The fine print, made plain.

1. Who the Label is

1. "The Label" means Ben Howat, sole trader, trading as Blackout Room Records, Brisbane, Queensland. ABN and business name registration: to be completed at registration. Contact: hello@blackoutroomrecords.com. "You" means the person using the site or the Label's services. "A Flock of Galahs studio" is a brand line only.
2. Ben Howat and Flick Sewell are real people. The crew on the site (Kai, Robyn, Marcus and the others) are written characters who sign the Label's desk emails; Ben or Flick reads and approves every personal reply before it is sent. Every agreement is made with the Label alone and signed by Ben Howat.

2. Your account

1. You need an account to send songs, release music or message the Label. You must give a real email address you control.
2. You must be 16 or over to open an account. If you're 16 or 17, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms with you, sign the Artist Services Agreement with you and pay for any service. The Label does not accept artists under 16.
3. Every account uses two-step sign-in: a one-time email link, then a passkey or authenticator code. You're responsible for keeping your devices and backup codes secure.
4. Tell the Label at once if you think someone else has accessed your account. The Label may pause an account to protect it.
5. You can close your account at any time by messaging the Label. Closing your account ends your Artist Services Agreement (section 3). Section 11 sets out what is kept, and for how long.

3. Releasing music

1. Releases are covered by the Artist Services Agreement, which you sign in your portal before work starts. One signature covers every release while that version is current. If anything here differs from that agreement, whichever is better for you applies. Promises the Label makes about a service on this site or in your quote are part of the deal.
2. The agreement is non-exclusive. You keep 100% of your recordings (masters) and your songs. The Label never takes a share of your royalties or rights. Your royalties are paid to you directly by the Label's distribution partner, through its royalty splits. If the distribution partner keeps a share of YouTube Content ID income, the Label shows it before you choose it.
3. Your release goes out under the Blackout Room Records label name through the Label's distribution partner, named in your portal before you sign.
4. Ben and Flick listen in full to every single, and to the lead single of every EP (or every track with the every-track option), and always reply. The Label takes on up to 30 new singles a month. Once that's reached, the reply says so and your song joins a waitlist, in order of sending. If demand ever means Ben and Flick can't listen to every single themselves, this page will say so before you send.
5. The Label can decline a song because it doesn't fit the Label, or because it breaks the rules in item 5 or section 8. A decision about fit is never about your worth. A person makes every decision; no automated system does.
6. You promise the song is yours to release: you wrote it or have permission, every sample is cleared, every co-writer agrees, and you've told the Label honestly about any AI use (section 8).
7. You can ask for a release to be taken down at any time. The Label lodges it within 5 business days. Stores can take a few weeks to remove it.
8. You can end the agreement any time by email. When it ends, you choose: your releases stay live on the same terms for 90 days while you move them to your own distributor account, with the Label's free help and the same ISRCs where the stores allow; or the Label lodges a takedown within 5 business days. If the Label ends the agreement, you get at least 90 days' notice, your releases stay live, and any service not yet started is refunded.
9. When the agreement ends, the Label emails you a link to every file it holds for you. The link works for 90 days. After that the Label deletes its copies, backup included.

4. Prices and payment

1. Prices are in Australian dollars and shown before you pay. Nothing is charged unless you approve the quote. Memberships and merch are paid when you buy them.
2. The Label is not registered for GST, so no GST is charged. If that changes, the Label will give you at least 30 days' notice by email and honour quotes you've already approved, and you can cancel any service not yet started for a full refund.
3. Payment is by card through Stripe Checkout. Stripe meets the highest card-security standard (PCI DSS Level 1). The Label never sees or stores your card number, and never asks for card or bank details by email, phone or message.
4. If you change your mind before work starts, you get a full refund. Once work has started, you get a refund for any part not yet done.
5. A partner campaign has started once it has been submitted to the partner or sent to curators. Once it starts, money already spent with the partner (for example ads or curator pitches) can't be recovered unless the partner refunds it. Ad money not yet spent is refunded where the platform allows. Where a fee includes ad money, the quote shows how much, and the receipts are in your portal. If a campaign went wrong because of the Label's mistake, the Australian Consumer Law applies in full.
6. Refunds go back to the way you paid, within 5 business days of the refund being agreed.
7. Promotion never guarantees streams, followers or playlist placements. The Label never buys streams or uses fake plays.
8. The Label's goods and services come with guarantees that can't be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms limits those rights.

5. Free first release offer

1. When you buy any item from the Blackout Room shop, your first song with the Label can be released free. That's the A$19 Lights Off release: the listen, the checks and distribution to over 150 stores and streaming services. The Label pays the distribution costs.
2. One free release per artist, for the first song you release with the Label. It can't be exchanged for cash or transferred to someone else.
3. Original songs only (no covers). Session Kit purchases from the dosage co. don't count.
4. Claim it in your portal within 12 months of your purchase by entering your shop order number. The song still goes through the normal listen (section 3, items 4 and 5) and must meet the promises in section 3, item 6, and section 8.
5. If your merch is refunded because it was faulty, your free release still stands. If you cancel the order or return it for change of mind before your song goes out, the A$19 fee applies. Refunds you're entitled to under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected.
6. Extras (cover art, Canvas, promotion, mixing or mastering) are optional and priced as normal.
7. Your song is released under the Artist Services Agreement. You keep 100% of it.
8. The Label can end or change this offer for future purchases by updating this page. That won't affect anyone who bought merch while it was running.

6. Price Beat Promise

1. The promise covers the Label's bundles, compared like for like: the same services, delivered by real people, from an Australian music business, publicly priced in Australian dollars within the last 30 days. Ad money passed straight through to platforms is not included. Every bundle is covered except Lights Off and Pre-order pressing.
2. Send the link in your portal before you pay. The Label replies within 2 business days.
3. If your claim qualifies, the Label charges you 10% less than the other business's price, but never less than the Label's own cost of doing the work. If the Label can't go that low, it tells you its cost in writing and offers the closest bundle.
4. The promise doesn't cover single services, overseas providers, trial or one-off promo codes, member-only prices or offers that need a lock-in.

6A. Memberships

1. Single, A$19. One single release, plus 12 months of member perks.
2. The Five, A$79. Up to five single releases within 12 months of purchase, plus member perks for those 12 months. Releases not used by then expire. You get a reminder 30 days before. The Five includes A$10 of Instagram and Facebook ads on your first release under it, run by the Label, with the receipts in your portal.
3. Life, A$499. Up to 12 single releases in each membership year (each 12 months from your purchase date), plus member perks, for as long as Blackout Room Records offers release services to artists. Unused releases don't roll over to the next year. Life includes A$25 of Instagram and Facebook ads in each membership year, run by the Label on your releases, with the receipts in your portal; unused ad money doesn't roll over.
4. Member perks. Room access (the artist community, gig list and monthly listening session), 10% off add-ons such as cover art, Canvas, mastering and promotion (20% for Life members), and 15% off Label merch.
5. Upgrade credit. Upgrade within 60 days and what you paid for Single or The Five comes off the higher tier.
6. OG Life members. The first 25 Life memberships sold before 11:59pm Brisbane time on 31 December 2026 cost A$399 instead of A$499 and are numbered #01 to #25, in order of completed payment. OGs get a numbered member card, the Label OG hat, a place on the Founders Wall if they agree in writing (taken down within 5 business days of asking), A$25 of Instagram and Facebook ads in each membership year (the same as Life), and first access to every new service. The offer ends at the 25th sale or that deadline, whichever comes first, even if places are left. The count on the members page shows real paid sales only. If an OG leaves, their number is retired, not resold. OG perks can be improved but never reduced.
7. Same rules, same listening. Every release under a membership follows the Artist Services Agreement, including the rights and AI rules and the no-bought-streams rule. The Label can decline a song that breaks them or doesn't fit the Label, and a declined song doesn't use up a release. Life members are heard first within the monthly limit of 30 new singles. A membership never buys a yes on fit, playlists or results.
8. The waitlist never costs you a release. A song you send while a membership release is available keeps that release, even if the waitlist means it's heard after the release would otherwise expire.
9. Yours only. A membership covers one artist or band name and can't be sold or transferred.
10. Price rises. A later price rise never applies to a membership you've already bought.
11. Leaving and refunds. You can end a membership any time by email. Within 14 days of buying, if no release has been used, you get a full refund. If the Label stops offering release services within 5 years of your Life purchase, you get back what you paid less A$19 for each release you used. If the Label ends your agreement while your membership is current, you get back the unused part: for Single or The Five, in proportion to the releases left; for Life, what you paid less A$19 for each release used, however long you've been a member. Your Australian Consumer Law rights always apply.

6B. Hold the Door

1. What you're buying. A Hold the Door release pass costs A$19 (GST included where it applies). Each pass pays for one single released by the next artist in line. You can buy 1 to 10 passes at a time. It's a purchase of a service for someone else, not a donation.
2. 100% to the artist. Pass money is tracked on its own ledger and held in a separate bank account, never mixed with Label money. Stripe's card fee (for domestic cards, 1.65% plus A$0.30) is topped up from Label money within 3 business days, so the pass account always holds 100% of what was paid. Chargeback fees or losses are also covered by the Label.
3. No Label fee. The Label charges no fee on any release a pass pays for and takes nothing from the pass account.
4. How passes are used. Passes are spent straight on the artist's release (for example distribution, mastering, ad money or curator credits) or as a cash grant to the artist's own account. Ben approves every use and it is logged in the admin portal.
5. Out loud. Every pass (first name or "Anonymous", number of passes, date) and every use (artist, with their OK, what it paid for, receipt, date) is on the public ledger. The ledger is checked against the bank every month. Any shortfall is made good from Label money within 5 business days, and the ledger says so.
6. Who it helps. Emerging artists releasing an original song, Queensland artists first, in the order they asked. The Label chooses from the listening queue and logs its reasons. Artists choose whether to be named; their reasons are never published. One Hold the Door release per artist a year.
7. Who can't receive it. Ben, Flick, Codi, their families, their own projects (Neon\\Haven included) and anyone the Label has paid in the last 12 months.
8. Refunds. You can get a full refund on request until your pass is used (shown on the ledger). After that it has been spent on the artist's release. If the next artist withdraws, your pass moves to the next artist in line, the Label tells you, and you can ask for a refund instead. Nothing here limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
9. Not a charity. Blackout Room Records is not a registered charity. Passes are not tax deductible. You get a receipt, and an email the day your pass is used, telling you what it paid for.
10. Your details. Your name on the ledger can be "Anonymous". Card details are held only by Stripe. Your email is used only for your receipt and to tell you when your pass is used, unless you opt in to the newsletter.

7. The shop

1. Who sells to you. The Label sells everything in its shop, including collaboration items made by partner brands, and is responsible to you for them. Session Kit items (grinders, cases, jars and cleaning gear for adults, 18+ only) are sold by the dosage co. on its own store, under its own terms. The dosage co. is owned by the Label's Chief of Staff and part-owner Flick Sewell, and the Label earns 5% of sales made through its pages. Session Kit codes go only to artists who have confirmed they are 18 or over.
2. Delivery. Printed-to-order merch is made by a print partner after you order; collaboration items are posted directly by the partner brand. Each product shows its delivery estimate before you pay. Delivery is within Australia.
3. Faulty, damaged or wrong items. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law always apply and nothing in these terms limits them. For a major problem you choose a refund or a replacement (or keep the item with compensation for the drop in value). For a minor problem the Label repairs or fixes it within a reasonable time, and if it can't, you can choose a refund or replacement. The Label refunds your reasonable return postage once a fault is confirmed.
4. Change of mind. Stock items (anything not printed to order) can be returned unused, with tags and packaging, within 30 days of delivery for a refund of the item price. You pay the return postage. Printed-to-order and personalised items can't be returned for change of mind.
5. Refunds go back to the way you paid, within 5 business days of the return reaching the Label or the fault being confirmed.
6. Complaints. Contact the Label through the contact page or by email with your order number. Complaints are acknowledged within 2 business days and the Label aims to resolve them within 10 business days. If you're not happy with the outcome, you can contact the Office of Fair Trading Queensland.
7. Age-restricted items. Some partner items are for people aged 18 or over. By buying them you confirm you are.
8. Colours on screens can differ slightly from the finished item.
9. Artist-only merch. Signed artists can order merch in their portal at the Label's cost (printing plus delivery within Australia) plus 5%, rounded up to the next dollar, shown before you pay. Ben approves every piece of merch art, including your own cover on a release pack, before it prints. If the Label declines to print an order's art, you get a full refund.
10. Milestone hats. When a release on Blackout Room Records passes 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 or 250,000 (Label OG) Spotify streams, as shown in Spotify for Artists, the Label makes the artist that milestone's hat and posts it free within Australia. One hat per milestone per release. Hats can't be bought or exchanged for cash.

8. AI and your music

1. Songs made with AI vocals or AI tools are welcome, as long as a human wrote or produced the song. Songs made entirely by AI are not accepted.
2. You must tell the Label about AI use when you send a song. The Label discloses it to its distribution partner and to stores as their rules require, including in the distributor's AI disclosure fields, at no cost to you.
3. The song must be yours: you wrote it, or you own or are licensed for everything that went into it, including the AI tool's output for commercial release.
4. No cloned or imitated voices or likenesses of real people without their written permission.
5. Some stores and services have their own AI rules. The Label tells you before you spend anything if those rules affect your song.
6. How the Label uses AI. An AI tool drafts some of the Label's replies, and Ben or Flick reads every one before it's sent. Cover art, Canvas loops, visualisers, lyric videos and social templates are made with AI-assisted image and video tools, directed and checked by the Label. Any other service that uses AI tools says so in its description. No automated system decides whether your music is accepted. Your files are used only in AI tools whose terms don't let the provider train on them.
7. Anything the Label makes for you (such as cover art, Canvas loops, visualisers or masters) is yours to use for your music once paid for. The Label transfers to you any rights it has in it and keeps only the right to show it in its portfolio. Some AI-assisted images may not be protected by copyright, so others may be able to copy them.

9. Fair use of the site

1. Don't try to get into accounts or data that aren't yours, overload the site, or upload anything harmful, unlawful or infringing.
2. The label is and always will be an LGBTIQA+ safe place. Harassment, vilification or discrimination against anyone because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status is never accepted, on the site, in messages or in the Room.
3. Be respectful in messages and in the Room. The Label may close an account that harasses people or breaks these terms, after telling you why where it's safe to do so. If your account is closed, your releases are handled as if your agreement ended (section 3, item 8), and any service not yet started is refunded.

10. Liability

1. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law.
2. The tools the Label stands behind. The Label chooses every tool and partner with care and checks them before relying on them. If one it chose causes a problem with a service you paid for, tell the Label and it will fix the problem or refund its fee for that service. This is on top of your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
3. To the extent the law allows, each party's total liability under these terms is limited to the fees paid under them in the 12 months before the claim, and neither party is liable for indirect or consequential loss. This limit doesn't apply to loss caused by fraud, wilful misconduct or infringement of the other party's rights, or to any royalty or refund the Label owes you.
4. The Label is not responsible for the decisions of stores, streaming services or curators, such as playlist choices, store policies or takedowns, or for results such as streams. It will always help you deal with them.

11. Privacy policy

1. Who this covers. This policy covers personal information handled by the Label (section 1). As a small business, the Label may not be required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It follows the Australian Privacy Principles as if they applied to it.
2. What the Label collects. Your email and name; your artist name; your legal name and songwriter details for releases; your songs, artwork and messages; payment records (never card numbers); your age band (18 or over, or 16 or 17) and, if you're 16 or 17, your parent or guardian's name and signature; sign-in records such as device and IP address; and website analytics (item 4). The Label does not collect tax file numbers, and does not accept accounts from, or collect data about, anyone under 16.
3. Early access list. If you join early access, the Label keeps your email, first name, what you do, your suburb or region (never a street address), who invited you, how many people you invited, and which post or link brought you here. It's used to email you about early access, the launch and Blackout Room news, and to introduce you to people nearby with your OK (18 or over only).
4. Analytics. If Google Analytics is on, it sets cookies to count visits and clicks. Your name and email are never sent to it. You can block these cookies and the site still works.
5. Why. To sign you in securely, listen to and release your music, take payments, set up your royalty splits, answer you, keep the site safe and meet the Label's legal duties.
6. Who it's shared with. Only the partners needed to do the work: the Label's distribution partner, named in your portal before you sign (release and payee details); Stripe (payments); Cloudflare (hosting, storage, bot checks and an AI tool that drafts replies, which a person always reads before sending); Backblaze (sealed backup); Google Workspace (email); Resend and Beehiiv (sending emails); Shopify (the dosage co.'s store, only to check whether your monthly Session Kit code was used); print partners (shop orders); and the ad and curator platforms you choose for a campaign. Your information is never sold.
7. Where it's stored. Mostly in the United States and other countries where these partners operate. The backup copy of your files is held by Backblaze in the United States, sealed with the Label's own key, which Backblaze does not hold. The Label chooses partners with strong security and contractual protections.
8. How it's protected. Two-step sign-in, strong encryption (AES-256) with keys only the Label holds on songs and private details, a tamper-evident audit trail you can view in your portal, and access limited to Ben and Flick. Details are on the security page.
9. AI tools. An AI tool drafts some replies; a person reads every one before it's sent. Your files and details are used only in AI tools whose terms don't let the provider train on them. Automated checks block bots at sign-in. No automated system decides whether your music is accepted, whether you get a refund or anything else about you.
10. Emails. Marketing emails are sent only with your consent, as the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) requires. Every one has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribes are actioned within 5 business days. Emails about your account and releases are not marketing and keep coming while you're with the Label.
11. How long it's kept.
    • Songs, stems, artwork and other files: while you're with the Label. When you leave, you're emailed a link to every file, valid for 90 days; then the Label deletes its copies, backup included.
    • Signed agreements and split sheets: for the life of the release plus 7 years.
    • Demos the Label doesn't take up: 12 months, then deleted.
    • Money records: 7 years (the law requires at least 5).
    • Security audit trail: a minimal record (your email address, the action, the time and the IP address) for as long as the business runs, so tampering can be detected.
    • Unconfirmed early-access sign-ups: deleted after 30 days.
    • Marketing contacts: until you unsubscribe; then your address is kept only on a do-not-email list.
    • Everything else: deleted 12 months after you close your account.
    • Nothing is deleted while a dispute or claim is open.
12. Your choices. You can ask to see or correct your information, or close your account, by messaging the Label or emailing hello@blackoutroomrecords.com.
13. Complaints. Privacy complaints are acknowledged within 2 business days, and the Label aims to resolve them within 10 business days. If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
14. If something goes wrong. If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, the Label will tell you and the OAIC, the way the notifiable data breaches scheme requires.

12. Changes and contact

1. Every version is dated. A new version applies only to releases signed under it, and changes don't apply to a release you've already paid for unless you agree.
2. Queensland law applies. If there's a disagreement, the first step is to try to sort it out together, and you can get free help from the Arts Law Centre of Australia. Trying to sort it out with the Label never stops you complaining to the Office of Fair Trading Queensland or applying to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).
3. A business day means Monday to Friday, Brisbane time, not counting Queensland public holidays.
4. Questions: use the contact page or email hello@blackoutroomrecords.com.

Version 2026-11-13g. Effective 13 November 2026.