Terms & Conditions

The following is a summary of our terms and conditions, we will email or post a copy of the actual agreement for studio-hire (in full legalese) along with the studio-hire booking form.

1. BOOKING
Following an online or telephone enquiry by you we will make a provisional Booking for you for up to two weeks. Within those two weeks you must send us a signed Studio Hire Booking Form and (for bookings of 1 day or more) a fixed Deposit of 50% of the agreed Fee for the Booking Period.
On receipt of the signed Studio Hire Booking Form and Deposit your provisional Booking will become a firm booking, which the Company will confirm the booking details with you via phone or e-mail.
If after two weeks of making a provisional booking we have not received your Studio Hire Booking Form and Deposit we will send you a reminder, after which date the Booking Period will be made available to other customers.

2. DEPOSIT & CANCELLATION
For bookings of one or more days, we require a Deposit equivalent to 50% of the agreed Fee for the Booking Period. Receipt of the Deposit, and signed Studio Hire Booking Form will confirm your Booking.
Please give us at least four weeks notice if you need to change your Booking. If you give us less than four weeks notice we may levy the following charges against you in respect of any potential loss of business suffered by us as a result.
Any cancellation by you of the Booking with less than four (4) weeks notice (before the date of the Booking Period) will be billed by us at 25% of the total Fee payable by you in respect of the Booking and agreed by us and/or set out in the Booking Form. You will be required to pay this charge within 10 working days of receiving an invoice from the Company.
Any cancellation of the Booking by you with less than three (3) weeks notice before the start of the Booking Period) will be billed by us at 50% of the total Fee agreed by us and/or set out in the Booking Form. In effect this will result in the retention by the Company of your Deposit, if you have paid a Deposit to the Company and it is in cleared funds. You will be required to pay this charge (if applicable) within 10 working days of receiving an invoice from the Company.
Any cancellation of the Booking by you with less than two (2) weeks notice (before the start of the Booking Period) will be billed by us at 75% of the total Fee agreed by us and/or set out in the Booking Form. You will be required to pay this charge (if applicable) within 10 working days of receiving an invoice from the Company.
Any cancellation of the Booking by you with less than one (1) weeks notice will be billed by us at 100% of the total Fee agreed by us and/or set out in the Booking Form. You will be required to pay this charge (if applicable) within 10 working days of receiving an invoice from the Company.
The Fees shall not be reduced on account of the Client's failure to use the Studio for any or all of the Booking Period or the Client's cancellation of the Booking or any part thereof for any reason whatsoever.

3. DISCOUNT RATES
Our discount rates are available only to non-commercial concerns i.e. unsigned bands, small record labels and bona fide charities and always at the discretion of the Company. The Company reserves the right to amend any invoices accordingly if a Client has failed to disclose that they are a business or commercial concern at the time of booking or has sought in any other way to obtain a discount rate by misleading the Company as to their status and financial position and/or by any manner of deception.

4. SESSION OVER-RUN
If your session over-runs, any additional time will be charged by the Company at a pro-rata rate unless a special discount rate or reduced-price package has been agreed in writing in advance, in which case a new rate may be applied with the agreement of both the Company and the Client. This new agreement must be made in writing before the commencement of any over-runs of session time.

5. PAYMENT
Unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, the final balance of the Fee must be paid by you in full by cash or cheque immediately at the end of the Booking Period.
Session materials will only be released to record labels with valid purchase orders (P.O.'s) or to independent Clients paying cash (which shall include cheques and bankers drafts which have cleared in the Company's bank account and the funds have been available for at least 7 days thereafter) at the end of their Booking Period. Without a valid purchase order or payment in full (including cleared cheques), the Studio will hold possession of all Client materials until such time as payment of the Fee has been made in full, for the avoidance of any doubt all cheques and bankers drafts are required to be in cleared funds before any Client materials will be released by the Company. Materials include without limitation CDs, tapes, hard-drives, etc. created at the Studio during the period of Booking (and any other such time as is agreed between the Client and the Company), as well as Clients' materials brought in from outside sources.
All master recordings and multi-track tapes including the copyright in the performances embodied therein are deemed to be the property of the Company until all Fee payments payable and due are discharged and paid in full by the Client. The Company will retain such media until full payment is made by the Client unless it shall agree otherwise in writing.
Payment terms for all projects including any Booking Period with valid purchase orders are 28 days from the date of invoice.
Immediately following your Booking Period, we will post you an invoice (with a cost breakdown) confirming or requesting payment to be made.
Forms of payment accepted by the Company are cash, certified/cashiers cheques, money orders, and business/company cheques.
Personal cheques are also accepted. Seven working days are required for the clearance of personal cheques. The Company will hold possession of session materials until the cheque clears and has been in cleared funds for seven days thereafter.
In the event of non-payment in accordance with agreed terms, the Company reserves the right to withdraw any concessions and discounts offered and to re-invoice the Client at the full standard commercial hourly rate of £35 per hour plus daily interest calculated at 30% APR.

6. CONDITIONS
The Company will not accept responsibility for any damage pertaining to the personal property of the Client; except where it is clearly and entirely the fault of the Company and/or its staff.
Storage of materials (CDs, tapes, hard drives, etc) and other property belonging to the Client is stored by the Company solely at the Client's risk and the Company will not be held liable for loss of such articles regardless of the cause.
Smoking is not permitted in the Studio corridors or immediately outside the recording rooms and 2nd City Productions premises.
Smoking in the control room is permitted only with the consent of any engineer or producer working there. Smoking is permitted in designated smoking rooms. From Sunday, 1st July 2007 it will be against the law to smoke, or permit others to smoke, in enclosed public places and workplaces in England.
Receipt and acceptance of the Recording Media by the Client after Completion shall be deemed acknowledgement between both parties that the quality of all services rendered by the Studio is satisfactory to the Client and the Company shall automatically be released from any and all liability regarding said Recording Media and all services rendered.

7. CONTENT OF RECORDING
The Client warrants that nothing whatsoever shall be included in the Recording which constitutes a breach of infringement of any copyright or which shall be in anyway illegal, scandalous, obscene or libellous. The Client will indemnify the Company against any liability in respect thereof, and shall pay all costs and expenses which may be incurred by the Company in reference to any such claim.
The Company shall not be required to reproduce any matter which, in its opinion, is, or may be, of an illegal, scandalous, obscene or libellous nature.
The Company reserves the right to decline to master any material that they deem to be of insufficient technical quality.

8. STUDIO BREAKDOWN WARRANTY
Time will only be deducted by the Company for technical breakdowns of the Studio equipment, rendering the Studio unfit for use.
In the event of a breakdown of Studio equipment, the Company shall be entitled, at its sole discretion, to either replace (as soon as can reasonably be arranged) the Studio facilities to which the Client was entitled in accordance with the Studio Hire Booking Agreement or give a credit or refund to the Client equal only to the amount of session time lost. For the avoidance of any doubt the Company shall not be liable to credit and/or refund to the Client for the amount of session time lost where the Studio is fit for use and the Client has exercised his right not to use the Studio.

9. STOPPAGES
The engineer is entitled to a one-hour lunch break during daytime recording sessions. This break is a counted as a stoppage.
The engineer is entitled to a break equivalent to five minutes per hour. This break time whether taken hourly or in aggregate is not deemed to be a stoppage.

10. 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 solely responsible for noise levels within the Studio when using the Studio.
High noise levels shall not be sustained by the Client for long periods of time.
The Company hereby reserves the right to take such action as it may deem appropriate to maintain tolerable noise levels and no claim shall lie against the Company in respect of inconvenience or time lost by the Client in the event of the Company taking such action.

11. CODE OF CONDUCT
The staff at 2nd City Productions will always try to be polite and helpful and they expect the same consideration in return. 2nd City Productions reserves the right to terminate a Recording Session without prejudice to any of the aforementioned in the event of any violent or abusive conduct directed towards the staff and/or the property of the Company and the Studio by any persons present in connection with a Recording Session/Booking whether they be the recording artiste(s) or their associates and the Client shall be liable for all and any resulting damages caused to the Studio any equipment and the Company.