow us and Stores to use your artist name, legal name where operationally necessary (for example in rights registrations or official notices), approved photographs and likeness, artwork, release titles, credits, biography, logos and short excerpts of your Content for: (a) Store pages and artist profiles; (b) delivery, catalogue administration and rights registrations; (c) playlist and editorial pitching; and (d) reasonable promotion of DistriBeats and of your releases, such as social media posts, newsletters, case studies and showcases.
  • 9.2 This permission lasts for the Term and the wind-down period, except that we may keep showing promotional material that was already published (for example a past social media post) and may keep factual references to releases we distributed.
  • 9.3 You may ask us at any time to stop using you in DistriBeats’ own marketing (clause 9.1(d)); we will stop creating new marketing that features you within a reasonable time. This does not affect Store pages while your releases are live.
  • 9.4 We will not use your name or likeness to suggest that you endorse a third-party product without your consent.

10. Your promises about your rights

  • 10.1 You promise, for every release and every item of Content, at the time you submit it and for as long as it is distributed, that:
  • (a) you own, or have obtained in writing all the rights, licences, consents and permissions needed to grant the licence in clause 7 for, the sound recording, the composition, the lyrics, every sample, beat, loop, interpolation, vocal, performance, artwork, photograph, video and other element;
  • (b) the Content and metadata do not infringe or violate any copyright, performer’s right, trademark, right of publicity or personality, privacy, contract, confidentiality or other right of any person, and are not defamatory, obscene or otherwise unlawful in India or in any territory to which they will be delivered;
  • (c) you have paid, or will pay, everyone you must pay for the creation and use of the Content (including producers, featured artists, session musicians, studios, beat sellers and sample owners), and no one is entitled to payment from DistriBeats for it;
  • (d) the Content is not, at the time of submission, live on or pending delivery to the same Stores through another distributor, aggregator or label (clause 18);
  • (e) all metadata, credits, release dates, genres, language, explicit-content flags, AI declarations and rights information you provide are true, accurate and complete;
  • (f) you will not do anything that causes or encourages Artificial Streaming of any Content (clause 29 and Schedule E); and
  • (g) you will keep, and give us within 7 days of our request (or sooner if a Store or the law requires), copies of licences, agreements, receipts, project files, stems, session files or other evidence of your rights.
  • 10.2 If any of these promises stops being true, you must tell us straight away and, where needed, request a Takedown.

11. Covers, samples, remixes, beats and public-domain works

  • 11.1 Cover songs. If you release a cover version of a song you did not write, you are solely responsible for obtaining and paying for the mechanical licence (in India, including complying with section 31C of the Copyright Act, 1957 where you rely on the statutory licence for cover versions, with its notice, royalty, timing and no-alteration conditions; elsewhere, the licence required by local law) and for crediting the original songwriters correctly. We do not obtain mechanical licences for you unless we expressly agree to in writing.
  • 11.2 Samples and interpolations. Every sample (including short ones) and every interpolation of an existing recording or composition must be cleared in writing by the owners of both the sound recording and the composition before submission, unless it comes from a sample library whose licence clearly allows commercial distribution on Stores. “Royalty-free” or “free for non-commercial use” samples, and samples whose licence you cannot produce, are treated as uncleared.
  • 11.3 Beats and instrumentals. If you use a beat or instrumental bought or leased from a producer, your licence must permit commercial distribution on Stores in the quantities involved. Many non-exclusive beat leases do not permit Content ID registration; you must not opt such tracks into Content ID or similar systems (clause 17).
  • 11.4 Remixes, edits, mash-ups and medleys require written permission from the owners of the original recording and composition.
  • 11.5 Public-domain works. You may record compositions that are genuinely in the public domain in all territories of delivery, but the new recording must be your own performance. Public-domain or library recordings made by others, and recordings whose copyright status is unclear, will be rejected.
  • 11.6 Karaoke, instrumental, sound-alike and tribute versions must not imitate an original recording in a way that could mislead listeners, and their titles and artist fields must not use the original artist’s name except as the Store style guide permits (for example “originally performed by”).
  • 11.7 We may ask for proof of any clearance at any time and may refuse, delay or take down Content if satisfactory proof is not provided.

12. Featured artists, contributors, consents and splits

  • 12.1 Every featured artist, primary artist, producer, songwriter, composer, lyricist, remixer and other credited contributor must have agreed to be credited in the way you submit, and to the release being distributed.
  • 12.2 You are solely responsible for any agreement between you and your collaborators about ownership, credits, revenue shares, splits, advances, publishing and approvals. DistriBeats is not a party to those agreements and is not responsible for enforcing them.
  • 12.3 If you use the Console’s split-payment tools (clause 39), we will pay according to the split instructions you set, but the instructions remain your responsibility. If you do not use those tools, you are responsible for paying your collaborators their share out of your payouts.
  • 12.4 You must not list a well-known artist as a featured artist, or use their name in titles or metadata, unless they actually performed on the track and agreed to it.
  • 12.5 If a collaborator disputes a release, credit or split, we may hold the affected balance and, where needed, take the release down under clause 28 until the dispute is resolved between you.

13. AI-generated music

  • 13.1 AI-Generated Content may be distributed only under an AI Plan (AI Pro or PayOnce AI). It is prohibited on every other Plan, including Collab, Pro, PayOnce (Human Made), Rising Label and Macro Label.
  • 13.2 You must declare truthfully, track by track, whether each recording is AI-Generated Content and which tools were used, using the declaration in the Console. The declaration is an essential term of this Agreement. Stores increasingly require these declarations and may label AI tracks accordingly.
  • 13.3 You must hold all rights in, and comply with the terms of service of, every AI tool you use, including any requirement to hold a paid licence for commercial use of its output. You are responsible for checking that the tool’s terms allow distribution on Stores.
  • 13.4 You must never use AI to imitate the voice, likeness or style of a real, identifiable artist or person in a way that could mislead listeners, or to create a “deepfake” of anyone, unless you have that person’s written consent and all permissions required by law. Content that impersonates a real artist is prohibited on every Plan.
  • 13.5 Mass-produced, low-effort, sound-alike or spam catalogues, including large numbers of near-identical AI tracks, are prohibited on every Plan, including AI Plans.
  • 13.6 Misdeclaration. If a track is declared as human-made but we, a Store or a Distribution Partner reasonably determine that it is AI-Generated Content, or a track is otherwise misdeclared, we may: (a) reject or take down the affected release; (b) withhold the Net Receipts attributable to the misdeclared tracks and pass to Stores any amount they claw back; (c) keep the fees paid, which are not refundable; and (d) suspend or terminate your Account for material breach. Where a misdeclaration was an honest mistake reported by you promptly, we will consider correction or a Plan change instead.

14. Content standards, metadata and quality control

  • 14.1 Your Content and metadata must meet the standards in Schedule E, the Store style guides and technical specifications that apply to the Stores you deliver to, and the technical requirements shown in the Console (for example file formats, sample rates, artwork dimensions and file-size limits for your Plan).
  • 14.2 Metadata must be accurate and must not be misleading. In particular, titles, artist names and descriptions must not contain keyword stuffing, other artists’ names (except properly credited features), false “official” claims, emojis or promotional text unless a Store allows it, or a genre or language that does not match the Content.
  • 14.3 Quality control. We review submissions for technical, rights, metadata, policy and Store compliance. We may correct obvious formatting issues (for example capitalisation under a Store style guide), ask you to fix problems, return a submission for changes, delay delivery or reject it. Poorly mixed or mastered recordings, clipping, silence, noise, very short tracks designed to farm plays, and artwork that is blurred, pixelated, misleading or contains URLs or prices may be rejected.
  • 14.4 Approval targets. Indicative approval targets are: for PayOnce and Annual Plan releases, AI-assisted priority approval in about 2 minutes where all automated checks pass, or manual approval within 24 hours; for Collab Plan releases, manual approval with no priority, which can take up to 10 days. These are service targets, not guarantees.
  • 14.5 Our review is for our own and Stores’ purposes. Approval by us is not a confirmation that your Content is lawful or cleared, and it does not reduce your responsibility under clauses 10 to 13.
  • 14.6 Rejections on the Collab Plan are final, as explained in Schedule B. On other Plans, you may correct and resubmit a returned or rejected release unless the rejection was for a rights, fraud or policy violation that we tell you cannot be cured.

15. Delivery, release dates and Store discretion

  • 15.1 After approval we deliver the release to the Stores available for your Plan and selected by you, through our Distribution Partners.
  • 15.2 Go-live targets. Indicative Store go-live targets for compliant releases are: PayOnce within 3 business days, Annual Plans within 9 business days and Collab within 14 business days after approval. Choose a release date that allows for these targets; we recommend at least 2 to 4 weeks for playlist pitching and pre-saves.
  • 15.3 Stores decide. Each Store decides independently whether and when to accept, publish, display, geo-restrict, age-restrict, label, monetise, demonetise, hide or remove Content. A Store may reject or delay a release, merge or split artist profiles, or apply its own policies. We will help where we reasonably can, but we cannot override a Store.
  • 15.4 No guarantee of results. We do not guarantee acceptance by any Store, a particular go-live date or time, playlist placement, editorial consideration, algorithmic recommendation, chart eligibility, artist-profile verification or badges, pre-save functionality, lyric or video availability, or any level of streams or income.
  • 15.5 Release changes. Some changes after delivery (for example to titles, artists, audio or ISRCs) are restricted by Stores and may require a Takedown and redelivery as a new release, losing play counts. Corrections to metadata may take Stores several weeks to process.
  • 15.6 Status shown in the Console. “Sent to Stores” means a release has been delivered or accepted for delivery; it does not mean it is live on every Store.
  • 15.7 Back-ups. Stores and Distribution Partners hold their own copies of delivered Content. We are not a back-up service; keep your own copies of all masters and artwork.

16. ISRC, UPC and other identifiers

  • 16.1 If you do not supply your own codes, we will assign ISRCs for recordings and UPC/EAN codes for releases free of charge.
  • 16.2 Codes are identifiers only. Assigning a code does not give DistriBeats or anyone else ownership of, or any interest in, your recordings or releases.
  • 16.3 Codes we assign may be issued from ranges registered to us or to our Distribution Partners. You may keep using them after a Takedown or after this Agreement ends, including when moving the release to another distributor, but you must not reassign an ISRC to a different recording or reuse a UPC for a different product.
  • 16.4 If you supply your own codes, you promise that they were properly issued to you and match the Content. Wrong or duplicate codes can cause Store conflicts, misdirected royalties and Takedowns, for which you are responsible.

17. YouTube Content ID and other rights-management systems

  • 17.1 Where your Plan includes it (Content ID and TikTok are not included on the Collab Plan), we may register eligible recordings with YouTube Content ID and similar content-recognition and rights-management systems on Stores such as Facebook and Instagram, so that uses of your recordings in other people’s videos can be identified and monetised or tracked.
  • 17.2 Eligibility. Only recordings in which you hold exclusive rights for the relevant territories are eligible. Recordings containing non-exclusive beats, library or royalty-free samples, public-domain material, third-party loops licensed to others, covers without the necessary rights, or audio that also appears in other people’s releases must not be registered. Content-ID-only releases (releases whose main purpose is claiming rather than distribution) are not accepted.
  • 17.3 Claims and whitelisting. Content ID will claim matching videos on YouTube. You can ask us to whitelist (exclude from claims) your own official channels and channels you have licensed, through the Console or support. Whitelisting may take several business days to take effect and does not undo claims already released to a Store’s systems instantly.
  • 17.4 Disputes. If a channel owner disputes a claim, we will review the dispute using the information you provide and the Store’s rules. We may release a claim where we reasonably believe it is invalid, where you do not respond within 5 business days of our request, or where the Store requires it. We may also release or decline claims to protect your Account or ours from penalties.
  • 17.5 Misuse. Wrongful claims made through your registrations (for example against the true owner, against licensed users, or against public-domain material) are a material breach. We may remove the registration, pass to you any Store penalties, withhold the related income and suspend Content ID for your Account.
  • 17.6 Schedule C describes the Content ID and claims procedure in more detail.

18. One distributor per recording, and catalogue migration

  • 18.1 A recording may be delivered to a given Store through only one distributor or aggregator at a time, unless that Store expressly allows otherwise. Duplicate delivery causes ISRC, UPC, metadata, Content ID and ownership conflicts and is treated by Stores as a serious violation.
  • 18.2 We may unsubmit, suspend or take down duplicate Content without notice where reasonably necessary to prevent Store conflicts. Fees paid are not refundable because of a duplicate submission.
  • 18.3 Moving your catalogue to us is welcome. Ask your previous distributor to take the release down, wait until it has been removed from every Store, then submit it to us with the original release date and, where appropriate, the existing ISRCs and UPC so that Stores can preserve history where they support that.
  • 18.4 Repeated or deliberate duplicate submissions are a material breach and may lead to permanent closure of your Account and withholding of affected unpaid amounts to the extent permitted by law.

19. Exclusive Store programmes and pre-releases

  • 19.1 Some Stores offer features such as pre-saves, pre-orders, countdown pages, lyrics, canvases or video add-ons. Where available, these are provided on the Store’s terms and may be changed or withdrawn by the Store at any time.
  • 19.2 You must not offer a release exclusively to one platform in a way that conflicts with your delivery choices without telling us first.
  • 19.3 If you share an unreleased track publicly before its release date (for example on social media), Stores may detect it as pre-existing content; this is not a breach by you, but you remain responsible for having the rights in what you share.

20. Formation, electronic signature and execution record

  • 20.1 This Agreement is a contract concluded by electronic means. Under section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Contract Act, 1872, it is not invalid or unenforceable merely because it was formed electronically.
  • 20.2 You accept this Agreement by any of: e-signing it in the Console; ticking an acceptance box; creating or activating an Account; buying a Plan, trial or PayOnce release; or submitting a release. Once you have accepted, each later release you submit is covered by this Agreement.
  • 20.3 When you e-sign, the Console records your legal name, artist or label name, your hand-drawn signature (or, where the drawn image is unavailable, your typed name), your account email, the IP address from which you signed, the version of this Agreement shown to you and the date and time in UTC. You agree that this drawn or typed signature, together with the recorded acceptance, is your legally binding electronic signature and authentication of this Agreement, and satisfies any requirement that the licence in clause 7 be in writing and signed by you.
  • 20.4 The Company’s acceptance is given by the electronic signature of its authorised signatory, Saswata Modak, Managing Director, printed on the executed copy.
  • 20.5 Our electronic records of acceptance, signatures, submissions, declarations, statements and payouts are evidence of what happened unless you show they are wrong. You agree not to dispute the validity of this Agreement solely because it was signed electronically.
  • 20.6 You can download your executed PDF copy from the Console (Account, Distribution agreement) at any time and should keep a copy. The execution / acceptance record printed at the end of this Agreement forms part of this clause 20.
  • 20.7 Signing a newer version of this Agreement is not required to keep using the service; clause 51 explains how new versions apply.

21. Takedowns you request

  • 21.1 You may ask us to take down any release, or any track, from all or selected Stores at any time through the Console or support.
  • 21.2 Fees. Takedowns are free while your Pro, AI Pro, Rising Label or Macro Label plan is active, and are always free for PayOnce and PayOnce AI releases. A takedown fee of INR 2,000 in India or USD 20 outside India per release applies on the Collab Plan and for releases under an expired Pro, AI Pro or Label Plan; renewing the Plan makes the Takedown free again. A takedown fee is a processing charge and is not a refund of any distribution payment.
  • 21.3 Timing. We aim to send Takedown instructions within 3 business days of a valid request (and after payment of any fee). Stores usually remove content within 5 to 15 business days after that, but some take longer and we do not control their timing. Removal from Store caches, offline downloads, user playlists, third-party sites and search results may take longer or may not be possible.
  • 21.4 Effect. A Takedown ends the licence for that release once Stores have removed it, subject to the wind-down period in clause 49. Net Receipts for streams and sales before removal remain payable to you when Stores report and pay them.
  • 21.5 A Takedown cannot always be reversed. Re-releasing later may be treated as a new release by Stores, with new release dates and lost play counts.
  • 21.6 Schedule C sets out the step-by-step Takedown procedure.

22. Takedowns by us or by Stores, and copyright complaints

  • 22.1 We may take down, block delivery of, or refuse to deliver any Content, with or without notice, where we reasonably believe that: (a) it breaches this Agreement, Schedule E, a Store policy or the law; (b) a court, government authority or regulator has ordered or lawfully required its removal; (c) a credible third-party rights complaint has been made; (d) it is linked to fraud or Artificial Streaming; (e) it is a duplicate delivery; or (f) a Store or Distribution Partner requires it.
  • 22.2 Stores may also remove Content on their own decision. If a Store removes your Content, we will tell you what the Store tells us where we are allowed to.
  • 22.3 Copyright and rights complaints. Anyone who believes Content distributed by us infringes their rights may write to artists@distribeats.com (subject line “Copyright complaint”) with: their identity and contact details; the work they own; the specific release, track and links complained of; the basis of their claim and supporting evidence; a statement that the complaint is made in good faith; and a statement that the information is accurate. We act on complaints in line with the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013 (including rule 75, under which access may be disabled pending a court order for the period the rules provide), the Information Technology Act, 2000 and, where it applies to Stores in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
  • 22.4 Intermediary timelines. To the extent we act as an intermediary for content hosted in the Console, we follow the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including removing or disabling access to unlawful content within 36 hours of actual knowledge through a court order or a lawful government notification, acting within 24 hours on complaints about content that exposes a person’s private areas, shows nudity or sexual acts, or impersonates a person (including artificially morphed images or synthetic media), and acknowledging grievances within 24 hours and resolving them within 15 days, or such other periods as those rules prescribe from time to time.
  • 22.5 Your response. If we receive a complaint about your Content, we will tell you (unless the law or the complainant’s safety prevents it) and may take it down or hold the related income while we review it. You may send a counter-notice within 7 days explaining why the complaint is wrong, with evidence of your rights and your consent to the jurisdiction of the courts at Kolkata. Where the complaint and counter-notice conflict, we may keep the Content down and the income held until the parties resolve the dispute, a court decides it, or a Store decides it.
  • 22.6 Repeat infringers. We will terminate the Accounts of users who are repeatedly the subject of valid infringement complaints.
  • 22.7 We are not required to decide legal disputes between you and third parties, and a Takedown or hold is not an admission or finding that anyone is right.

23. Royalty shares

  • 23.1 For each release, you are entitled to the Royalty Share of the Net Receipts for your Content shown below and in Schedule A, according to the Plan the release was distributed under at the time the Net Receipts were earned:
  • (a) Collab Plan (free): you receive 60% of Net Receipts and DistriBeats keeps 40% as its distribution and service share.
  • (b) PayOnce and PayOnce AI: you receive 90% of Net Receipts and DistriBeats keeps 10%.
  • (c) Pro, AI Pro, Rising Label and Macro Label: you receive 100% of Net Receipts. DistriBeats keeps no commission; we are paid through your Plan fees.
  • 23.2 Deductions made before money reaches us (clause 1.13) are not commissions charged by DistriBeats; they are part of how Net Receipts are calculated. Bank, FX and payout-method charges on payouts to you are borne by you (clause 27).
  • 23.3 If a release moves to another Plan (for example you upgrade from Collab to Pro), the new Royalty Share applies to Net Receipts for periods of exploitation from the date the new Plan starts. Earlier periods stay at the earlier share, even if a Store reports them late.
  • 23.4 Some Stores do not pay anything for a track that falls below minimum activity thresholds they set (for example a minimum number of streams in a 12-month period), pay nothing for Artificial Streaming, or pay a pooled or pro-rata amount. We can only pay you a share of what Stores actually pay.
  • 23.5 We never credit your Account with estimated, projected or analytics-based earnings. Your balance is credited only after the relevant Store has reported and paid, and we have received and reconciled that payment. Stream counts and earnings estimates in the Console are for information only.

24. Accounting, statements and currency

  • 24.1 Accounting periods. We account monthly. Store reports and payments usually arrive 45 to 60 days after the end of the month of exploitation, but some Stores report quarterly or later, and reports can arrive up to 180 days or more after exploitation. Amounts appear in the Console only after we receive, process and reconcile the Store report and payment.
  • 24.2 Statements. Your Console shows statements of Net Receipts credited, your Royalty Share, deductions, adjustments, holds and payouts, broken down by release, Store and period where Stores provide that detail. Statements are records of our reconciliations, not tax certificates, unless we say otherwise.
  • 24.3 Currency. Stores report and pay in different currencies. Your Console balance is kept in US dollars. Amounts received in other currencies are converted at the rate applied by our Distribution Partners, banks or payment processors when the money is converted, and any conversion cost is a deduction in arriving at Net Receipts. Payouts to Indian accounts are converted to INR at the rate applied by the bank or payment processor on the payout date (see Schedule D).
  • 24.4 Rounding. Amounts are calculated to several decimal places and rounded for display. Very small amounts may accumulate before they become visible.
  • 24.5 Late or corrected reports. Stores sometimes correct earlier reports, apply retroactive deductions or pay late. We will reflect corrections in the period we receive them.

25. Errors, corrections, negative balances and set-off

  • 25.1 If we credit you too much or too little (for example because of a Store reporting error, a duplicate report, a misallocated ISRC or our mistake), we will correct it in a later statement once we discover it, and tell you if the correction is significant.
  • 25.2 Clawbacks and chargebacks. If a Store or Distribution Partner later recovers money from us for your Content (for example for Artificial Streaming, fraud, refunds, rights disputes or reporting errors), or a payment you made to us is reversed, we may deduct the amount from your balance.
  • 25.3 Negative balance. If deductions exceed your balance, your balance may become negative. We will recover a negative balance from future Net Receipts. We will not ask you to pay a negative balance from your own pocket, except where it results from your breach of this Agreement, fraud, Artificial Streaming, a chargeback or payment reversal you initiated, a Store penalty caused by your Content, or an overpayment to you that you knew or should reasonably have known about, in which case you must repay it within 30 days of our written request.
  • 25.4 Set-off. We may set off any amount you owe us under this Agreement (including unpaid fees, takedown fees, add-on fees, Store penalties and indemnity amounts) against amounts we owe you, and we will show any set-off in your statement.
  • 25.5 Limitation of claims. Please check your statements and raise any query within 12 months of a statement so that we can investigate while Store data is available. This is a request, not a bar: nothing in this Agreement shortens the period within which you may bring a claim under the Limitation Act, 1963 or any other law, and section 28 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 applies.

26. Audit rights

  • 26.1 Once in any 12-month period, you may ask to audit our records relating to Net Receipts and Royalty Shares for your Content for the previous 24 months, by giving at least 30 days’ written notice.
  • 26.2 The audit must be carried out by an independent chartered accountant (or, outside India, a certified public accountant or equivalent) who is not paid on a contingency basis, who agrees in writing to keep our information confidential, and who examines only records relating to your Content. It will be held during business hours at our registered office or remotely, at a time we agree, and must not take more than 5 business days.
  • 26.3 We will make available Store statements and our reconciliation records for your Content to the extent our agreements with Stores and Distribution Partners allow. Where a Store or partner prohibits disclosure of its rates or terms, we will provide the information in a form that does not breach that obligation.
  • 26.4 You bear the cost of the audit. If the audit shows that we under-paid you by more than 5% for the audited period, we will pay the shortfall and reimburse your reasonable, documented audit fees up to the amount of the shortfall. Any other shortfall or overpayment will be corrected in the next statement.
  • 26.5 Audit results are confidential and may be used only to enforce your rights under this Agreement.

27. Payouts

  • 27.1 Payout methods depend on where you live: artists in India are paid in INR by bank transfer or UPI to an account in their own name (or their guardian’s name under clause 4.3); artists outside India are paid in USD by PayPal to an account in their own name. Details are in Schedule D.
  • 27.2 Threshold. You may request a withdrawal once your available (cleared, unheld) balance reaches USD 50 or more. Below that, your balance rolls over until it reaches the threshold. The threshold for INR payouts is applied at the converted rate at the time of your request.
  • 27.3 Verification. Before your first payout, and at any time afterwards, we may ask you to complete identity and payout verification (KYC), including your legal name, address, government-issued identification, PAN (for residents of India), tax residency information and bank, UPI or PayPal details, and to confirm that the payout account belongs to you.
  • 27.4 Timing. Approved withdrawals are normally processed within 7 working days to your verified payout method. Your bank, UPI provider or PayPal may take longer to credit the funds.
  • 27.5 Charges. Bank charges, PayPal fees, FX spreads, intermediary bank fees and payment-processor charges for your payout are borne by you and may be deducted from the payout amount.
  • 27.6 Wrong details. If a payout fails or is returned because your details are wrong or your account cannot receive it, the amount (less any charges incurred) is returned to your balance. We are not responsible for payouts sent correctly to details you provided that turn out to be wrong or compromised, unless caused by our negligence.
  • 27.7 Cross-border payments. Payouts to artists outside India are made through authorised banking or payment channels in compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and related rules, and may require additional documents (for example tax residency certificates or declarations) before they can be released.
  • 27.8 Unclaimed and dormant balances. We do not forfeit your balance because you have not withdrawn it. If your Account has had no sign-in and no withdrawal for 24 months, we will try to contact you by email. If we cannot reach you and you do not claim your balance, we will continue to hold it for you and will deal with it only as permitted or required by applicable law. We may ask you to complete fresh verification before paying out a dormant balance.

28. Payment holds, disputes and investigations

  • 28.1 We may place your balance, or the disputed part of it, on hold, and pause payouts, where there is a genuine or reasonably suspected: rights or ownership dispute; contributor or split dispute; copyright complaint; fraud or Artificial Streaming; duplicate distribution; chargeback or payment reversal; Store clawback, investigation or hold; legal notice, court order or regulatory requirement; incomplete or suspicious KYC; or account security concern.
  • 28.2 While a hold is in place, the held amounts cannot be withdrawn, transferred or paid out. Royalties continue to be credited to your balance where Stores pay them, but they may be added to the hold if they relate to the issue.
  • 28.3 We will tell you why the hold has been placed, unless the law, a Store or the risk of further fraud prevents us, and will tell you what information you can provide to resolve it. We may ask for licences, agreements, ID documents, contributor confirmations, Takedown evidence from previous distributors, invoices or other reasonable documents.
  • 28.4 We will keep a hold only for as long as reasonably necessary: until the matter is resolved by evidence, written settlement between the disputing parties, a Store’s decision, a competent authority or a final court or arbitral decision. Where a Store has withheld or clawed back money, we cannot release what we have not received.
  • 28.5 A hold is a protective measure. It is not an admission of liability by us and does not decide ownership between you and anyone else. If the hold is resolved in your favour, the held amounts are released to your balance.

29. Artificial streaming and fraud

  • 29.1 You must not, and must not allow or pay anyone to, engage in Artificial Streaming or any other manipulation of Stores, charts, playlists or royalty systems, whether for your own Content or anyone else’s. You are responsible for promotional services you hire: if a playlist-promotion or marketing service you hire generates Artificial Streaming, you are responsible as if you had done it yourself.
  • 29.2 Stores and our Distribution Partners use their own systems to detect Artificial Streaming. Their findings are usually not shared in detail and cannot be appealed through us beyond passing on your explanation. We may rely on a Store’s or Distribution Partner’s findings as a reasonable basis to act.
  • 29.3 Where Artificial Streaming or fraud is detected or reasonably suspected on your Content, we may, without prior notice: take down the affected releases or your entire catalogue; withhold Net Receipts for the affected Content and period; recover amounts already paid through clawback or set-off; pass on to you any penalty or fee a Store charges per affected track; and suspend or permanently close your Account.
  • 29.4 Payment fraud (for example using stolen cards, unauthorised mandates or chargeback abuse) and identity fraud lead to immediate suspension and may be reported to the authorities.
  • 29.5 These remedies are in addition to any other rights we have under this Agreement or the law. Schedule E lists the prohibited practices in more detail.

30. Taxes

  • 30.1 You are responsible for reporting and paying all taxes on your income from royalties, wherever you are resident. We do not give tax advice; keep your statements and invoices for your records and filing.
  • 30.2 Withholding. We pay your Royalty Share without any deduction except where the law requires us to deduct or withhold tax at source (TDS) under the Income-tax Act or the laws of another country, or where a Store has already withheld tax before paying us. Any statutory deduction is shown on your statement, and where we deduct TDS in India we will issue the certificate the law requires.
  • 30.3 PAN and residency. If you are resident in India, you must give us a valid PAN; without it, tax may have to be deducted at a higher rate where the law requires. If you are resident outside India and want to claim the benefit of a tax treaty, you must give us a valid tax residency certificate and the declarations required by Indian law; otherwise tax may be withheld at the rates the law applies to non-residents.
  • 30.4 Your own indirect taxes. If you are registered for Goods and Services Tax or any other indirect tax, you are responsible for any tax that applies to your own income and for your own filings.
  • 30.5 Taxes on our fees are covered in clause 31.

31. Fees, billing, taxes and invoices

  • 31.1 Fees for each Plan, PayOnce release and add-on are shown in the Console and on our pricing pages before you pay, and are summarised in Schedule A. You pay the fees for the Plan, releases and add-ons you choose.
  • 31.2 Currency and region. Customers in India are billed in INR. Customers in every other country are billed in USD from an independently set price list; INR and USD prices are set separately and do not change with exchange rates. Your billing region follows your country of residence (clause 4.6).
  • 31.3 Taxes on our fees. We are not registered under the Goods and Services Tax laws, so no GST is charged on our fees and our invoices are not tax invoices from which GST input credit can be claimed. If we become registered, we will tell you at least 15 days in advance and show any tax separately at checkout and on your invoice before you pay. Prices shown are the full amount you pay us.
  • 31.4 No hidden distribution fees. All displayed distribution prices are final. Paid add-ons are optional and are charged only if you choose them, with the price and final total shown before payment.
  • 31.5 Payment processors. Payments are processed by regulated third-party payment processors appointed by us. We do not store your full card details. Your use of a payment method is also subject to the terms of your bank, card issuer or payment app.
  • 31.6 Invoices. A PDF invoice is available for each payment. If an invoice needs correcting, update your billing details and ask support to reissue it.
  • 31.7 Unpaid releases. A release with an unpaid invoice (for example a PayOnce fee or add-on) stays in “Awaiting Payment” and is not reviewed or delivered until the invoice is paid.
  • 31.8 Chargebacks. If you dispute or charge back a valid payment instead of contacting us, we may suspend the related Plan or release and your Account until the matter is resolved, and recover the amount plus any fee charged to us. If your chargeback succeeds for a payment that was in fact valid, the services paid for may be withdrawn.

32. Annual plans, trials, auto-renewal and autopay mandates

  • 32.1 Pro, AI Pro, Rising Label and Macro Label are annual subscriptions. Each annual term starts on the date your payment or mandate debit succeeds.
  • 32.2 Auto-renewal. Annual Plans renew automatically at the end of each annual term for another annual term, at the then-current renewal price, unless you cancel before the renewal date. We will email a renewal invoice or reminder to your registered address before each renewal and will send any pre-debit notification required by the Reserve Bank of India’s rules on recurring payments.
  • 32.3 Mandates. We normally set up an autopay mandate (for example UPI Autopay, an e-mandate or a card mandate) when you buy an Annual Plan. Where mandate setup fails or is unavailable, a manual one-time payment may be offered for the annual term instead, in which case the Plan will not renew automatically and you will need to pay the renewal invoice to continue.
  • 32.4 Mandate ceiling. The maximum debit amount shown on a mandate may be up to 50% above the current recurring price (that is, up to 150% of it). This is headroom only, so that the mandate does not fail if a lawful price change or a separately approved charge applies. We will debit only the price due for the billing cycle, or another amount you have separately approved, or a price change notified under clause 36.
  • 32.5 Free trial. The Pro trial lasts 3 days, is available once per customer worldwide and includes one release. It requires an active autopay mandate (UPI Autopay or card in India; international card outside India). You may cancel at any time during the 3 days and will not be charged. If you do not cancel, your Pro subscription begins on day 4 at INR 999 per year in India or USD 12.99 per year outside India, and that charge is non-refundable.
  • 32.6 Cancelling. You can cancel auto-renewal at any time in the Console (Billing). Cancelling stops the mandate and future renewals. Your Plan stays active until the end of the annual term you have paid for; cancelling does not refund a payment already taken. You can resume auto-billing in the Console or by paying the next invoice.
  • 32.7 Fair use. “Unlimited releases” on Annual Plans is subject to a fair-use limit of 24 releases per artist per annual term. We may require additional review or a different Plan where usage materially exceeds ordinary distribution patterns.
  • 32.8 One artist name. Pro and AI Pro cover one artist. The artist name given at sign-up on the Collab, Pro and AI Pro plans cannot be changed later except by our staff to correct a genuine error.

33. Failed payments, non-renewal and expiry

  • 33.1 Failed renewal. If a renewal payment fails, we will tell you by email and may retry the mandate or send you a payment link. Until payment succeeds, your Plan is treated as expired from the renewal date.
  • 33.2 Your music stays live. If you cancel or do not renew an Annual Plan, your releases already delivered stay live on Stores; we do not pull them because the Plan lapsed. They stay live until you request a Takedown (clause 21), subject to Store policies, this Agreement and the law.
  • 33.3 Royalties during an unrenewed period. Royalties earned while your Plan is expired and not renewed cannot be collected, displayed or paid out until you renew. During that period, newly received Store reports are not shown in the Console and your balance is frozen for withdrawal. We continue to receive and reconcile Store reports for your Content and do not give up any rights in them.
  • 33.4 When you renew, royalty reporting and withdrawals resume for the balance held during the lapse, subject to Store reports received, verification, Account status and any hold under clause 28.
  • 33.5 Other effects of expiry. While your Plan is expired, you cannot submit new releases under it, add-ons and features of the Plan may be unavailable, and a takedown fee applies (clause 21.2) unless you renew. A lapse does not transfer ownership of anything to us and does not by itself terminate this Agreement or the licence.
  • 33.6 PayOnce and PayOnce AI releases have no renewal and are not affected by this clause.

34. Refunds and cancellation

  • 34.1 Payments to DistriBeats, including annual subscriptions and renewals, PayOnce and PayOnce AI fees, add-ons, EPK, DistriLinks, AI Mastering and promotion packages, are non-refundable once the service has started, a release has entered processing, or a digital deliverable has been made available, except as set out in this clause or our Refund Policy.
  • 34.2 Exceptions. We will refund in full: (a) a payment for a service you have not used or started, if you ask within 24 hours of payment; (b) a duplicate charge for the same order; (c) a service we could not provide at all because of our own failure; and (d) any amount we must refund under applicable law.
  • 34.3 No partial refunds are given for unused time on an Annual Plan, for a renewal charged before you cancelled its mandate (unless caused by our billing error), for taking a catalogue down early, for a release rejected for breaking our rules, or for promotion results.
  • 34.4 Mandatory rights. Where you are a consumer and the law of India (including the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020) or the mandatory law of your country gives you a right to cancel or a cooling-off period that cannot be excluded, that right applies and this clause does not limit it. Because our services are digital and begin when you submit a release or activate a Plan, you agree, to the extent the law allows, that the service begins immediately and that any cooling-off right ends once performance has begun.
  • 34.5 Approved refunds are paid to the original payment method, normally within 14 to 30 days of approval for payments made in India and 20 to 45 days for payments made from outside India. Your bank, card issuer or payment app may take longer to show the credit.

35. Plan changes, upgrades and downgrades

  • 35.1 You may upgrade at any time. Where we offer proration, it is shown before you pay.
  • 35.2 Downgrades take effect at the end of the current paid term. If your existing catalogue or roster exceeds the limits of the lower Plan (for example AI-Generated Content on a non-AI plan, or more artists than the plan allows), you must bring it within the limits, or we may restrict new submissions until you do. Releases already live are not taken down because of a downgrade unless they break the rules of the new Plan, such as AI-Generated Content on a non-AI plan, which may need a Takedown or a move to an AI Plan.
  • 35.3 Moving from Collab to a paid Plan does not reopen releases that were finally rejected on the Collab Plan, but you may submit new releases under the paid Plan.

36. Price changes and service changes

  • 36.1 We may change prices for new purchases at any time; the price shown when you buy applies to that purchase.
  • 36.2 For Annual Plan renewals, we will give you at least 15 days’ notice by email or in the Console before a price increase applies to your next renewal. If you do not agree, you may cancel auto-renewal before the renewal date. If you do not cancel, the new price applies from your next renewal.
  • 36.3 We may change, add or remove features, Stores, limits and add-ons. If a change materially reduces the core distribution service you paid for during a paid term, we will tell you and, if you ask within 30 days of our notice, refund the unused portion of the fees for that term on a pro-rata basis, unless the change is required by law, a Store or a Distribution Partner, or is needed for security.

37. PayOnce and PayOnce AI

  • 37.1 PayOnce is a no-subscription plan. Your Account is activated at sign-up and a one-time distribution fee is invoiced for each release at submission. The release stays in “Awaiting Payment” until the invoice is paid.
  • 37.2 Fees (Human Made). In India: INR 200 for a single (1 song), INR 180 per song for an EP (2 to 6 songs) and INR 150 per song for an album (7 songs or more). Outside India: USD 3, USD 2.70 and USD 2.40 per song respectively.
  • 37.3 Fees (PayOnce AI / AI Made). In India: INR 400 for a single, INR 360 per song for an EP and INR 300 per song for an album. Outside India: USD 4, USD 3.60 and USD 3.20 per song respectively. AI-Generated Content may be distributed only under PayOnce AI or AI Pro.
  • 37.4 Lifetime release. Once paid, a PayOnce release stays live for life with no renewal fee, and there is no renewal to miss. “For life” means for as long as this Agreement continues for that release and the release remains compliant with this Agreement, Store requirements and the law. We may still take it down under clause 22, and it may be removed if Stores stop carrying it.
  • 37.5 Royalty Share. PayOnce and PayOnce AI releases earn 90% of Net Receipts. Royalty reports for PayOnce accounts are fetched automatically and reconciled into the Console.
  • 37.6 Artist profiles. A PayOnce Account may hold up to ten (10) artist profiles.
  • 37.7 Takedowns of PayOnce releases are free.
  • 37.8 PayOnce fees are non-refundable once paid. If a release is declared human-made and verification shows it is AI-Generated Content, it may be rejected or removed and the fee is not refunded (clause 13.6).

38. Label plans and roster artists

  • 38.1 Rising Label costs INR 9,999 or USD 129 per year and covers up to 15 Roster Artists, with up to 24 manually submitted releases per Roster Artist per annual term. Macro Label covers up to 100 Roster Artists on custom pricing agreed in writing. Label plans include roster management, split-payment tools and consolidated royalty reporting. Label plans do not accept AI-Generated Content.
  • 38.2 Releases on Label Plans are submitted manually through the Console. Programmatic release creation and submission is available only where the DistriBeats API Enterprise Service has been granted to your workspace (clause 41).
  • 38.3 Label name. Your label name is set once, during onboarding or in settings, and is used for all your releases and in Store and partner label setups. You cannot change it afterwards; release forms are locked to it; only DistriBeats staff may correct it, on request with reasons, for example to fix a genuine error. Choose it carefully and make sure you have the right to use it.
  • 38.4 Your responsibility for your roster. As the Label, you contract with each Roster Artist, not us. You promise that you have a valid, written agreement with every Roster Artist (and, for any Roster Artist under 18, with their parent or guardian) that gives you all the rights you need to grant the licence in clause 7 for their Content, and that you will comply with it. Every promise you give in clauses 10 to 13 applies to Content of your Roster Artists as if it were your own.
  • 38.5 Personal data of Roster Artists. You are responsible for giving each Roster Artist any notice and obtaining any consent required by data protection law before you upload their personal data, and for letting them know that we process it under our Privacy Policy.
  • 38.6 Money and disputes. Net Receipts for Roster Artists’ Content are credited to the Label Account (or paid out under your split instructions). Your accounting to and payment of Roster Artists is your responsibility. We are not responsible for disputes between you and your Roster Artists, but if a Roster Artist makes a credible claim to us we may apply clause 28.
  • 38.7 Removing a Roster Artist does not by itself take their releases down; request a Takedown if needed. Roster limits are per Plan and may not be exceeded by opening additional Accounts.

39. Split payments

  • 39.1 Where your Plan includes split-payment tools, you may tell us to pay a percentage of the Net Receipts credited for a release or track to other people (for example collaborators or producers), each of whom must accept the invitation, accept this Agreement or our split-recipient terms, and complete verification before they can be paid.
  • 39.2 Splits apply only to Net Receipts credited after the split is set up and accepted. Changes take effect for future credits only, never retroactively, unless we agree otherwise to correct a clear error.
  • 39.3 You are responsible for the accuracy of split instructions and for any agreement with your split recipients. Each recipient is responsible for their own taxes, and payout thresholds, methods, charges and holds apply to each recipient as they do to you.
  • 39.4 If a split is disputed, we may hold the disputed amounts under clause 28 until the people involved agree or a decision is made.

40. Add-ons and other paid services

  • 40.1 Add-ons are optional, attach to a specific release and are billed at submission. QC on the release begins only once the add-on invoice is paid.
  • 40.2 Dolby Atmos: INR 199 per track, one-time, intended for Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal, subject to Store acceptance. Atmos ADM masters may be up to 1 GB per track; they are stored for delivery only and cannot be streamed or downloaded from the Console.
  • 40.3 Music video: INR 299 per video, one-time, intended for Spotify, subject to Store eligibility and acceptance. Video files may be up to 2 GB.
  • 40.4 Artist EPK includes a 3-month trial, then costs INR 5 for the first paid month and INR 25 per month in India, or USD 3 per year outside India. Standalone DistriLinks includes a 1-month trial, then costs INR 20 per month in India or USD 3 per year outside India, with up to 24 links per year.
  • 40.5 Once an add-on asset has been sent to Stores, its fee is non-refundable. A failed QC, rights check or Store technical rejection does not create an automatic refund. Corrected re-delivery is charged again at the applicable rate.
  • 40.6 Store acceptance, badging, territorial availability and placement of add-on assets are outside our control. Royalties from add-ons follow the release’s Royalty Share.
  • 40.7 Promotion packages are performed on a best-efforts basis. We guarantee the work described, not playlist placements, streams, followers or other results, and promotion packages never include Artificial Streaming.

41. Enterprise Services (DistriBeats API and White Label)

  • 41.1 What they are. From 8 November 2026 we offer, in beta, the DistriBeats API (from USD 49.99 or INR 4,999 per month) and the White Label Distribution Dashboard (from USD 39.99 or INR 3,999 per month).
  • 41.2 Add-ons only. Enterprise Services are add-ons, not standalone products. They require at least an active Rising Label plan (or a higher Label Plan) for as long as they are used. They cannot be bought directly at checkout; access is granted by DistriBeats staff after review and on signature of an Enterprise agreement.
  • 41.3 Separate agreement. Enterprise Services are governed by a separate Enterprise agreement signed between you and the Company. For Enterprise Services, that agreement prevails over this Agreement. This Agreement continues to govern the distribution of your Content and your Label Plan.
  • 41.4 Beta. While in beta, Enterprise Services may change, be limited or be withdrawn, and are provided with the service levels (if any) stated in the Enterprise agreement only.
  • 41.5 Dependency on your Label Plan. If your Label Plan expires, is cancelled or is suspended, the related Enterprise Services may be paused until it is active again.
  • 41.6 White-label portals. If you are an artist who signs up through a label’s white-label portal, your artist agreement is with that label, shown as the counterparty when you sign. DistriBeats provides the technology and distribution service to that label. That label is responsible to you for royalties and for its own agreement with you, and its own agreement prevails between you and it; this Agreement applies between you and that label only to the extent the label adopts it.

42. Support and service targets

  • 42.1 Support is provided through dockets (tickets) in the Console and by email at artists@distribeats.com. Docket reply targets are: Collab within 3 business days; PayOnce, Pro, AI Pro and Label Plans within 24 hours; Enterprise customers within 12 hours. These are targets, not guarantees.
  • 42.2 Please quote your customer ID and the relevant release or invoice number. Do not send passwords or full card numbers to support.
  • 42.3 We aim for the Console to be available at all times but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. We may carry out maintenance, which we will try to schedule at low-traffic times.

43. Data protection and privacy

  • 43.1 Our Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how long we keep it and your rights. It forms part of this Agreement.
  • 43.2 Roles. For personal data we process to run your Account and the distribution service, the Company is the Data Fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the rules made under it as they come into force, and the controller for the purposes of other data protection laws that apply to us. For personal data of Roster Artists or others that you upload, you are responsible for having a lawful basis and giving any required notice (clause 38.5).
  • 43.3 Sharing. We share personal data with Stores, Distribution Partners, payment processors, banks, verification and fraud-prevention providers, tax and professional advisers, hosting and technology providers, and authorities, only as reasonably necessary to deliver the service, pay you, comply with law, prevent fraud and protect rights. Artist names, credits and other release metadata are published on Stores as part of distribution.
  • 43.4 Cross-border transfer. Distribution is global, so your data will be transferred to and processed in countries outside India where Stores, Distribution Partners and service providers operate. We transfer data only as permitted by Indian law, including any restrictions notified by the Government of India under section 16 of the DPDP Act, 2023.
  • 43.5 Retention. We keep personal data for as long as your Account is active and afterwards for as long as needed for the purposes in our Privacy Policy, including to pay royalties that arrive after termination, keep accounting and tax records for the periods the law requires (generally at least 8 years for financial records), resolve disputes and enforce this Agreement. Signed agreement records are kept for the life of the Account and at least 8 years after it ends.
  • 43.6 Your rights. Subject to the law, you may ask to access, correct, update or erase your personal data, withdraw consent, nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity, and raise a grievance with our Grievance Officer (clause 55). Withdrawing consent or erasing data needed for distribution or payments may mean we cannot continue the service or pay you.
  • 43.7 Security. We use reasonable security safeguards. If a personal data breach affecting you occurs, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.

44. Confidentiality

  • 44.1 Each of us must keep confidential the other’s non-public information received in connection with this Agreement, including our Store rates and terms, Distribution Partner information, internal processes, fraud-detection methods, non-public pricing offered to you, and your non-public account and financial information, and use it only for this Agreement.
  • 44.2 You may share your own royalty statements and earnings with your advisers, collaborators, managers, labels, lenders or tax authorities, but must not publish Store-specific rate information or our Distribution Partners’ terms.
  • 44.3 Confidentiality does not apply to information that is public through no fault of the receiving party, that was already lawfully known, or that must be disclosed by law, court order or a regulator (in which case the disclosing party will, where lawful, give notice).
  • 44.4 This clause continues for 3 years after this Agreement ends, and indefinitely for trade secrets and personal data.

45. Our intellectual property and acceptable use of the Console

  • 45.1 The DistriBeats name and logo, the Console, its software, design, text, tools, templates and documentation, and all intellectual property in them, belong to the Company or its licensors. You receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to use the Console for the purposes of this Agreement while it is in force.
  • 45.2 You must not: copy, modify, reverse-engineer or create derivative works of the Console except as the law expressly allows; scrape it or access it by automated means except through an API we have granted you; probe or bypass security; overload it; use it to upload malware; resell access; or use our name or logo except to say truthfully that your music is distributed by DistriBeats.
  • 45.3 If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them freely without paying you.
  • 45.4 Templates, artwork generators, AI tools, mastering tools or other creative tools we may offer are provided subject to any specific terms shown with them. You remain responsible for checking that what you create with them may be distributed.

46. Third-party services

  • 46.1 The service depends on third parties we do not control, including Stores, Distribution Partners, payment processors, banks, PayPal, UPI providers, hosting and email providers, and sign-in providers.
  • 46.2 Your use of Stores is governed by their own terms (for example artist-profile tools such as Spotify for Artists or YouTube Studio). Your relationship with your bank, card issuer, PayPal or UPI app is governed by its terms.
  • 46.3 We are not responsible for the acts, omissions, outages, policies, payment timing or insolvency of third parties, except where we have failed to take reasonable care in choosing or managing them. If a Store or Distribution Partner fails to pay us, we will take reasonable steps to recover the money but are not liable to pay you amounts we have not received.

47. Suspension and termination by us

  • 47.1 We may suspend your Account, or particular features or releases, immediately and without prior notice where reasonably necessary to investigate or stop: fraud, Artificial Streaming, infringement, unlawful content, duplicate distribution, payment fraud or chargeback abuse, a security risk, a Store or legal requirement, or a serious breach of this Agreement. We will tell you of the suspension and the reason where we are allowed to.
  • 47.2 We may terminate this Agreement and close your Account: (a) immediately by notice for material breach that cannot be remedied, including fraud, Artificial Streaming, serious or repeated infringement, misdeclaration of AI-Generated Content, impersonation, false KYC, misuse of the Collab Plan (Schedule B) or prohibited content under Schedule E; (b) by 15 days’ notice for any other material breach that you do not remedy within that period; (c) where we are required to by law, a court, a regulator or a Store; or (d) for convenience, by at least 60 days’ notice, for example if we stop offering the service in your country.
  • 47.3 Misuse of the free Collab Plan leads to a permanent lifetime ban without notice, as set out in Schedule B.
  • 47.4 If we terminate under clause 47.2(d) for convenience, we will refund the unused part of any prepaid Annual Plan fee on a pro-rata basis and pay all of your available balance regardless of the payout threshold, subject to verification and any holds.
  • 47.5 We will not use suspension or termination unfairly or to avoid paying amounts properly due to you.

48. Termination by you

  • 48.1 You may end this Agreement at any time by requesting a Takedown of all your releases and asking us in writing to close your Account. Takedown fees apply as in clause 21.2.
  • 48.2 You may also end this Agreement by notice if we commit a material breach and do not remedy it within 30 days of your written notice describing it.
  • 48.3 Ending this Agreement does not by itself refund fees already paid except as clause 34, 36.3 or 47.4 provides, and does not end a paid term early for billing purposes; cancel auto-renewal separately to stop future charges.

49. What happens when this Agreement ends

  • 49.1 Takedown. We will send Takedown instructions to Stores for all of your releases within 10 business days after termination, unless you have asked to move your catalogue to another distributor and we have agreed a different timing. Stores usually complete removal within 5 to 15 business days after that.
  • 49.2 Wind-down. The licence continues for 90 days after termination (the “wind-down period”) so that Stores can complete removal and so that we can collect and account for Net Receipts. After that, the licence ends, except that: Stores may keep copies as required for their own legal, accounting and dispute purposes; end-users may keep content they lawfully purchased; and we may keep archival copies and records as needed under clause 43.5.
  • 49.3 Accrued royalties. Net Receipts earned before removal remain payable at your Royalty Share as Stores report and pay them, even if that happens after termination, subject to holds, set-off and clawbacks. We will continue to account to you for at least 12 months after termination and will pay out your available balance (if it meets the threshold, or in full on termination by us for convenience) once verified.
  • 49.4 Termination for your breach. If we terminate for fraud or Artificial Streaming, we may withhold and not pay Net Receipts attributable to the fraudulent activity, and recover amounts already paid for it. Other accrued royalties remain payable to the extent permitted by law, after set-off of amounts you owe us.
  • 49.5 Survival. Clauses that by their nature should continue after termination continue, including clauses 8 (ownership), 10 to 13 (your promises, as to Content already distributed), 16.3, 22, 24 to 30, 43 to 46, 49, 50 to 58 and the Schedules to the extent relevant.

50. Indemnities

  • 50.1 Your indemnity. You will indemnify and keep indemnified the Company, DistriBeats, its directors, officers, employees, contractors and Distribution Partners against all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, Store penalties, fines, reasonable legal costs and expenses arising out of: (a) your Content or metadata; (b) any breach of your promises in clauses 10 to 13 or 38.4; (c) any dispute between you and your collaborators, Roster Artists or split recipients; (d) Artificial Streaming or fraud connected with your Account or Content; or (e) your unlawful conduct.
  • 50.2 Our indemnity. We will indemnify you against claims by a third party that the Console itself (excluding your Content, Store services and third-party services) infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights in India, and against losses caused by our fraud or wilful misconduct.
  • 50.3 Procedure. The person seeking an indemnity must tell the other promptly about the claim, let the other control the defence and settlement (but no settlement may admit fault on behalf of the indemnified person without consent), and give reasonable cooperation at the other’s cost. Delay in notice reduces the indemnity only to the extent the delay causes prejudice.
  • 50.4 You must cooperate with copyright notices, Takedowns, Store investigations, fraud reviews and rights claims, and give us requested licences, releases or clearances within 7 days of our request, or sooner where a Store or the law requires.

51. Changes to this Agreement

  • 51.1 We may update this Agreement from time to time, for example to reflect changes in law, Store requirements, our Plans or our service. Each update gets a new version number and effective date.
  • 51.2 Notice. For changes that materially reduce your rights or increase your obligations, we will give you at least 15 days’ notice by email to your registered address and in the Console before they take effect. Changes required by law, a court, a regulator or a Store, changes for security or fraud prevention, and changes that are not adverse to you (for example clarifications, new features or new Stores) may take effect immediately on publication.
  • 51.3 Acceptance. The updated version applies to you from its effective date if you continue to use the service after that date (for example by keeping releases live, submitting releases, renewing a Plan or withdrawing royalties). You may also e-sign the updated version in the Console, but you do not have to re-sign to keep using the service.
  • 51.4 Your right to say no. If you do not agree with an adverse change, you may end this Agreement under clause 48 before the change takes effect; in that case we will not charge a takedown fee for the Takedowns needed to leave, and the earlier version continues to apply to you until your releases are removed.
  • 51.5 Changes will not apply retroactively to Net Receipts already credited, payouts already made or disputes already notified before the change.
  • 51.6 Previous versions are available on request. The version number of the text you e-signed is printed on your executed copy.

52. Disclaimers

  • 52.1 The Console and the service are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties not expressly stated in this Agreement, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and uninterrupted or error-free operation.
  • 52.2 We do not promise any level of streams, income, success, playlisting, verification or exposure. Analytics, trend and estimate data in the Console come from Stores and third parties and may be incomplete, delayed or revised.
  • 52.3 Nothing in this Agreement excludes any warranty, condition or right that cannot lawfully be excluded under the law that applies to you.

53. Limitation of liability

  • 53.1 Neither of us is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, revenue, anticipated revenue, goodwill, reputation, playlist positions, streams, followers or opportunities, however caused, even if the loss was foreseeable.
  • 53.2 Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with this Agreement in any 12-month period is limited to the total fees you paid to us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the first claim.
  • 53.3 The cap in clause 53.2 does not reduce our obligation to pay you your Royalty Share of Net Receipts that we have actually received and that are properly due to you; that obligation is not capped.
  • 53.4 Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, wilful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 where it applies or the mandatory law of your country. The exclusions and caps do not limit your liability under clauses 29, 50.1(b) or 50.1(d).
  • 53.5 We are not liable for Store-side decisions, outages, removals, editorial choices, algorithmic ranking, payment timing, insolvency or policy changes, or for failures of third-party services, except to the extent caused by our own breach of this Agreement or negligence.

54. Force majeure

  • 54.1 Neither of us is responsible for delay or failure to perform (other than an obligation to pay money already due) caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, floods, epidemics, fire, war, terrorism, civil unrest, strikes, government action or orders, internet or power failures, cyber-attacks despite reasonable precautions, failures or outages of Stores, Distribution Partners, banks or payment processors, or changes in Store policies or law.
  • 54.2 The affected party must tell the other as soon as practicable and take reasonable steps to limit the effect. If the event continues for more than 60 days, either of us may end the affected part of this Agreement by notice.

55. Grievance redressal and dispute resolution

  • 55.1 Grievance Officer. In line with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, our Grievance Officer is Saswata Modak, Managing Director, Klaslead Productions Private Limited, 337/286, Balaram Mallick Road, Ghutiyabazar, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal 712103, India; email artists@distribeats.com (subject line “Grievance”); phone +91 33 3592 0141. The Grievance Officer will acknowledge your grievance within 24 hours and aim to resolve it within 15 days of receipt (or within any shorter period the law requires).
  • 55.2 We both agree to try to resolve any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement (including about its existence, validity or termination) by the following steps, in order:
  • Step 1 — Support: raise the issue by docket or at artists@distribeats.com. We aim to resolve support-level disputes within 15 working days, depending on complexity and third-party investigations.
  • Step 2 — Grievance Officer: if not resolved, escalate to the Grievance Officer under clause 55.1.
  • Step 3 — Mediation: if the dispute is still unresolved 15 days after escalation, either of us may refer it to mediation in Kolkata (or online) under the Mediation Act, 2023, with a mediator agreed between us or appointed by a recognised mediation service provider. The mediation lasts up to 30 days from the mediator’s appointment unless we agree to extend it. Each of us bears our own costs and shares the mediator’s fees equally.
  • Step 4 — Arbitration: if the dispute is not settled through mediation, it will be finally resolved by arbitration under clause 55.3.
  • 55.3 Arbitration. Arbitration will be conducted by a sole arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The seat and venue of arbitration is Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and hearings may be held online or in hybrid form if the arbitrator agrees. The language is English. The arbitrator will be appointed by agreement within 30 days of a notice of arbitration, failing which either of us may apply to the High Court at Calcutta under section 11 of that Act. Each of us bears our own costs and the arbitrator’s fees are shared equally, unless the arbitrator decides otherwise. The award is final and binding.
  • 55.4 Urgent relief. Nothing in this clause stops either of us from seeking urgent interim or injunctive relief from a competent court, for example to protect intellectual property, confidential information or account security, or from going directly to a court for a claim that the law does not allow to be arbitrated.
  • 55.5 Consumers. If you are a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, nothing in this clause prevents you from approaching a consumer commission where the law allows you to.
  • 55.6 Confidentiality. Mediation and arbitration proceedings, and documents produced in them, are confidential except where disclosure is needed to enforce an award or required by law.

56. Governing law and jurisdiction

  • 56.1 This Agreement and any non-contractual obligations arising out of it are governed by the laws of India.
  • 56.2 Subject to clause 55 (including the arbitration agreement), the courts at Kolkata, West Bengal have exclusive jurisdiction over any proceedings arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, including proceedings in support of arbitration, interim relief and enforcement.
  • 56.3 Users outside India. Nothing in this Agreement limits any rights you have under the mandatory law of the country where you live that cannot be excluded or limited by contract, including consumer protection rights, and if such law gives you the right to bring proceedings in the courts of your own country, you keep that right.

57. Notices

  • 57.1 To you. We may give you notices by email to the address registered on your Account, by message or banner in the Console, or by post to the address in your Account. It is your responsibility to keep your email address current and to check it.
  • 57.2 To us. You may give us notices by email to artists@distribeats.com. Legal notices (for example notices of breach, termination, claims or arbitration) must also be sent by registered post or a recognised courier to Klaslead Productions Private Limited, 337/286, Balaram Mallick Road, Ghutiyabazar, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal 712103, India, marked for the attention of the Managing Director.
  • 57.3 When received. An email notice is treated as received when sent, unless the sender receives a delivery-failure message. A Console notice is received when posted. A notice by post or courier is received 5 business days after dispatch within India and 10 business days after dispatch internationally.

58. General provisions

  • 58.1 Entire agreement. This Agreement (with the documents in clause 3.2) is the entire agreement between us about the distribution service and replaces all earlier agreements, versions, understandings and representations about it, except an Enterprise agreement or other written arrangement signed by our authorised signatory. Neither of us has relied on any statement not set out in this Agreement, but nothing limits liability for fraud.
  • 58.2 Assignment. You may not assign, transfer or sub-license this Agreement or your Account without our written consent, except that a Label may transfer its Account to a buyer of its business with our consent, which we will not unreasonably refuse. We may assign or transfer this Agreement to an affiliate or to a successor or purchaser of all or part of the DistriBeats business, and will tell you if we do. We may use subcontractors and Distribution Partners but remain responsible for our obligations.
  • 58.3 Severability. If any part of this Agreement is found invalid or unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent needed to make it enforceable, and the rest of this Agreement continues in force.
  • 58.4 Waiver. If either of us does not enforce a right immediately, that is not a waiver of it. A waiver is effective only if in writing and applies only to the specific instance.
  • 58.5 Relationship. We are independent contractors. Nothing in this Agreement creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, agency or fiduciary relationship, and neither of us may bind the other.
  • 58.6 Third-party rights. No one other than you and the Company may enforce this Agreement, except that Distribution Partners and the persons covered by clause 50.1 may rely on it.
  • 58.7 Language. This Agreement is written in English. We may provide translations for convenience; if a translation differs from the English version, the English version prevails, to the extent permitted by law.
  • 58.8 Estate and succession. If you die or become incapacitated, your legal heirs, executor, administrator or a person nominated by you in the Console may, on providing the documents we reasonably ask for (such as a death certificate, succession certificate or probate), take over the Account, receive your Royalty Shares and exercise your rights under this Agreement.
  • 58.9 Corporate identity. The Company’s name, registered office and CIN are stated in this Agreement for identification.
  • 58.10 Acknowledgement. By accepting this Agreement you confirm that you have read and understood it, have had the opportunity to take independent advice, have authority to accept it, and understand in particular: (a) your Royalty Share under your Plan (60% on Collab, 90% on PayOnce and PayOnce AI, 100% on Pro, AI Pro, Rising Label and Macro Label); (b) that earnings are credited only after Stores report and pay; (c) that your music stays live if a Plan lapses, but royalties during an unrenewed period cannot be collected or paid until you renew; (d) the takedown fees; (e) the AI declaration rules; (f) the Collab Plan rules in Schedule B, including final rejections and the lifetime ban for misuse; (g) that held or disputed balances cannot be withdrawn until resolved; and (h) that annual plans renew automatically until cancelled and that payments are non-refundable except as clause 34 provides.

Schedule A — Plans and royalty shares

  • A.1 This Schedule summarises the Plans at the effective date of this version. Current prices and features are always shown in the Console and on our pricing pages (clause 31.1). Prices in India are in INR; prices elsewhere are in USD; applicable taxes are shown at checkout.
  • A.2 Collab (free) — Price: free. Artist Royalty Share: 60% of Net Receipts (DistriBeats share 40%). Approval: manual, no priority, up to 10 days. Go-live target: 14 business days. Releases: 5 per rolling 365 days, one draft at a time. YouTube Content ID and TikTok: not included. AI-Generated Content: not allowed. Takedowns: INR 2,000 / USD 20 per release. Full rules: Schedule B.
  • A.3 PayOnce (Human Made) — Price per release: India INR 200 single, INR 180 per song EP (2 to 6 songs), INR 150 per song album (7+ songs); elsewhere USD 3, USD 2.70 and USD 2.40 per song. Royalty Share: 90%. Term: lifetime release, no renewal. Up to 10 artist profiles. Takedowns: free. AI-Generated Content: not allowed.
  • A.4 PayOnce AI (AI Made) — Price per release: India INR 400 single, INR 360 per song EP, INR 300 per song album; elsewhere USD 4, USD 3.60 and USD 3.20 per song. Royalty Share: 90%. Term: lifetime release, no renewal. AI-Generated Content: allowed when declared truthfully per track.
  • A.5 Pro (Pro Artist) — Price: INR 999 per year in India or USD 12.99 per year elsewhere. Royalty Share: 100%. One artist. Fair use: 24 releases per annual term. 3-day trial with one release (clause 32.5). AI-Generated Content: not allowed. Takedowns: free while active.
  • A.6 AI Pro — Price: INR 3,499 per year in India or USD 34.99 per year elsewhere. Royalty Share: 100%. One artist. Fair use: 24 releases per annual term. AI-Generated Content: allowed when declared truthfully per track. Takedowns: free while active.
  • A.7 Rising Label — Price: INR 9,999 per year in India or USD 129 per year elsewhere. Royalty Share: 100%. Up to 15 Roster Artists; up to 24 manually submitted releases per Roster Artist per annual term. Roster management, split payments, consolidated reporting. Label name fixed at onboarding (clause 38.3). AI-Generated Content: not allowed. Takedowns: free while active.
  • A.8 Macro Label — Price: custom, agreed in writing. Royalty Share: 100%. Up to 100 Roster Artists. Otherwise as Rising Label.
  • A.9 Enterprise add-ons (beta, from 8 November 2026) — DistriBeats API from USD 49.99 or INR 4,999 per month; White Label Distribution Dashboard from USD 39.99 or INR 3,999 per month. Require at least an active Rising Label plan, cannot be bought directly and are governed by a separate Enterprise agreement (clause 41).
  • A.10 Annual Plans renew automatically through an autopay mandate until cancelled (clause 32). Subscription payments are non-refundable once charged, except as clause 34 provides. If an Annual Plan is not renewed, releases stay live but royalties for the unrenewed period cannot be collected or paid until renewal (clause 33).

Schedule B — Free Collab plan rules

  • B.1 Approval. Every Collab release is reviewed and approved manually, without priority. Approval can take up to 10 days.
  • B.2 Release limits. You may submit up to 5 releases in any rolling 365-day period, and may have only one draft at a time.
  • B.3 Stores and features. YouTube Content ID and TikTok are not included on the Collab Plan. Other Stores and features may also be limited, as shown in the Console.
  • B.4 File limits. Masters up to 50 MB per file; cover artwork up to 3 MB; rights-proof documents up to 1 MB per file.
  • B.5 Not accepted on Collab. (a) AI-Generated Content of any kind (use AI Pro or PayOnce AI instead); (b) uncleared samples, and samples described as free, royalty-free or unlicensed where you cannot show a licence permitting commercial Store distribution; (c) third-party tracks, meaning recordings you did not create or do not own; (d) Content-ID-only tracks or releases meant mainly for claiming; and (e) poorly mixed or poorly mastered songs.
  • B.6 Final rejection. A rejection on the Collab Plan is final. The rejected release cannot be edited or resubmitted, and the release and all its files are deleted from our systems within 3 days of rejection. Keep your own copies of all files.
  • B.7 Misuse. Misuse of the Collab Plan, including submitting prohibited content listed in this Schedule or Schedule E, Artificial Streaming, opening multiple free Accounts, or false declarations, leads to a permanent lifetime ban of the person and Account, without notice, and closure of any linked Accounts. Clause 49.4 applies to amounts connected with the misuse.
  • B.8 Royalty Share. Collab releases earn 60% of Net Receipts.
  • B.9 Takedowns. A takedown fee of INR 2,000 in India or USD 20 outside India applies per Collab release.
  • B.10 Support. Collab docket reply target is 3 business days.
  • B.11 Upgrading. Upgrading to a paid Plan applies the higher Royalty Share and the paid Plan’s features from the upgrade date, but does not reopen releases finally rejected under B.6.

Schedule C — Takedown and Content ID procedure

  • C.1 Artist-requested takedown. (1) Open the release in the Console and choose Takedown, or raise a docket with the release title, UPC and the Stores concerned. (2) Pay the takedown fee if one applies (clause 21.2). (3) We verify the request comes from the Account holder and may ask for confirmation by email. (4) We send instructions to Stores within 3 business days. (5) Stores usually remove the release within 5 to 15 business days. (6) The release status in the Console changes when removal is confirmed or the instruction is complete.
  • C.2 Moving to another distributor. Request the takedown from us first and wait until removal is complete on every Store before your new distributor delivers the release. Keep the ISRCs and UPC if you want Stores to try to keep history, and tell your new distributor the original release date.
  • C.3 Store-initiated removal. If a Store removes or restricts your Content, we will pass on the reason the Store gives us where allowed. Where the Store allows an appeal, we will submit your explanation and evidence to the Store; the Store’s decision is final.
  • C.4 Third-party copyright complaints. (1) A complaint is sent under clause 22.3. (2) We review it for completeness and credibility and may disable the Content and hold related income (clause 28). (3) We notify you (where lawful). (4) You may send a counter-notice within 7 days with evidence of your rights. (5) We share the counter-notice with the complainant where appropriate. (6) If the complainant does not start legal proceedings or provide a court order within the time required by law (for complaints under rule 75 of the Copyright Rules, 2013, generally 21 days), we may restore the Content where a Store allows. (7) Otherwise the Content stays down until resolved.
  • C.5 Government and court orders. We act on lawful orders within the timelines in clause 22.4 and may not be able to notify you first.
  • C.6 Content ID registration. Eligible releases on Plans that include Content ID are registered automatically or on your opt-in, as shown in the Console. Do not opt in tracks that are not eligible under clause 17.2.
  • C.7 Whitelisting. Send the channel URL and proof that the channel is yours or licensed by you. We submit whitelisting requests to the relevant Store within 3 business days; they usually take effect within several business days after that.
  • C.8 Claim disputes. When a channel disputes a claim, we may ask you for information. Reply within 5 business days. We then uphold, release or escalate the claim under the Store’s rules. Repeated invalid claims lead to removal of Content ID for your Account (clause 17.5).
  • C.9 Claims against you. If your own video or release is claimed by someone else, tell us with the details and we will help you raise a dispute through the Store’s process where we can.

Schedule D — Payout methods, thresholds and verification

  • D.1 Artists resident in India. Method: bank transfer (to an Indian bank account in your own name) or UPI (to a UPI ID linked to an account in your own name). Currency: INR, converted from your US dollar balance at the rate applied by the bank or payment processor on the payout date. Verification: legal name, PAN, address and bank or UPI details; further documents may be requested.
  • D.2 Artists resident outside India. Method: PayPal, to a verified PayPal account in your own name. Currency: USD. Verification: legal name, country of residence, address, government ID where requested, and tax residency information; tax residency certificates and declarations are needed to claim treaty rates.
  • D.3 Minors. Payouts for artists under 18 go only to an account held by their parent or legal guardian (clause 4.3).
  • D.4 Threshold. Withdrawals can be requested once the available balance is USD 50 or more (INR payouts: equivalent at the converted rate at the time of request). Any amount from USD 50 up to your available balance may be withdrawn. Below the threshold, the balance rolls over.
  • D.5 Timing. Approved withdrawals are normally processed within 7 working days. Credit by your bank, UPI provider or PayPal may take longer.
  • D.6 Charges. Transfer fees, PayPal fees, FX spreads and intermediary charges are borne by you and may be deducted from the amount paid.
  • D.7 Taxes. TDS or withholding is deducted only where required by law and shown on your statement (clause 30).
  • D.8 Holds. Payouts may be paused under clause 28 or for a security hold of up to 15 days after payout details change (clause 5.4).
  • D.9 Failed payouts are returned to your balance less any charges incurred (clause 27.6).
  • D.10 We may add, change or withdraw payout methods by notice, and will always keep at least one lawful method available for your country where it is reasonably possible to do so.

Schedule E — Prohibited content and artificial streaming

  • E.1 Prohibited on every Plan. Content or metadata that: (a) infringes anyone’s copyright, performer’s rights, trademark, publicity, personality or privacy rights; (b) impersonates any artist, label, brand or person, including through AI voice cloning or deepfakes without consent; (c) contains or promotes child sexual abuse material or sexualises minors; (d) is hate speech or incites violence, terrorism or discrimination against any group; (e) is obscene, defamatory or otherwise unlawful in India or in a territory of delivery, or threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order; (f) promotes illegal goods, gambling or drugs where unlawful; (g) is misleading about authorship, ownership or AI use; or (h) contains malware or hidden data.
  • E.2 Prohibited spam and low-quality practices. (a) Silence, white noise, nature sounds, tones or near-identical tracks uploaded in bulk mainly to farm plays; (b) very short tracks or splitting songs into many parts to multiply streams; (c) mass-produced, sound-alike, or algorithmically generated catalogues; (d) re-uploading the same recording under different titles, artists or releases; (e) keyword-stuffed or misleading titles, or using another artist’s name to attract searches; (f) recordings not created by you or not owned or controlled by you; and (g) unlicensed covers, remixes and samples.
  • E.3 AI-Generated Content is prohibited on every Plan other than AI Pro and PayOnce AI, and on those Plans must be declared truthfully per track (clause 13).
  • E.4 Artificial Streaming and manipulation — prohibited. (a) Buying streams, plays, views, followers, saves or playlist placements; (b) using bots, scripts, emulators, virtual machines, VPN farms or click farms to play or engage with Content; (c) looped, muted or background playback designed to inflate plays; (d) paying or rewarding people to listen, or listen-for-reward or stream-exchange schemes; (e) creating fake accounts or playlists to inflate activity; (f) promotion services that guarantee streams or placements; and (g) any other activity a Store treats as artificial or fraudulent.
  • E.5 Consequences. Breach of this Schedule may lead, without prior notice, to rejection, Takedown, withholding of Net Receipts attributable to the breach, clawback or set-off, Store penalties being passed on to you, suspension, and termination with a permanent ban (clauses 22, 29 and 47).
  • E.6 How to stay safe. Promote your music through genuine fan engagement, your own social channels, honest playlist pitching through Store tools, and reputable promoters who do not guarantee numbers. If you notice unusual spikes in plays you did not cause, tell us promptly; reporting it early helps us protect your Account.

20. Execution / acceptance record

Acceptance is recorded electronically inside the DistriBeats Console. Signing captures your legal name, artist/label name, IP address and the exact date and time in UTC, countersigned by Saswata Modak, Managing Director, for Klaslead Productions Private Limited.

Your executed PDF copy can be downloaded from the Console at any time, in Account → Distribution agreement. Agreement version 2026.19.

Support: +91 33 3592 0141 · artists@distribeats.com