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 & Ready Etsy pieces are 3–5 days as standard (24 hours if you ask when you order, no extra charge, with a short style demo first), 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.
Commissions booked here aren't a form you fill in and a file that arrives. They're built with you, and the way we do that is a working window.
The window opens when you receive the first draft — not when you pay. Your time to think and respond is yours, and our preparation doesn't eat into it. From that moment you have five working days with us.
During the window we talk however suits you — text, email or phone, whichever you told us you prefer. You hear versions as they develop, sent as watermarked drafts. You tell us what's landing and what isn't, we adjust, you hear it again. There's no counter running and no limit on how many times we go back and forth.
At the end of the window you choose. Every version we built together is on the table, and the one you pick becomes your final. That version is then mastered, stripped of its watermark, and delivered to you properly finished.
If you'd like to keep going after that, you can. Additional rounds are $75 each, on any product, agreed before any further work starts.
Corrections are never part of this. A misspelled name, a missing detail, something we promised and didn't deliver — we fix it, free, whenever you spot it. That isn't a revision, it's just us doing what we said.
If none of the versions are right, say so before the window closes and we'll talk honestly about whether to keep working, adjust the direction, or stop and refund the unworked portion. We would rather part on good terms than hand over something you don't want.
Two practical notes. If we go quiet on our end, the clock pauses — the window is our commitment to you, not a deadline you can lose through our silence. And if you need to step away mid-window for something in your own life, tell us and we'll pick it back up when you're ready.
Quick pieces bought through our Etsy shop work differently: a short style demo for approval, then the full track. After the first full version, one full revision if you request it within 24 hours of us sending it. Seller errors are fixed within seven days of sending. Not two free rounds, and not unlimited polish.
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.
If we've made something for you before, every piece after your first is 25% off — not just the second one, and with no expiry. Once we know your voice and your brand, the work genuinely takes us less time, and that saving belongs to you.
The discount applies to individual pieces rather than bundles, which are already reduced. Where both could apply, you get whichever price is better for you — we'll work it out and tell you, you don't have to ask.
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.