Terms of use

1. Provider and scope

unlq is a service of Blickwerk Media UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Prinz-Carl-Anlage 19, 67547 Worms, Germany (“we”). These terms apply to all users of unlq: artists who create gates and fans who unlock downloads. Users' own terms do not apply.

unlq is an independent service and is not affiliated with SoundCloud or Instagram. SoundCloud and Instagram are trademarks of their respective owners.

2. Services

unlq lets artists offer music as a free download and tie the download to steps, such as following a SoundCloud profile, liking, reposting or commenting on a track, following a playlist, entering an email address or visiting an Instagram profile. Fans complete these steps and then receive the file.

Using unlq is currently free of charge. There is no entitlement to a particular availability or to specific features. We may develop unlq further and change or discontinue features as long as this is reasonable for you.

3. Artist account

To create an artist account you must be at least 16 years old and sign in with a SoundCloud account. Your details must be true and up to date. Each person or project may only hold one account; your username must not infringe third-party rights or mislead about your identity.

Keep your access to SoundCloud and your email address secure. You are responsible for all activity through your account to the extent you are at fault. Let us know immediately if you suspect misuse.

4. Artist content

You are responsible for all content you upload or link, in particular tracks, artwork, titles, descriptions and links. You warrant that you hold all necessary rights, including copyright, neighbouring rights, label, publishing and trademark rights and rights to any samples used, and that releasing the content as a free download does not breach any agreement with third parties (such as labels, distributors or collecting societies).

For as long as the content is available, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free right to store, reproduce, make publicly available and deliver your content to fans to the extent necessary to operate unlq. This includes showing published gates with title, artwork and artist name on unlq itself, for example on the home page or in charts. This right ends when you delete the content or your account.

You allow fans to download and listen to the unlocked file for private, non-commercial purposes. You only grant further rights if you state so explicitly.

5. Prohibited content and use

In particular, the following is not allowed:

• content that infringes third-party rights, such as other people's tracks, remixes or artwork without permission
• illegal, violent, discriminatory, pornographic or content harmful to minors
• malware or files that do not match the stated content
• misleading gates, such as downloads that are never delivered or impersonated artists
• spam, automated access, scraping, bypassing steps or security measures
• any use that violates the terms of SoundCloud or Instagram

We may remove or block content that breaks these rules or applicable law. We will inform you of such measures with a statement of reasons where legally permitted. You can appeal by contacting us at support@unlq.app.

6. Gates and actions on SoundCloud

When you unlock a gate as a fan, we use SoundCloud's interface, with your consent, to perform exactly the actions the gate shows on your behalf, for example following a profile, liking or reposting a track, following a playlist or posting your comment. You can undo follows, likes, reposts and comments on SoundCloud yourself at any time afterwards.

Artists decide which steps a gate requires and are responsible for making sure their gates comply with SoundCloud's terms. If SoundCloud changes its interface or rules, individual steps may stop working at any time.

7. Fan email addresses (leads)

If a gate asks for an email address, the artist receives that address and is responsible for any further use. Artists may only contact fans who have explicitly opted in to release updates and confirmed via the confirmation link (marked as “Confirmed” in the dashboard) and must comply with data protection and unfair competition law, in particular the GDPR and § 7 UWG. Fans' withdrawals must be respected immediately. Selling or passing the addresses on to third parties is prohibited.

Using the “Notify fans” feature, the artist can inform confirmed subscribers about a new track once per published gate. The feature may only be used for the artist's own releases, not for third-party advertising.

8. Term, deletion and suspension

You can delete your artist account at any time in your settings. This deletes your profile, all gates, files, leads and statistics. Back up any files you want to keep beforehand.

We may terminate an account by email with two weeks' notice. In case of serious or repeated violations of these terms or applicable law, we may suspend or delete an account immediately.

9. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health and under the German Product Liability Act. In cases of slight negligence we are only liable for breach of an essential contractual obligation, i.e. one whose fulfilment makes the proper use of unlq possible in the first place and on whose compliance you may regularly rely, and limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract. Otherwise, liability is excluded.

unlq is not an archive. Always keep the originals of your files yourself; we are only liable for the loss of uploaded files under the rules above.

We accept no responsibility for artists' content or for third-party services such as SoundCloud or Instagram.

10. Indemnification

If third parties bring claims against us because an artist's content or gates infringe their rights or because an artist breaches these terms, the artist indemnifies us against such claims, including reasonable legal defence costs, to the extent the artist is responsible for the infringement. We will inform the artist without delay and coordinate our response with them.

11. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms for a valid reason, such as new features or changes in the law. We will notify artists by email at least four weeks in advance. If you do not object within this period, the new terms are deemed accepted; we will point this out in the notice. If you object, either party may terminate the account as of the date the change takes effect.

12. Final provisions

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer, mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of habitual residence remain unaffected.

If you are a merchant, a legal entity under public law or have no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the place of jurisdiction is Worms, Germany.

Should any provision be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.

If you have questions about these terms, contact us at support@unlq.app.