The deal, in plain language

These terms cover the studio booking platform operated by Soundslot ("we", "us"). It is software that lets studios ("studio owners") publish a booking storefront and lets their customers book and pay for sessions. We are US-based. If you use the service, these terms apply; if we change them, we'll bump the version above and notify studio owners by email.

What a studio owner pays us, and what happens to their account if they stop, is a separate document: the studio subscription agreement. Everything below applies to anyone using the service, studios and their customers alike.

What the service is

Studio owners get a hosted storefront, an admin dashboard, and an API for managing rooms, rates, bookings, and customers. Customers of a studio get an account to book sessions, pay, and manage their bookings. We provide the software; each studio runs its own business on it.

Payments

• Payments are processed by the studio's card processor: Stripe or Square. We never see or store full card numbers — the processor handles the card data in its own hosted fields.
• When a customer pays for a session, the money goes to the studio, minus the processor's own fees and our application fee, which is between 0.5% and 1.5% depending on the studio's plan.
• A studio's own monthly plan, and the fee we take on card sales, are set out in the studio subscription agreement.
• Some studios also take money outside the card flow — cash or a card terminal at the counter. Those payments are between you and the studio; we record them so the studio's books stay straight, but no money passes through us and we take no fee on them.

Deposits, balances, and how you pay

Each studio chooses how it takes money, and the choice is shown before you commit. The common shapes are: pay the full amount at checkout; pay a deposit now with the balance due later; put a card on file that the studio charges at the counter; or, on rooms that need the owner's approval, place a card hold for the amount due at booking, captured only when the owner confirms.

• Deposits. A deposit is money taken now against a session. If a balance is due later, the checkout tells you the amount, the date, and whether your card will be charged automatically or you'll pay in person. If you agreed to let the studio keep your card for the balance, we say so on the same screen — that statement is the consent.
• Prepay for repeat no-shows. A studio may require full payment up front from a customer with a history of no-shows at that studio. When it applies, checkout says so in plain words before you pay.

Cancellations and refunds

Refunds follow the cancellation policy set by the studio you booked with, shown in full before you book. Policies are tiered by how much notice you give: cancel early and you may get everything back; cancel closer to the session and you get a set percentage back; past the last cut-off, a studio may keep what you paid.

• A refund is given back the way you paid it — to your card, or as account credit at that studio — as the policy states. A percentage refund is a percentage of what you actually paid, never of what the session would have cost.
• A deposit may be forfeited under the policy if you cancel late; a cancellation never creates a new charge or a debt.
• Disputes about a session itself are between you and the studio; we'll help with the payment mechanics.

Gear and equipment rentals

Some studios rent out equipment that leaves the building — a PA, an amp — booked for a range of days rather than an hour in a room. If you hire gear:

• You're responsible for the equipment while it's in your possession, and for returning it on time and in the condition you received it. Late returns may be flagged and followed up by the studio.
• Damage deposit. A rental may carry a refundable damage deposit, taken as a hold on your card at pickup — an authorization, not a charge. If the gear comes back fine, the hold is released. If it's returned damaged or not at all, the studio may capture some or all of the deposit, up to the amount you authorized and no more. Card holds expire on the card network's own clock, so a rental that carries a deposit can't run longer than that window.
• A rental's cancellation follows the studio's notice window, shown before you book.

Gift cards and account credit

• A gift card is prepaid credit at one studio, redeemable there for bookings. It has no cash value, can't be exchanged for cash, and is a bearer instrument — treat the code like cash, because whoever has it can spend it.
• Gift cards a customer pays for do not expire. (A studio may set an expiry only on a card it hands out for free; where it does, local gift-card law governs and the expiry, if any, is shown on the card.)
• Account credit — from a credit-mode refund or a comped balance — is spendable at the studio that issued it and is likewise not redeemable for cash.

Text messages (SMS)

A studio can text you in two ways, and each has its own consent. Both are optional and off until you opt in.

• Session texts. You opt in by ticking the box where you enter your number at checkout or on your account page. You then get automated texts about your own bookings from that studio: a confirmation and a reminder for each one.
• Marketing texts. A separate opt-in, on your account page only, for offers and news from that studio. Ticking the session box never signs you up for these. You get at most one marketing message every 16 hours, sent between 8am and 9pm at the studio.
• Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP to any message for the studio's name and how to reach it.
• Reply STOP to any message to stop all texts from that studio, and START to opt back in. You can also switch either kind off from your account page. Opting out of texts never affects your booking or your email confirmations.
• Texts are sent through the studio's own messaging provider (Twilio) under the studio's account. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Your responsibilities

• Keep your account credentials to yourself; staff accounts support two-factor authentication and we recommend turning it on.
• Don't use the service for anything illegal, abusive, or that tries to break or overload it.

Our responsibilities and their limits

• We work to keep the service up and your data safe, but this is pre-launch software provided "as is" — we don't promise uninterrupted availability.
• Our liability to you is capped at what you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. We're not liable for indirect damages (lost profits, lost bookings, etc.).
• We can suspend an account that breaks these terms. A studio's own notice, refund and export rights are in the studio subscription agreement.

Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected]. See also our privacy policy and the cookie policy.