Terms of service

Last updated 15 October 2026. Ala Africa Limited, 1st Floor, North Westgate House, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1YS.

Draft: this page is waiting for review by a solicitor and may change before launch.

These terms are an agreement between you and Ala Africa Limited ("Earmark", "we"). By creating an account you accept them and our privacy policy. You must be 18 or over.

What Earmark does, and doesn't, promise

We send your song to playlist curators who are paid to listen and give an honest verdict, and we run listening tests with real listeners. We never sell playlist placements, streams or followers, and nobody can promise you an add, streams or a hit. AI reads and Breakout scores are signals, not guarantees.

Artists

  • You must own or control the rights to every recording you upload or link, and have permission from anyone else on it.
  • You keep all rights to your music. You give us a licence to store and analyse it, play clips and previews to curators and listeners, and show songs you enter on our public charts, only to run Earmark. It ends when you delete the song or your account, except for anonymous results already in reports.
  • Curator campaigns: each curator you pay for listens and replies within 7 days with a verdict and written feedback, or that curator's price comes back to you as credit. The part of the Golden Ear reserve a curator doesn't earn also comes back as credit.
  • Tests are delivered once the panel has answered or the test closes. Unreleased clips are streamed through short-lived links, never offered as downloads, and every play is logged to the listener who made it.

Credits, payments and refunds

  • Prices are shown in your currency before you pay, including the full total. Payments are processed by Stripe or Paystack.
  • Credits don't expire and can be used for campaigns and tests. You can ask for a refund of unused purchased credits within 14 days of buying them. Bonus credit is not refundable.
  • A campaign or test starts as soon as you pay, at your request, so the 14-day cancellation right ends once it has been delivered. Your refunds for late reviews still apply. This doesn't affect your statutory rights.

Curators

  • You are paid for a real listen and an honest verdict. An add and a pass pay the same. Never accept or ask for payment, gifts or favours for placement, on Earmark or off it.
  • You may only add playlists you own or run. You prove it by putting a one-time code in the playlist description. One platform account can be linked to one Earmark account.
  • We read your playlist every day. Your tier comes from follower counts we see ourselves over at least two weeks. Sudden jumps, sharp drops or near-empty playlists stay at the Seed rate while we review them. Private, deleted, inactive or transferred playlists are paused.
  • Your followers must be real and your reviews your own. We may lower your tier, withhold fees or close your account for fake followers, bots, copy-paste reviews or claiming someone else's playlist.
  • You are responsible for any tax on what you earn.

Golden Ear listeners

  • Listening is free. You never pay to take part, and pay is for completing a test properly and honestly, never for liking a song or for being right. Ranks change how much each paid test pays and which tests you can hear.
  • One account per person. No bots, scripts, shared accounts or answer farming. We may withhold pay, reset ranks or close accounts for fraud.
  • Unreleased music is confidential. Don't record, copy or share it.
  • Earnings are paid monthly through our payment partners (Stripe or Paystack) to the payout account you connect, once your balance reaches 10 in your currency (for example £10 or $10). You are responsible for any tax on what you earn.

Acceptable use

No unlawful, infringing, hateful or sexual content involving minors; no harassment; no attempts to break, overload or scrape Earmark; no misleading curators or listeners. We may remove content or suspend accounts that break these rules, and will tell you why unless the law or safety prevents it.

Liability

We provide Earmark with reasonable care and skill. We aren't liable for losses that weren't foreseeable, for business losses, or for what curators or listeners decide about your music. Our total liability to you is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or fraud.

Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time in Account settings. Contact us first if you have credits or earnings to withdraw. We may close accounts that break these terms.

Changes and law

We'll email you before material changes take effect. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live elsewhere in the UK, you can also bring proceedings where you live. Questions: support@earmarksongs.com or our contact form.

Terms of service · Earmark