Terms and conditions

1. Scope and contracting party

Bitsound is operated by Dr. Peter Mayer, sole proprietor, Würzburgerweg 18, 4840 Vöcklabruck, Austria, email support@bitsound.com (hereinafter "Bitsound" or "we"). These terms apply to the use of Bitsound, to top-ups of credit and to the purchase of music.

Your contracting party for every purchase is Bitsound. Bitsound sells the music in its own name, not in the name of the artists. For artists the terms for artists apply in addition.

A consumer within the meaning of these terms is anyone who concludes a transaction not for their business (§ 1 KSchG). Deviating terms of businesses do not apply.

2. Account

The account is free. You need a valid email address that belongs to you. Keep your sign-in means (email inbox, passkeys, authenticator app) protected. An account is personal and not transferable.

You may only conclude contracts within the limits of your legal capacity. If you are a minor and the consent of your legal guardian is required, you must obtain it before a paid order. The statutory exceptions for transactions minors may conclude on their own remain unaffected.

3. Credit

You buy music on Bitsound with credit. You top up credit in euros through our payment service provider Stripe, at least €10.00 and at most €200.00 per top-up.

For providing credit we generally charge a service fee of €0.39 per top-up. The fee is the same for all payment methods offered. Whether the fee applies to your top-up or is waived is shown to you together with the credit amount and the total price before the binding payment. When you then buy with credit, we charge no additional purchase fee. If you withdraw from a top-up within fourteen days or use the contractual right to a refund described in the right of withdrawal, we refund the service fee in full if the credit from that top-up is still entirely unused, otherwise proportionally to the unused part of the top-up amount.

Credit is a single-purpose voucher: you can only redeem it for music on Bitsound. The statutory VAT is therefore due at the top-up and shown on the top-up receipt. No VAT is charged when you redeem it.

• Credit does not expire.
• Credit earns no interest.
• Credit cannot be transferred to other users. On request we refund unused credit you paid for to the original payment method or to a bank account agreed with you. If we refund credit voluntarily after these fourteen days without a statutory claim, the service fee is not refunded. Statutory refund claims, in particular after a withdrawal, remain unaffected. If we terminate or discontinue the service, point 11 applies.

Vouchers from Bitsound: Bitsound issues free promotional vouchers, for example for contests or as an apology. Whoever redeems the code gets voucher credit in their own account. It is valid only for music on Bitsound, depending on the voucher for all music or only for music released by Bitsound itself. When you buy, it is used before your paid credits and counts as a price discount by Bitsound; VAT applies only to a part you pay with paid credits. Voucher credit is not paid out in cash, not refunded and not transferable. It expires on the expiry date shown on the voucher. Every code works only once. Anyone who knows the code can redeem it.

We no longer sell gift cards. Gift cards already bought can still be redeemed under the terms that applied when they were bought.

4. Buying music

Showing music on Bitsound is not yet a binding offer. By clicking the buy button (for example "Buy for € 1.00") or placing the order in the cart you make a binding offer. The contract is concluded when we confirm the purchase and the music appears in your collection. This usually happens immediately.

All prices are final prices in euros including statutory VAT. The artist sets the price. You receive the receipt with the contract confirmation by email, with a link to these terms and these terms in the version valid at the time of the contract as a text attachment. You can also find the receipt in your account.

We currently do not sell to buyers in the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). If your country of residence, the country of your payment method or your location at the time of purchase points to the United Kingdom, a purchase is not possible.

Giving music as a gift: you can buy a release or a track for another person. The rules for a purchase apply, you are the buyer and contracting party. The music does not go into your collection but into the collection of the person who redeems the gift code. You cannot buy your own releases as a gift. If the music is already in the collection when the code is redeemed, the code stays valid and can be passed on.

5. Downloads and licence

You can download purchased tracks and releases losslessly as FLAC, ALAC or WAV, in the quality in which the artist uploaded them. The files have no copy protection. For security reasons download links are only valid for a short time, but you can get a new link from your collection at any time as long as your account exists and Bitsound is operated. Please keep your own copy.

With the purchase you receive a simple, non-transferable and perpetual right to use the music for private, non-commercial purposes: to listen to it on your own devices and to make copies for this.

Not permitted are in particular: public performance, broadcasting, passing on or selling the files, uploading them to other platforms, using them in your own works and using them to train AI models. All other rights remain with the artists and rights holders.

Purchased music stays in your collection even if a release is later taken off sale, unless legal reasons prevent this (for example an established infringement). Your statutory claims for missing rights of use or defective provision remain. A credit to your customer account only replaces a statutory claim to a refund with your consent.

For downloads you need an internet connection, enough storage space and playback software that supports the chosen format FLAC, ALAC or WAV. The available audio quality depends on the respective recording and the information on the track or release. The files contain no copy protection; an automatic improvement of the original recording quality is not part of the purchase.

Download codes and press links: artists can issue free download codes. For redeemed codes this licence and the rules for downloads apply as for a purchase, without a purchase price. Press links allow downloading without an account for coverage only; they can expire or be revoked by the artist.

6. Streaming

Guests hear 30 seconds of every track. Signed in, you can listen to tracks in full length in stream quality for free if the artist allows it ("Fully playable"). For releases with "Preview only" you hear 90 seconds even when signed in.

Streaming is a free additional service. There is no right to have specific music permanently available: artists can change or remove releases, and we can limit or change free listening, for example to prevent abuse.

7. Right of withdrawal

As a consumer you have a statutory right of withdrawal (right to withdraw under the FAGG). The details and the model withdrawal form are in the right of withdrawal.

Downloads: before every purchase you expressly agree that we start providing the music immediately, and you confirm that you know you thereby lose your right of withdrawal (§ 18(1) no. 11 FAGG). We confirm this consent on the receipt.

Credit top-up and music purchase are separate transactions. Withdrawal from and refund of a top-up are governed by the right of withdrawal; in addition we grant the contractual right to a refund described there. Starting a single download does not automatically end a right of withdrawal for a top-up.

Vouchers and gifts: vouchers from Bitsound are free, there is no right of withdrawal or refund for them. For gift cards bought earlier, the right to a refund described in the right of withdrawal applies as long as the gift card has not been redeemed. If you buy music as a gift, you give the consent to immediate provision as with every purchase; the provision starts with the gift code.

8. Warranty

The statutory warranty rights apply, for consumers in particular the Austrian Consumer Warranty Act (VGG). This also covers missing rights to the content provided. If you have problems, contact support@bitsound.com.

Under the statutory conditions you can demand that the goods be brought into conformity and, where provided, a price reduction or termination of the contract. Statutory update obligations and rules on the burden of proof remain unaffected. Contacting us is not an additional condition for your statutory rights.

9. Liability

We are liable for our services in accordance with the statutory provisions. Statutory warranty and damage claims as well as claims under the Product Liability Act are not limited by these terms.

Users and artists are also responsible for content they post themselves. Our own statutory obligations as seller and platform operator remain unaffected. We handle reports according to the notice and action procedure.

10. Rules for comments and playlists

Comments, playlists and profiles must not contain anything unlawful, no insults, hate speech, threats, spam or other people's works without permission. We can remove such content and suspend accounts for repeated or serious violations. We inform you of every such decision with a statement of reasons, and you can complain against it (see notice and action procedure).

11. Term and termination

You can end the open-ended account contract at any time without notice. Without remaining credit and artist projects you can use the delete function in the settings. Otherwise write to support@bitsound.com; we handle termination, refund and, where applicable, final settlement together. You are not obliged to use up remaining credit with further purchases.

We can terminate the open-ended account contract with one month's notice. Both sides keep the right to terminate for good cause. If we terminate, we refund unused credit you paid for together with the corresponding share of a service fee paid.

Perpetual rights of use already acquired for lawfully offered music continue. Download your purchased files before the account is closed; with the closure, access to the collection ends. Statutory claims remain unaffected. For paid storage plans the provisions of the artist agreement apply in addition.

Discontinuation of the service

If we discontinue Bitsound as a whole, we announce this at least three months in advance by email. Until the discontinuation you can continue to download your purchased music. We refund unused credit you paid for together with the corresponding share of the service fee. Your perpetual rights of use for music already purchased remain.

12. Changes to these terms

For completed purchases the version agreed when the contract was concluded applies. Changes to existing contracts require your express consent, unless a change applies directly because of mandatory statutory requirements. Silence, continued use or not terminating do not count as consent.

We send you proposed changes by email at least one month before they are intended to take effect. Without your consent the existing contract remains unchanged. The agreed termination rights remain.

13. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

Austrian law applies, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer habitually resident in another country, you keep the protection of the mandatory provisions of your country of residence (Art. 6 Rome I Regulation).

For actions against consumers who are domiciled, habitually resident or employed in Austria, the court in whose district this is located has jurisdiction (§ 14 KSchG). For businesses the place of jurisdiction is Bezirksgericht Vöcklabruck.

14. Final provisions

These terms exist in German and English. The language version agreed when the contract was concluded is authoritative. Mandatory consumer protection provisions and statutory rules of interpretation remain unaffected. If a provision is invalid, the others remain valid. Questions and complaints: support@bitsound.com. For dispute resolution see the imprint.