Artist Terms of Service
Manufacturing and pre-order campaign terms
1. Definitions
1.1 “Label 51”, “we”, “us” means Label 51 Recordings, of Denver, Colorado, acting as manufacturer and service provider.
1.2 “Artist”, “you” means the individual or entity submitting an application or placing an order, and any person warranting that they are authorised to act for that individual or entity.
1.3 “Campaign” means a fan pre-order campaign operated by Label 51 on your behalf, in which purchasers pre-purchase physical products before manufacture.
1.4 “Straight Run” means a manufacturing order placed and funded directly by you, without a Campaign.
1.5 “Products” means the physical goods to be manufactured, including vinyl records, cassettes, compact discs and merchandise.
1.6 “Materials” means the audio masters, artwork, text, logos, images and other content you supply for manufacture.
1.7 “Quote” means the written, itemised price issued by Label 51 for a defined specification.
1.8 “Production Agreement” means the project-specific agreement executed by both parties, which incorporates these Terms by reference.
2. Nature of the relationship
2.1 These Terms create a services and manufacturing relationship only. They are not a recording agreement, a distribution agreement, a publishing agreement, a management agreement or a partnership.
2.2 No copyright, master rights, publishing rights, trade mark or other intellectual property in the Materials is assigned, licensed in perpetuity, or otherwise transferred to Label 51 under these Terms, save for the limited licence at clause 3.2.
2.3 Nothing in these Terms grants Label 51 any option, right of first refusal, or exclusivity over your future recordings or releases.
2.4 The parties are independent contractors. Neither party may bind the other or hold itself out as having authority to do so.
3. Ownership and licence
3.1 You retain all right, title and interest in and to the Materials, including your masters, compositions, performances and artwork.
3.2 You grant Label 51 a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to reproduce, format, print and manufacture the Materials, and to use your name, approved images and artwork, solely for the purposes of (a) performing the services, (b) operating and promoting the Campaign, and (c) identifying the project in Label 51’s own portfolio and marketing. This licence terminates on completion of the project, except for portfolio and archival use of already-published materials.
3.3 You retain 100% of revenue from your own sales of the Products. Label 51 takes no percentage of your physical sales.
4. Services and specification
4.1 Label 51 will manufacture the Products in accordance with the specification recorded in the Quote and the Production Agreement.
4.2 Any change to the specification after acceptance, including format, run size, colour, packaging, weight or artwork, must be agreed in writing and may alter both price and schedule.
4.3 Where the Products are to be manufactured in the European Union for delivery to a tour venue or collection point, delivery terms, import duties and value-added tax are itemised in the Quote and are payable by you unless the Quote expressly states otherwise.
4.4 Label 51 may decline any application or order at its discretion, and will say so plainly rather than allowing a project to stall.
5. Quotes
5.1 A Quote is fixed for the specification stated in it and remains open for acceptance for thirty (30) days from issue, unless it states otherwise.
5.2 After acceptance, the price will not change except where (a) you change the specification, (b) the Materials supplied require additional work disclosed to you in advance, or (c) a supplier imposes a documented surcharge outside Label 51’s control, in which case you will be notified in writing and may cancel under clause 12 before the surcharge is incurred.
5.3 All prices are stated in United States dollars and are exclusive of sales, use and similar taxes, which are your responsibility where applicable.
6. Fees and payment
6.1 Campaign. There is no setup fee. Label 51 charges a flat fee of ten percent (10%) of gross funds raised, payable only if the Campaign reaches its stated funding goal. If the Campaign does not fund, no fee is due.
6.2 Straight Run. The Quote price is payable 50% on order and 50% on your approval of the test pressing, unless the Production Agreement provides otherwise. No fee is charged on your subsequent sales.
6.3 Payment processing. Card processing charges levied by the payment processor (currently Stripe, at 2.9% + US$0.30 per transaction) are passed through at cost and shown as a separate line. Label 51 neither absorbs nor marks up these charges. Processor pricing is set by the processor and may change.
6.4 Invoices are payable on receipt. Manufacture does not commence until the amount due on order has cleared and the Production Agreement has been signed.
6.5 Sums unpaid thirty (30) days after the due date may bear interest at 1.5% per month or the maximum rate permitted by applicable law, whichever is lower.
7. Campaign funds
7.1 Funds pledged by purchasers during a Campaign are held with the payment processor, ring-fenced from Label 51’s operating accounts, and are not applied to Label 51’s general expenses.
7.2 If a Campaign does not reach its funding goal by its stated deadline, no purchaser card is charged and no fee is payable by you.
7.3 If a Campaign funds, the proceeds are applied first to the cost of manufacture and fulfilment as set out in the Quote, then to the fee at clause 6.1 and the processing charges at clause 6.3, with any balance released to you.
7.4 You are responsible for the accuracy of what is promised to purchasers on the Campaign page, including formats, artwork, extras and estimated delivery dates.
8. Test pressing and approval
8.1 No full run is manufactured until you have approved a test pressing or equivalent proof, save where you have waived approval in writing.
8.2 You will review and respond to a test pressing or proof within ten (10) business days. Delay in approval extends the schedule accordingly.
8.3 Approval of a test pressing or artwork proof constitutes acceptance of the characteristics shown in it. Defects that were apparent in an approved proof are not grounds for a claim under clause 13.
9. Delivery, title and risk
9.1 Title to the Products passes to you on payment in full. Risk passes on delivery to you or to the carrier nominated in the Quote, whichever occurs first.
9.2 Manufacturing runs may vary from the ordered quantity by up to five percent (5%), which is standard plant practice; you are invoiced for, and receive, the quantity actually produced within that tolerance.
9.3 Storage of finished Products beyond thirty (30) days from notice that they are ready may be charged at the rate stated in the Quote.
9.4 One address. Label 51 delivers the complete manufactured run to a single address you designate. You must give a deliverable address able to receive a palletised freight delivery, and be available to receive it.
9.5 Label 51 insures the freight leg from the plant to that address. On delivery, the run is your property and your risk, including storage.
9A. Fulfilment to backers
9A.1 You are solely responsible for packing and shipping every backer order, within the delivery window published on your campaign page, with tracking on every parcel. Label 51 is not the shipper of any backer order.
9A.2 You must upload proof of dispatch to your Community Band Funder account within ten (10) days of receiving the run.
9A.3 Label 51 retains ten percent (10%) of your settlement until that proof is uploaded and the published delivery window has passed without material complaint.
9A.4 Indemnity. You reimburse Label 51 for any chargeback, refund, card-network fee or backer claim arising from your failure to dispatch, from late dispatch, or from parcels sent without tracking. Label 51 may set these off against the retention and, where the retention does not cover them, invoice you the difference.
9A.5 You will answer backer questions about their own shipment within three (3) business days.
9A.6 Because payment is collected by Label 51, Label 51 remains the merchant of record and may be required by card networks or by applicable consumer-protection rules to refund a backer regardless of this clause. This section allocates that cost between us; it does not remove Label 51's obligation to the backer.
10. Schedules
10.1 All manufacturing dates are good-faith estimates. Pressing plants operate queues and lead times move. As at the date of these Terms the plant quotes approximately two (2) weeks to press cassettes, two (2) weeks to press CDs and twelve (12) weeks to press vinyl (approximately two (2) weeks for the test pressing to reach you, up to two (2) weeks for you to approve it under clause 8.2, and eight (8) weeks of pressing once approved), in each case measured from the close of the Campaign and in each case before shipping. All timing is approximate and Label 51 does not control the plant's queue. Those figures are the basis of the delivery estimate published on your campaign page.
10.2 Time is not of the essence in relation to estimated dates. Label 51 will notify you promptly of material changes to a schedule and will not represent a date as confirmed when it is not.
11. Your warranties
11.1 You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in the Materials, including sound recordings, compositions, samples, performances, photographs, artwork and trade marks, and that you are authorised to have them manufactured.
11.2 You represent and warrant that all samples, interpolations, featured performances and third-party contributions have been cleared, and that all applicable mechanical royalties are and will be accounted for by you.
11.3 You represent and warrant that the Materials are not defamatory, do not infringe any third-party right, and do not violate applicable law.
11.4 You will indemnify and hold Label 51 harmless against any third-party claim, loss, damage, cost or reasonable legal fee arising from breach of clauses 11.1 to 11.3.
12. Cancellation and termination
12.1 You may cancel a Straight Run at any time before lacquers are cut, plates are made or printing begins, subject to payment of costs already incurred and committed.
12.2 After manufacture has begun the order cannot be cancelled, as the Products are made to your specification.
12.3 A live Campaign may be withdrawn by you before its deadline, in which case no purchaser card is charged and no fee is payable.
12.4 Either party may terminate immediately on written notice if the other commits a material breach and fails to remedy it within fifteen (15) days of notice, or becomes insolvent.
13. Defects and remedies
13.1 Claims for defective, damaged or short-delivered Products must be made in writing within fifteen (15) days of delivery, with photographic evidence and, on request, return of a sample.
13.2 Label 51’s liability for defective Products is limited, at its option, to replacement of the affected units, re-manufacture, or a credit or refund of the amount paid for those units.
13.3 Minor variations in colour, surface finish, print registration, splatter or marble patterning and audio noise floor inherent to analogue manufacture are not defects.
14. Digital distribution add-on (optional)
14.1 Digital distribution is an optional service and is never a condition of manufacture.
14.2 Where you opt in, net receipts from digital distribution are shared 50/50 between you and Label 51 after distributor deductions, for the term stated in clause 14.4.
14.3 Opting in does not affect ownership: your masters and compositions remain 100% yours, and you may terminate the add-on in accordance with clause 14.4.
14.4 One-year term. If you opt in to the digital distribution program, it runs for an initial term of one (1) year from the date the first release is delivered to the distributor. At the end of that first year, either party may terminate for any reason, on written notice; releases already live stay live until they are taken down in the ordinary course.
14.5 Release schedule. Label 51 will help you build a release schedule for your digital distribution — what goes out, and when.
15. Confidentiality and personal data
15.1 Each party will keep the other’s non-public commercial information confidential and use it only for the project.
15.2 Unreleased Materials will not be disclosed, streamed or distributed by Label 51 outside the project without your written consent.
15.3 Personal data submitted through the application and brief forms is used solely to assess and deliver your project. It is not sold, rented, or added to a marketing list. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of that data by writing to the address in clause 20.
16. Limitation of liability
16.1 Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for any liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
16.2 Subject to clause 16.1, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, anticipated savings or business opportunity.
16.3 Subject to clause 16.1, Label 51’s total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with a project is limited to the total amount paid by you to Label 51 for that project.
17. Force majeure
17.1 Neither party is liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including raw-material shortage, plant failure, industrial action, carrier failure, natural disaster, war, epidemic or governmental action. Affected obligations are suspended for the duration of the event, and either party may terminate if the event continues for more than ninety (90) days.
18. Assignment and subcontracting
18.1 You may not assign these Terms without Label 51’s written consent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.
18.2 Label 51 may subcontract manufacture, printing, fulfilment and logistics, and remains responsible for the performance of its subcontractors.
19. Governing law and disputes
19.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
19.2 The parties will first attempt to resolve any dispute in good faith, by direct discussion, within thirty (30) days of written notice of the dispute.
19.3 Failing resolution, the state and federal courts located in Denver County, Colorado have exclusive jurisdiction, and each party consents to that venue. Nothing prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief where necessary to protect intellectual property.
19.4 Where you contract as a consumer, this clause does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory law of your country of residence.
20. Notices
20.1 Notices to Label 51 must be sent to info@label51recordings.com, quoting your reference number. Notices to you are sent to the email address given in your application.
20.2 Notice is deemed given on the next business day after transmission.
21. General
21.1 Entire agreement. The Production Agreement, the accepted Quote and these Terms are the entire agreement between the parties and supersede prior discussions, proposals and marketing statements.
21.2 Order of precedence. In case of conflict: (a) the signed Production Agreement, (b) the accepted Quote, (c) these Terms, (d) any other material on this website.
21.3 Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, the remainder continues in force and the provision is modified to the least extent necessary to make it enforceable.
21.4 Waiver. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of that right.
21.5 Amendment. Label 51 may update these Terms for future applications. The version in force when your Quote is accepted governs your project.
21.6 Electronic signature. You consent to contracting electronically, and agree that an electronic signature and electronic records have the same legal effect as a handwritten signature and paper records.
21.7 Third parties. No person other than the parties has any right to enforce these Terms.
Questions about any clause? Write to info@label51recordings.com before you sign anything. We would rather answer it now than have you find it later.