Plain-English terms for working with us. Nothing here is designed to trip you up — it's simply what we each agree to.
Send us a request and you'll get a personal reply within 24 hours. For commissions, that reply includes any questions we need answered and a firm price. Nothing is charged until you've approved exactly what we're making and the price is agreed.
You choose how to pay. Either a secure checkout link in our Etsy shop — handled entirely by Etsy and covered by their buyer protection — or a direct itemized invoice payable by card or bank transfer, with a dated receipt for your records. Etsy quick-order products are bought directly from our shop at the listed price. If your business has its own purchasing process, tell us and we'll work with it.
The Youngstown Sessions are held with a 50% reservation. The balance is due once you've approved the plan and before final delivery.
We reply to every enquiry within 24 hours. Delivery times depend on what you've ordered: quick Etsy pieces are often finished within 24 hours, studio commissions have their timeline agreed with you before work begins, and Youngstown Sessions run 10–14 days with two slots a month.
If a date matters, tell us up front and we'll be straight with you about what's possible. We would rather turn work down than miss the moment it was made for.
Every commission includes two rounds of revisions — changes to lyrics, arrangement, mix, or details we've got wrong. Most orders never need the second.
If a name is wrong, a detail is missing, or something we promised isn't there, we'll fix it at no charge and it doesn't count as a revision round. Additional revisions beyond the included rounds, or a change of direction after work is approved, are quoted separately before anything further is done.
A high-quality digital audio file, delivered by email or download link, yours to keep for good. Film orders include the video file. There are no subscriptions and no expiring links.
What you're permitted to do with it is set out in full on our Song Rights & Licensing page. In short: personal songs come with a personal licence, business work includes commercial rights as standard, and exclusivity is available as an add-on.
Because every piece is made specifically for you, custom work generally can't be resold, so we handle this simply and fairly:
The details you send us. We write from your story, so names, dates and facts come from you — please check them. We're not able to verify that the information you provide is accurate.
You also confirm that anything you send us is yours to send, and that you're not asking us to copy an existing song or use someone else's material.
We turn down work that's hateful, harassing, defamatory, or intended to hurt somebody. We also won't recreate an existing copyrighted song. If we decline, you'll get your money back in full.
We're open about our process. The story-listening, the meaning, the creative direction and the final judgement are human. Finished audio is produced using professional AI production tools under an active paid commercial subscription, shaped and refined by hand. The Youngstown Sessions are the option with no AI involved at all. The full explanation lives on the Song Rights page.
Melody Made is a one-person studio in Youngstown, Ohio. Our responsibility for any order is limited to the amount you paid for it. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio.
We may update these terms as the business grows. The version on this page at the time you order is the one that applies to your order.