played.fm

Terms of Service

Last updated: 1 July 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of played.fm and related services (the “Service”), operated by Played (“Played”, “we”, “us”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. What Played is

Played is a subscription hosting and discovery tool for independent artists. You get a storefront on a name.played.fm subdomain, creative tools, discovery placement, and — on eligible plans — access to a sync-licensing briefs board.

Played is a pure host. We are not a party to, and do not process, any sale or licence between you and your fans or between you and a sync buyer. Music sales are made directly by you through your own payment link, and you keep 100% of them. Where Played facilitates a paid product (for example print-on-demand merchandise), that is described separately and clearly at the point of purchase.

2. Accounts

  • You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live) to create an account.
  • You are responsible for your account credentials and all activity under your account.
  • You must provide accurate information and keep it up to date.

3. Subscriptions and billing

  • Paid plans (Artist, Pro, Label) are billed on a recurring monthly or annual basis through our payment provider.
  • Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. You can cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
  • Prices may change; we will give reasonable notice before a change affects you.
  • Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.

4. Creative credits

Some plans include monthly creative credits, and credits can be purchased in packs. Credits are a licence to use our creative tools, have no cash value, and (for packs) are non-refundable once used. Monthly included credits may expire at the end of each billing cycle.

5. Your content

You retain ownership of the music, artwork, text and other content you upload (“Your Content”). You grant Played a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, and display Your Content solely to operate and promote the Service (for example, showing your tracks on your storefront and in discovery).

You represent and warrant that you own or have all rights necessary to upload and distribute Your Content, and that it does not infringe anyone else’s rights. Played does not claim ownership of Your Content and takes no cut of your music sales.

6. AI-generated content

Played welcomes music and artwork made with any tools, including AI. You are responsible for ensuring you have the commercial rights to anything you upload and for any disclosure required by the platforms or laws that apply to you.

7. Sync-licensing briefs

On eligible plans, Played posts third-party sync opportunities and lets you apply. Played is not a party to any resulting licence and takes no commission on placements — you negotiate and licence directly with the buyer. Application limits vary by plan.

8. Merchandise

Where merchandise is offered, it is produced and shipped by a third-party print-on-demand provider. Pricing, production times, and returns for physical goods are described at checkout and in our Refund Policy. Played may act as merchant of record for merch and charge a platform fee that is added on top of your set price.

9. Acceptable use

  • Do not upload content that is illegal, infringing, or that you do not have the rights to.
  • Do not use the Service to distribute malware, spam, or to abuse, harass, or defraud others.
  • Do not attempt to manipulate streams, sales, or discovery, or to circumvent plan limits or billing.
  • Do not scrape, reverse-engineer, or overload the Service.

10. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these Terms, that we are required to remove by law, or that create risk for the Service or other users. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. Some provisions survive termination (including content licences necessary to complete pending transactions, disclaimers, and limitations of liability).

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant or guarantee that: the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; any content, storefront, or track will generate sales, streams, discovery, placements, or income; results from creative tools will be accurate, non-infringing, or fit for any purpose; or that files will be stored without loss. You use the Service at your own risk.

12. Third-party services and links

The Service relies on and links to third parties (for example payment processors, print-on-demand providers, hosting and AI-tool providers, and the external payment links you add to your storefront). We do not control and are not responsible for third-party services, their availability, or their acts or omissions. Your use of a third-party service is governed by that party’s own terms, and any dispute about it is between you and that party.

13. AI-generated content

Creative tools may use artificial intelligence. Outputs are generated automatically and may be inaccurate, similar to existing works, or unsuitable for your purpose. We make no warranty that any output is original, non-infringing, or cleared for commercial use. You are solely responsible for reviewing outputs and for securing any rights needed to use them.

14. Transactions and disputes between users

Played is a host and a venue. Sales, licences, and other dealings between you and your fans, and between you and any sync buyer, are solely between those parties. We are not a party to them, do not vet them, and are not responsible for them. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release Played from any claim, demand, or damages arising out of a dispute with another user or with a buyer or seller you connect with through the Service, and you assume the risks of those dealings.

15. Your content and data; backups

You are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything you upload. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss, deletion, or corruption of content or data, and we are not obliged to store or return content after your account ends.

16. Changes to the Service

We may add, change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service (including features, plans, and creative tools) at any time. Where a change materially reduces a paid feature, your remedy is limited to cancelling your subscription. We are not liable to you or anyone else for modifying or discontinuing the Service.

17. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Played and its owners, employees, and suppliers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or content, however caused and under any theory of liability, even if advised of the possibility.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) USD 100.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law (such as liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you; in that case our liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by law.

18. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Played and its owners, employees, and suppliers from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: Your Content; your use of the Service; your breach of these Terms; your violation of any law or third-party right; or your transactions or disputes with other users or buyers.

19. Force majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages of third-party providers, network failures, acts of God, or government action.

20. Governing law and disputes

Before filing any claim, you agree to first contact us at hi@played.fm and try in good faith to resolve it informally. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, and the courts of that state have jurisdiction, except where mandatory local consumer law gives you the right to bring a claim where you live.

21. General

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect and the unenforceable part is limited to the minimum extent necessary. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and Played about the Service and supersede prior agreements. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to an affiliate or successor.

22. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated version here and update the date above. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them.

23. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at hi@played.fm, or call +1 (307) 999-4007.

played.fm is operated by Cliste Media LLC, 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA.