Terms of service

Upper Light Studios (“the studio”, “we”) runs this online order form for mixing, mastering, mix + mastering and full song production. Placing an order means you accept these terms, the service description shown beside it, and the price shown at checkout. If you are ordering on behalf of a band, a label or a client, you confirm you are allowed to agree to these terms for everyone involved.

Questions before you commit are welcome at studio@upperlight.com - we answer as soon as possible.

The form prices your order as you build it. Every figure is in Canadian dollars (CAD) and shown before tax. HST is added at 13% on the subtotal where the tax line is switched on. The price you see on the review step is the price: it is calculated again on the secure server before your card is charged, so it cannot drift between the page and the payment.

Song lengths, track counts, add-ons, multi-song discounts, rush delivery and discount codes all follow the rates published on the form. Each song starts at the length included in its service, and extra time is added in 60-second steps to the songs that run longer, charged only on those songs.

Card payments are handled by Stripe on its own secure checkout. Orders below $1,000.00 are charged in full at the time of checkout. Orders of $1,000.00 or more are split: a 50% deposit is charged today and the remaining 50% is due on final delivery. The tax and any rush fee sit inside each half.

On a split order, your watermarked preview and the approval step come first, and your final files unlock once the balance payment has cleared. Your private delivery link is yours to keep - anyone holding it can open it, so please do not post it publicly.

Discount codes are limited in number and may be withdrawn at any time; a code is only valid while the form accepts it and it has not reached its limit.

A deposit reserves studio time and is non-refundable once work has begun. If you need to cancel, write to studio@upperlight.com as early as possible: if no work has started, the amount you paid is refunded, less any payment processing costs that cannot be recovered. If the studio cannot deliver the work you ordered, you are refunded for the part of the order that was not delivered.

Each service includes a set number of revision rounds - two for mixing, mastering and mix + mastering, three for full production - and further rounds can be added when you build your order. Revision rounds are for notes on the work delivered; arrangement changes are best raised early, since later revisions focus on mix tweaks.

For mixing and mix + mastering, send 24-bit WAV files, one per track, all starting at the same point, with no limiter or master-bus processing. Submixes and stems both count as tracks. For mastering, send the final stereo mix as a single 24-bit WAV with roughly -3 to -6 dB of headroom and no limiter. Full production can start from a voice memo, a rough demo or lyrics.

You keep ownership of your recordings, and you confirm that you hold the rights needed for the studio to work on them. Very large sessions (more than 48 tracks per song on production) are quoted by hand. If the files sent cannot be worked with, we will ask you for replacements before any work begins.

The delivery window shown on your order is an estimate in working days, based on the material described when you ordered; it is not a guaranteed date. Rush and priority options shorten it. Estimates assume the files arrive as described and that notes come back promptly, so delayed answers or reshaped arrangements can move the window.

Previews are watermarked until final delivery, and approval happens on your private delivery page. Finished files are delivered as downloads from that page.

You own your song and your master. The studio keeps no rights and takes no splits or royalties on your work. Your music is never used publicly - no portfolio posts, no clips, no credits - without your permission.

The work is carried out with reasonable skill and care. If something goes wrong, the studio’s responsibility is limited to the amount you paid for the affected order, and it is not responsible for indirect or consequential losses such as lost income or lost opportunity. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under consumer protection law where you live.

These terms may be updated from time to time; the version shown when you order is the one that applies to that order. They are governed by the laws of Ontario, Canada, and the courts of Ontario have jurisdiction over any dispute.

Anything unclear, or anything you want to raise about an order? Write to studio@upperlight.com or call +1 (365) 675 0808.