TERMS & CONDITIONS
TERMS OF BUSINESS
All bookings with Oliver McKiernan at Ghost Town Sounds are subject to the terms within this agreement, bookings with Oliver at other studios may be subject to that studio’s own terms and conditions.
BOOKING POLICY
Bookings must be made in advance.
Payment must be made in full prior to commencement of any session unless otherwise stated by ourselves in writing.
We require a minimum of 50% non returnable deposit to be fully cleared in our account before we are able to confirm your booking. The balance must be paid in full before the end of the session unless otherwise agreed.
CONDITIONS OF HIRE
Bookings are made on a strict 8hr basis, including all setup and backup time unless stated otherwise by ourselves in writing. Hours are generally 10am-6pm or 11am-7pm. Other hours are possible by prior agreement.
Prices are not subject to VAT.
PRODUCER, STUDIO OWNER and SOUND ENGINEER
It is the Client’s responsibility to make clear the nature of the session booked. If a producer/artist relationship is agreed then Oliver will endeavour, through written means or a meeting in person, to discuss the specific details of the service required by the artist. This may include, but is not limited to, songwriting, musical direction, session musicianship, comping, editing, tuning, mixing and mastering. If the client wishes to only book the studio for a recording session (without production services) then Oliver McKiernan will only act as a a studio engineer and is not obligated to provide musical direction or musicianship as part of the session but is normally happy to offer these services if asked.
MIXES & MIX REVISIONS
There is no strict limit on the number of revisions made to songs mixed by Oliver, however, we do operate a fair usage policy and reserve the right to start charging £35 per revision if it is felt such a policy is being infringed upon. For general information in practice the average amount of mix revisions per song is around three. Where mix notes are being given by several people (such as a band or artist and manager) for one song they should be aggregated onto one email or message.
CANCELLATION POLICY – FEES AND CHARGES
Where Oliver is hired as a producer then 50% of the agreed fee is payable on or before the initial recording session with the remainder being payable within 7 days of invoice which will be sent upon delivery of the first mix of the songs being produced.
Where Oliver is being hired as a studio engineer the full amount or remaining balance will be payable before the end of the recording day(s).
To avoid the cancellation fee of the full cost of the booking, the client must give at least 72 hours
notice before the session commencement date. The fees shall not be reduced on account of the client’s failure to use the studio for any or all of the period of the booking and/or the client’s cancellation of the booking or any part thereof after the cancellation period.
Additional fees for credit card payments and overseas transfers may apply.
OVERTIME POLICY
If the Period of Booking is exceeded for any reason, the Client may be charged an overtime fee at £35 per hour.
It is the responsibility of the Client to fully understand these costs before any booking.
The Overtime Fee shall accrue on an hourly basis for every hour exceeding the Period of Booking.
The Company reserves the right to amend the Overtime Fee prior to the commencement of the Booking.
The studio has the right to limit overtime at any time for any reason at their own discretion. This is most likely to be in relation to family commitments or childcare responsibilities. Please check in advance if you think your session is likely to overrun.
CLIENT RESPONSIBILITY
By making a booking the Client acknowledges that they or their representatives shall be responsible for ensuring the suitability of the studio for the client’s purpose, that the client’s equipment shall be compatible with the studio to a good working order, and any problem or damage caused by use of clients own equipment will be the entire fault of the Client and subject to any charges.
It is a condition of accepting any studio booking that the person making the booking will be held liable for payment of any invoice relating to the booking whether or not they nominate a third party to be invoiced.
SOCIAL MEDIA
You are free to take photos & videos for the duration of your session for use on social media. If the images include other people unrelated to your booking then permission of that individual is required before sharing on the internet. Oliver is happy for his own image to be shared by clients without prior consent.
COLLECTION
The client is allowed collection of the masters and session data materials immediately upon payment of invoice’s applicable to the session or songs produced or any other outstanding account prior to the session.
This may be done in person or via a file transfer service such as WeTransfer or Dropbox.
THEFT / DAMAGES
The client will be liable for any damages or any theft that occurred or that can be attributed to the client before, during or after the period of your session. Client's equipment and personal belongings are brought to the session at the owners risk. Any loss or damage to client’s belongings is not covered by our own insurance policies.
BACKUPS and STORAGE
After the session, masters, session data and materials shall be held by Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds solely at the risk of the client. The client shall be liable for such reasonable charges as we may raise against the client for the continued storage of the materials after 14 days from the sessions end.
Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds is at no time responsible for the storage of session data or masters. We shall be entitled to dispose of masters and session data if the client has not collected them in person or requested that their session files be transferred to them.
BREAKDOWN
In the event of a complete studio breakdown due to fundamental equipment failure Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds will at its own discretion aim to either replace or repair equipment (as soon as can easily be arranged) or credit or refund to the client the booking fee or studio time in respect of the booking and shall have no liability or obligation to the client beyond these remedies. Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds cannot be held responsible for disruption to any session due to external noise such as road works or building works.
SOUND LEVELS
The Client hereby acknowledges that the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 have established that prolonged exposure to high noise levels above 85 dB(A) may cause damage to hearing and that both studios and studio users are required by law to keep exposures as low as reasonably practicable and that accordingly:
The Client shall be responsible for noise levels within the Studio; High noise levels shall not be sustained for long periods;
The Company hereby reserves the right to take such action as it may deem appropriate to maintain tolerable noise levels and that no claim shall lie against the Company in respect of inconvenience or time lost in the event of such action;
The Client shall follow the recommendations contained in the APRS leaflet "KEEP SOUND LEVELS DOWN" (receipt of a copy of which the Client hereby acknowledges) and instruct the Client's Personnel to do the same.
Due to the studio being in close proximity to residential dwellings, certain time restrictions may be enforced by us on noise levels and working hours.
TERMINATION
Notwithstanding any other terms and conditions contained herein Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds shall be entitled on notice to the Client to terminate its agreement with the Client with immediate effect in the event that (a) any of Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds staff are subjected to any abuse and/or threatening behaviour or (b) the Client or any person attending the studio at the request or with the permission of the Client partakes in any criminal activity or conducts themselves in any way that a reasonable person would expect to bring Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds into disrepute.
You agree that if Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds terminates the agreement pursuant to any one or all of such events mentioned in the preceding sentence then (1) the entire studio fee for the relevant booking will become immediately payable to Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds (2) you shall immediately leave the premises and we reserve the right to procure that you are escorted from the premises; and (3) Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds shall be entitled to refuse any future requests for studio bookings from the Client and to inform the Client’s authorised representatives and any person who hired the studio of the breach of our terms and conditions of hire.
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
It is a condition of entry to the Recording Studios that the terms of this agreement are to be adhered to prior, during and after the duration of the Client’s session. In case of any conflict of terms, the terms contained within this TERMS OF BUSINESS shall prevail over all others. Terms of this policy are specifically accepted by the Client unless they are waived by Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds.
Such waiver shall be effective only with the prior written consent of Oliver McKiernan/Ghost Town Sounds.
The Client hereby warrants undertakes and agrees that it shall procure that each of the Client’s Personnel shall abide by the Studio’s rules, regulations and health and safety policy and that it shall be responsible:
(a) for the actions of the Client’s Personnel upon the Company’s premises;
(b) for any and all injury, loss or damage to any person’s equipment or premises (including, without limitation, the Studio’s equipment or premises) caused by any act or omission of the Client’s Personnel, or as a result of any defect in or inappropriate specification of the Client’s Equipment or the Media Materials generally;
(c) for the cost of the hire of any Client’s Equipment;
(d) for any costs and expenses incurred by the Company on behalf of the Client at the Client’s request;
(e) for any and all loss or damage to the Client’s Equipment which shall be at the sole risk of the Client.
Definitions:
“Agreement” means the agreement comprised in the Booking Form and these Conditions
”Booking” means the hire of the Studio for the Period of Booking
“Client” means the person or company referred to in the Booking Form
“Client’s Equipment” means equipment brought onto the premises by the Client, or the Client’s Personnel or any servant agent or contractor for and on behalf of the Client
“Conditions” means these conditions.
“Studio” means the recording studio and the equipment specified on our websites.