Please read these Terms and Conditions ("Terms") carefully before entering the Unheard | Heard Producer Entry Programme ("Programme").

By submitting an entry, you confirm that you are aged 18 or over and have read, understood and agreed to these Terms.

1. The Programme

Unheard | Heard is an open-entry music programme organised by Unheard Music.

The Programme gives emerging DJs and music producers the opportunity to submit original music for consideration for professional mentorship, artist development and potential release opportunities with Unheard Music.

Participation does not guarantee selection, mentorship, feedback, a release or any commercial agreement with the Label.

2. Eligibility

Entrants must:

Be aged 18 or over at the time of entry.

Be the creator, co-creator or authorised rights holder of the Submitted Content.

Have permission from all relevant co-writers, producers, performers and rights holders to submit the work.

Ensure all Submitted Content complies with the intellectual property and AI requirements below.

Not be an employee, director or immediate family member of Unheard Music or anyone directly involved in judging the Programme.

Agree to these Terms in full.

Unheard Music may verify eligibility at any stage and disqualify any entrant or submission that does not meet these requirements.

3. How to Enter

Entries must be submitted through the official platform, form or submission method specified by Unheard Music.

Opening and closing dates, deadlines and any maximum number of entries per participant will be published on the official Programme submission page.

Each entry must include:

The audio file in the requested format.

The entrant's name and contact details.

Requested artist and track information.

Any other information reasonably required for the Programme.

Incomplete, inaccurate, fraudulent, late or technically non-compliant submissions may be rejected.

No purchase or entry fee is required.

4. Original Music & No Generative AI

The Programme exists to discover and support human creativity.

Generative AI-created music will not be accepted.

Submitted music must be created by the entrant. Entrants must not submit music, vocals, lyrics or other substantive creative elements generated or substantially created using generative artificial intelligence.

Generative AI must not replace or materially substitute the entrant's own composition, production, performance, songwriting or other creative authorship.

Conventional production and technical processing tools, including mixing, mastering, EQ, compression and audio restoration, are permitted, provided they have not been used to generate substantive creative elements of the submitted work.

Unheard Music may request reasonable information about how a submission was created and may disqualify any entry it reasonably believes breaches this requirement.

5. Intellectual Property & Third-Party Material

Entrants retain ownership of their Submitted Content.

By entering, participants represent and warrant that:

They own or control all rights necessary to submit the work.

All relevant co-writers, producers, performers and rights holders have authorised the submission.

Any samples, loops, vocals, recordings or third-party materials have been properly licensed, cleared or lawfully used.

The Submitted Content does not infringe copyright, trademark, moral rights, publicity rights or other third-party rights.

The Submitted Content is not subject to any agreement preventing participation in the Programme.

The Submitted Content does not contain unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate material.

Entrants are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions and clearances.

Subject to applicable law, entrants agree to indemnify Unheard Music and its affiliates, officers, employees, contractors and representatives against reasonable claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and legal expenses arising directly from a material breach of these warranties.

6. Judging & Selection

Submissions may be assessed on factors including:

Originality and creativity.

Production quality.

Artistic identity.

Composition and musicality.

Development potential.

Suitability for Unheard Music and the Programme.

Overall potential of the artist and submitted work.

Unheard Music may appoint internal and external music-industry professionals to participate in judging.

Judging is subjective. All decisions are final.

Unheard Music is under no obligation to select a winner or provide individual feedback, scores or explanations to unsuccessful entrants.

7. Social Promotion

Entrants may be invited to share their participation, tag Unheard Music or use official Programme hashtags.

Unless specifically stated otherwise in the published judging criteria, social activity, follower numbers or audience size will not determine selection.

By tagging Unheard Music or using an official Programme hashtag in connection with the Programme, entrants permit Unheard Music to repost or reshare that public content for Programme-related promotional purposes.

Entrants retain ownership of their original social content.

8. Use of Submitted Content

By entering, participants grant Unheard Music a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use relevant Submitted Content solely for:

Programme administration and judging.

Internal review and selection.

Promotion of the Programme and selected participants.

Programme-related website and social media content.

Programme-related press, editorial and promotional communications.

This licence applies for the duration of the Programme and for a reasonable period afterwards for legitimate archival, editorial and Programme-related promotional purposes.

Participants retain ownership of their Submitted Content.

Nothing in these Terms permits Unheard Music to commercially release, sell, distribute, license or otherwise commercially exploit an entrant's music without a separate written agreement.

For the avoidance of doubt, Submitted Content will not be used by Unheard Music to train, develop, fine-tune or create datasets for generative AI or machine-learning models.

9. Selected Participants & Mentorship

Selected participants may be offered:

Professional mentorship.

Artist or producer development.

Creative feedback.

Industry guidance.

Networking opportunities.

Consideration for an official Unheard Music release.

The structure, duration and nature of any mentorship or development opportunity will be determined by Unheard Music.

Participation does not guarantee a recording agreement, release or other commercial opportunity.

Unheard Music reserves the right not to select a winner where no submission is considered suitable.

10. Releases & Commercial Agreements

If Unheard Music wishes to commercially release a participant's music, a separate written agreement must be entered into.

That agreement will address the relevant commercial terms, including where applicable:

Master rights and ownership.

Licensing or assignment.

Royalties.

Publishing.

Distribution.

Territory.

Exclusivity.

Term.

Accounting.

Marketing and promotion.

Other commercial rights.

No participant will be considered signed to Unheard Music, and no Submitted Content will be commercially released by the Label, unless an appropriate written agreement has been entered into.

11. Publicity

Selected participants may be invited to participate in reasonable publicity relating to the Programme.

Participants permit Unheard Music to use their approved artist name, biography, image, likeness, photographs, quotes and Programme-related video or interview material for the reasonable promotion of the Programme and their participation in it.

12. Conduct

Unheard Music is committed to maintaining a professional, respectful and inclusive Programme.

Participants must not engage in harassment, bullying, discrimination, threatening or abusive behaviour, fraud, manipulation of the entry process or other conduct reasonably considered harmful to participants, staff, mentors, partners or the Programme.

Unheard Music may remove or disqualify any participant it reasonably believes has breached these standards or these Terms.

13. Confidentiality

Participants may receive access to confidential or commercially sensitive information during the Programme, including unreleased music, creative materials, business information or information relating to other artists.

Participants must not disclose or use such confidential information outside the Programme without prior permission from Unheard Music or the relevant rights holder.

This does not apply to information already lawfully in the public domain or where disclosure is required by law.

14. Privacy & Data Protection

Unheard Music may collect personal information including names, email addresses, artist information, social media profiles and information voluntarily provided through the submission process.

This information may be used to:

Administer the Programme.

Assess submissions.

Communicate with entrants.

Announce and promote selected participants.

Deliver mentorship or development opportunities.

Discuss potential release opportunities.

Meet legal and administrative requirements.

Personal information will not be sold to third parties.

Information may be processed by service providers reasonably required to operate the Programme and, where legally permitted, may be transferred or stored outside the UAE subject to applicable safeguards.

Personal data will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary and processed in accordance with applicable data protection law, including UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 concerning the Protection of Personal Data, where applicable. UAE law also regulates cross-border data transfers and gives data subjects rights relating to information, processing and direct marketing.

Further information should be provided in Unheard Music's Privacy Policy.

15. Technical Issues

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Unheard Music is not responsible for:

Lost, delayed or incomplete submissions.

Corrupted or inaccessible files.

Platform or internet outages.

Transmission or storage errors.

Technical failures outside its reasonable control.

Entrants are responsible for ensuring their submission has been successfully completed before the deadline.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Unheard Music will not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive or purely economic losses arising from participation in the Programme.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

17. Changes, Suspension & Cancellation

Unheard Music may reasonably amend, suspend, postpone or cancel the Programme due to technical problems, legal or regulatory requirements, operational issues, force majeure or circumstances outside its reasonable control.

Where reasonably practicable, material changes will be communicated through the Programme website, submission platform or contact details provided by entrants.

18. General

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force.

Failure by Unheard Music to enforce any provision does not constitute a waiver of its rights.

These Terms constitute the agreement between Unheard Music and each entrant regarding participation in the Programme unless a separate written agreement is subsequently entered into.

These Terms are written in English. If translated, the English-language version will prevail in the event of any inconsistency, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

19. Governing Law & Dubai Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or in connection with the Programme shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Emirate of Dubai and the applicable federal laws of the United Arab Emirates.

The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, subject to any mandatory provisions of applicable law.

20. Contact

Questions regarding the Programme or these Terms should be directed to Unheard Music using the official contact details published on the Programme submission platform or Unheard Music website.