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Request and Dispute Policy

Effective Date: May 4, 2026
Last Updated: October 1, 2026

This Policy explains how String Music, LLC ("String," "we," "us," or "our") handles song-request payments, what happens when an artist declines a request, and disputes on the Service. This Policy is incorporated by reference into the Terms of Service and the Artist Agreement.

The single most important thing to understand: a payment on String purchases the opportunity to request a song. It does not purchase a guaranteed performance of that song. What you pay for is delivered the moment your request reaches the artist. The artist then decides what to play.

One payment covers one request. If the artist declines your request, that decision is final: no replacement selection is offered, and no cash refund is issued.

1. What You Are Paying For

When you submit a song request, boost, or shoutout on String, you are paying for:

  • Delivery of your selection to the artist, with your name and any optional message;
  • Visibility of your request on the live queue display, where applicable; and
  • Consideration by the artist, who decides whether to perform it.

You are not paying for:

  • A guaranteed performance of the song;
  • A specific position in the queue beyond what is reflected by the bidding mechanic; or
  • Any obligation by the artist to play any particular song.

The decision to perform any song rests entirely with the artist. This is the same discretion they exercise without String — String does not change that relationship; it makes it visible and gamified.

2. Declined Requests

If the artist declines your request, the decision is final. You are not offered a replacement selection, and no cash refund is issued. One payment covers one request.

2.1 How a decline works

  1. The artist marks your request as declined in their dashboard.
  2. The request leaves the live queue, and the song is removed from the menu for the remainder of that show.
  3. No further pick is offered against that payment.

2.2 Requests that are never performed

A request may also simply not be reached, because the show ended or ran out of time. That is not a decline. In either case you are not entitled to a replacement selection or a cash refund.

2.3 When you are charged

Payment is authorized when you submit your request and is collected a few seconds later, once your request has been recorded and placed in the queue. It is not held until the song is performed: a request that is later declined or never performed has already been paid for. If your request cannot be recorded (for example, because the show ended while you were checking out), the authorization is cancelled and you are not charged; the timing of that release is determined by your card issuer, not by String.

2.4 No cash refunds

No cash refund is issued for declined or un-played requests. What your payment buys is delivery of your selection to the artist and its place in the queue, which is provided the moment the request lands. Cash refunds are limited to the documented platform errors described in Section 5.

3. Boosts

A "boost" is an additional payment added to a request already in the queue, raising its rank.

  • Boosts paid to a request that was performed: non-refundable.
  • Boosts paid to a request that was declined: the underlying request follows Section 2. The boost is not separately refundable.
  • Boosts paid to a request that was never performed: the boost follows the same treatment as the request itself under Section 2.3. No refund is issued.

4. Shoutouts

A "shoutout" is a direct fan-to-artist payment with an optional message, not tied to a song.

  • A shoutout payment is delivered the moment it is submitted. It is not refundable based on whether the artist acknowledges or reads the message.
  • Discretionary review is available where there is a documented platform error that prevented delivery of the shoutout to the artist's dashboard.

5. Refunds Are Limited to Documented Errors

Cash refunds are issued only in the following circumstances:

  • Documented duplicate payment caused by a platform technical error, where two charges for the same request are recorded against the same fan within a short window.
  • Documented payment-processing failure in which the fan was charged but the request never reached the artist's queue.
  • Other documented platform-side error of similar nature, at String's discretion.

When a cash refund is issued under this Section 5, it is processed against the original payment method. The platform fee and payment-processing fees are non-refundable in all cases, because the platform fee covers operational costs incurred at the time of the transaction and the processing fee is imposed by the payment processor.

To request review under this Section, contact support@stringmusic.live within thirty (30) days of the transaction with:

  • The email address used at checkout;
  • The artist handle, and the date and venue of the show in question;
  • The approximate date and time of the request; and
  • A brief description of the issue, including any error messages you saw.

We respond within five (5) business days. Discretionary refunds are not precedential.

6. Show Ending

If a show ends without your request being performed and without an explicit decline (for example, the show simply ran out of time and your request remained in the queue), you have not been declined. Your request was delivered and placed in the queue, which is what your payment covers. No replacement selection is offered and no cash refund is issued.

7. Settlement and Effect on Artist Payouts

Because no cash refunds are issued for declined or un-played requests, there are no refund deductions against artist payouts arising from those events. A payment for a request that reached the queue is part of the artist's earnings whether or not the request was performed.

Where a documented platform-error refund is issued under Section 5 from funds already settled to the artist, the refunded amount is deducted from that artist's next payout. If no next payout is sufficient, we may invoice for the difference.

8. Chargebacks

A "chargeback" is a dispute initiated with your card-issuing bank or payment provider. Filing a chargeback without first contacting String support reverses the merchant's normal opportunity to resolve a complaint and creates additional fees and penalties.

8.1 Please contact us first

Before initiating a chargeback, contact support@stringmusic.live with the details of your concern. Most issues, including misunderstandings about what a payment covers, can be resolved faster and without fees through direct communication.

8.2 Effect of an unjustified chargeback

If you initiate a chargeback for a transaction in which:

  • Your request was successfully delivered to the artist, and
  • The request was performed, or was declined or left unperformed in accordance with Section 2,

then we will:

  • Respond to the chargeback with transaction records and queue logs;
  • Pursue recovery of funds and any chargeback fees from the artist's payout balance pending resolution;
  • Suspend or terminate your access to the Service if a pattern of unjustified chargebacks emerges; and
  • Recover from you any costs reasonably incurred in responding to a chargeback, to the extent permitted by law.

8.3 Cooperation with artists

We will share information about chargebacks affecting an artist's payouts with that artist, and we will, where reasonable, consult with them in formulating a chargeback response.

9. Subscription and Other Charges

This Policy covers song requests, boosts, and shoutouts. If subscription or other fees are introduced, the terms that apply to them will be published before they take effect.

10. Promotional Credits

If we have issued promotional credits in connection with a launch event, partner referral, or service recovery, those credits:

  • May be applied automatically to qualifying transactions;
  • Have no cash value and are non-transferable;
  • Expire on the date stated at the time of issuance, or, if no date is stated, twelve (12) months after issuance; and
  • Are forfeited upon account termination.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. Material changes are communicated by reasonable means, which may include posting the updated Policy with a new effective date or notifying you in-product. Changes apply to transactions occurring on or after the effective date of the change.

12. Contact

String Music, LLC
Attn: Support
support@stringmusic.live
Nashville, TN

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