Content Policy
Effective date: September 22, 2026 • Last updated: September 22, 2026
This Content Policy (“Policy”) sets out what InterSpace Distribution Limited (“ToneGrid”, “we”, “us”) will and will not distribute through the ToneGrid platform, and the standards that audio, artwork, and metadata must meet before a release is sent to a digital service provider (“DSP”). It applies alongside — and does not replace — our Terms of Service, AI Music Policy, Anti-Fraud Policy, and DMCA Policy.
The one-line test we apply to every release
Do you own it, or can you prove you have the rights to distribute it commercially, in every territory you are sending it to? If the answer is anything other than a clear yes, resolve it — a license, a clearance, a disclosure — before you submit.
1. Overview
ToneGrid delivers Content to 220+ DSPs on behalf of Clients and their End Users. Every DSP relationship we hold depends on the Content flowing through it being lawful, accurately described, and free of material that damages listeners, rights holders, or the DSPs themselves. This Policy exists so Clients and End Users know, in advance and in detail, what clears our inspection queue and what does not — rather than finding out after a release is rejected or taken down.
Responsibility for compliance sits with the Client and their End Users, not with ToneGrid. We run automated and manual checks before release (see section 12), but those checks are a backstop, not a substitute for you having the rights, licenses, and clearances a release requires.
2. Scope
This Policy applies to all Content — audio files, cover artwork, lyrics, credits, and metadata — submitted for distribution through the ToneGrid platform, by any Client or End User, regardless of whether the account is a direct Client or an artist operating under a Client’s white-label Tenant. It applies to every release type ToneGrid supports (single, EP, album, compilation) and to video content distributed through the platform.
It does not cover content hosted outside the ToneGrid platform, such as a Client’s own website or social channels, except where that content is used to promote or represent Content that ToneGrid distributes.
3. Content Standards
Every release submitted for distribution must meet the following baseline standards:
- Rights. You own the Content, or you hold a valid license or clearance that permits commercial distribution to every DSP and territory you select.
- Originality of submission. A recording is submitted once. Re-uploading the same or a near-identical recording under a different title, artist name, or release is not permitted — see section 8.
- Audio quality. Masters must be a complete, listenable recording — not a placeholder, a loop with no musical content, silence, or a fragment shorter than 30 seconds submitted as a full track.
- Accurate credits. Performing artist, featured artist, songwriter, and producer credits must reflect who actually worked on the recording. See section 6 for metadata detail.
- Language & territory awareness. Content that is lawful in one territory may not be lawful in another. You are responsible for restricting delivery of Content to territories where it can legally be distributed.
4. Cover Songs & Compulsory Licensing
ToneGrid accepts cover recordings — your own performance of a composition written by someone else — provided the underlying composition is properly licensed. A cover license covers the composition (the melody and lyrics); it does not give you any rights in another artist’s specific recording of that composition.
| Scenario | License required | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Straight cover of a copyrighted composition | A mechanical license from the composition’s publisher or the relevant collecting society/licensing agent in your territory | Recording your own version of a song still under copyright before releasing it under your own artist name |
| Cover with a new arrangement, translated lyrics, or altered melody | A mechanical license, plus the publisher’s written consent if the change is substantial enough to be a derivative work | Translating a song into a new language, or changing its melody beyond a simple stylistic cover |
| Instrumental or karaoke version | A mechanical license — composition rights apply whether or not the recording has vocals | Instrumental backing-track release of a current chart single |
| Public-domain composition | None for the composition itself, but your specific recording and arrangement remain protectable and must be your own work | A traditional folk melody, or a composition whose copyright term has expired in the relevant territory |
ToneGrid does not obtain mechanical licenses on your behalf and does not maintain a rights database for third-party compositions. Retain proof of your license — we may request it if a claim is raised against your release.
5. Samples, Interpolations, Remixes & Mashups
Sampling, interpolating, or remixing existing music involves two separate sets of rights that are cleared differently: the master recording (owned by a label or the recording rights holder) and the composition (owned by the songwriter/publisher). Which one you need depends on what you actually used.
| Use | Clearance needed | Accepted? |
|---|---|---|
| Sampling a recognisable audio excerpt from another master recording | A master use license (from the label/rights holder) and a mechanical/sync license (from the composition’s publisher) | rule Both required |
| Interpolation — re-playing or re-singing a melody/lyric without using the original audio | A composition license only — no master rights are implicated because the original recording is not used | rule Composition license |
| Official remix commissioned or authorised by the rights holder | Written remix agreement or commission confirmation — retain a copy | verified Accepted with proof |
| Unauthorised remix or mashup of a commercially released track | Not obtainable after the fact through ToneGrid | block Not accepted |
| Sample-pack or loop-library material | The license terms of the pack itself — some restrict commercial redistribution or resale as a standalone loop | rule Check pack terms |
Uncleared samples are one of the most common causes of a post-release takedown. If a rights holder identifies an uncleared sample in a live release, we will handle it under our DMCA Policy and may withhold associated royalties pending resolution under the Anti-Fraud Policy escrow process.
6. Artwork & Metadata Standards
Metadata is what tells a DSP, a rights society, and a listener what a release actually is. Inaccurate or manipulated metadata is treated as seriously as an audio-content violation, because it misroutes royalties and misleads listeners regardless of the audio’s quality.
| Element | Requirement | Not accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Cover artwork | Minimum 3000×3000px, RGB, JPEG or PNG, square, original or fully licensed imagery | Text overlays such as “new single”, social handles, streaming-platform logos, pricing or promo bugs, stock imagery without a commercial license |
| Artist name | Consistent across your entire catalogue and any prior releases under that name | Impersonating another artist, or using a name identical or confusingly similar to an established artist without authorisation |
| Track & release titles | Accurately describes the recording | Keyword-stuffed titles (e.g. inserting unrelated artist names or platform names to game search or playlist algorithms) |
| Featured-artist / “feat.” credits | Only listed where that person actually performed on the recording, with their consent | Listing a well-known artist as a feature to drive discovery when they had no involvement |
| Genre & mood tags | Reflects the actual content of the recording | Mismatched genre-tagging aimed at reaching unrelated editorial or algorithmic playlists |
7. Explicit Content & Parental Advisory
ToneGrid accepts explicit content. What we require is that it is disclosed, so DSPs can apply the right advisory label, filtering, and age gate.
| Content contains… | Required tag |
|---|---|
| Profanity or strong language | Explicit, set at track and release level |
| Graphic sexual content, violence, or drug references in lyrics | Explicit |
| A radio edit or “clean” version of an explicit track | Submitted as its own distinct track and tagged Clean — not merged with the explicit version |
| Explicit imagery on cover artwork or in a title (independent of the audio) | No tag resolves this — nudity, graphic violence, and hate symbols on artwork are not accepted at any tag level |
A release with explicit lyrical content that is not tagged will be rejected at inspection. If it is discovered live, it will be corrected or taken down and may count as a violation under section 12.
8. Prohibited Content
The following are never accepted for distribution through ToneGrid, regardless of disclosure, tagging, or territory:
| Category | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Illegal content | Child sexual abuse material, content promoting terrorism or extremist violence, or content that facilitates a crime | Reported to the relevant authorities in addition to removal; no warning is issued first |
| Hate speech & harassment | Content that incites violence or hatred against a group based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or similar protected characteristic | Slurs or dehumanising language used to demean a protected group, rather than depicted within clearly contextualised artistic commentary |
| Malicious files | Any non-audio payload disguised as an audio, artwork, or lyric file, including executable code | An .mp3-named file that is actually an executable |
| Impersonation | Presenting yourself as another artist, label, or public figure without authorisation | Using a well-known artist’s name, image, or verified-sounding handle as your own artist profile |
| Plagiarism / unauthorised re-upload | Distributing someone else’s master recording, in whole or in a lightly disguised form, as your own | Re-uploading a track pulled from another DSP under a new artist name or a pitch-shifted “new” version |
| Deceptive metadata | Metadata designed to mislead listeners, DSPs, or algorithmic systems rather than describe the content | Fake “feat.” credits, keyword-stuffed titles, or genre tags chosen to reach an unrelated audience |
| Catalogue spam | Mass uploading of duplicate, near-identical, or content-free tracks, typically to farm streams or exploit royalty pools | The same instrumental re-uploaded under dozens of different titles, or looped silence submitted as a full-length track |
9. AI-Generated Content
AI-assisted and AI-generated music is accepted from any AI tool, subject to disclosure and ownership requirements set out in full in our AI Music Policy. In summary: a release that involves AI must declare the tool used and which elements of the recording it produced, and you must hold the rights to commercially exploit that tool’s output. This Content Policy’s standards on cover songs, samples, artwork, and metadata (sections 4–6) apply equally to AI-assisted and AI-generated releases.
10. Fraudulent, Manipulated & Infringing Content
Content associated with artificial or bot-generated streaming, or Content that infringes a third party’s copyright, is governed by our Anti-Fraud Policy and DMCA Policy respectively, which set out the warning system, escrow process, and takedown procedure in detail. This Content Policy defines what is and is not acceptable content; those policies define how a violation involving fraud or a copyright claim is handled once identified.
11. DSP-Specific Content Rules
Meeting this Policy is necessary but not always sufficient — individual DSPs layer their own content rules on top of it, and can reject or remove Content that meets ToneGrid’s standards but not theirs. Notable examples:
| Platform | Notable additional rule |
|---|---|
| Spotify | Enforces its own duplicate-content and AI-disclosure review on top of the DDEX disclosure fields; can apply reduced algorithmic distribution independent of ToneGrid’s inspection outcome |
| YouTube / YouTube Music | Runs Content ID matching against video and audio; music videos containing footage you don’t hold rights to are rejected independently of the audio track |
| TikTok | Applies its own community-standards review to any track surfaced for short-form video use, separate from DSP audio ingestion |
| Apple Music | Stricter enforcement of parental-advisory tagging consistency between track title, lyrics, and metadata |
| Boomplay / Audiomack | Apply regional content-standards review that can differ from western DSPs, particularly for political and religious content |
ToneGrid cannot override a DSP’s own moderation decision. See the full list of destinations on our DSP Directory.
12. Content Review & Enforcement
Every release passes through inspection before delivery: automated metadata and audio checks, ACRCloud fingerprint matching against known catalogue, and manual review where a check flags a possible issue. Content is only sent to DSPs once it clears this queue.
Where a violation of this Policy is found — before or after release — the consequence depends on what was found and when:
| Found | Typical action |
|---|---|
| Missing or incorrect metadata, missing explicit tag, artwork spec failure | Rejected at inspection and returned to you for correction — not yet a Policy violation |
| Uncleared sample, cover, or claim raised after a release is already live | Handled under the DMCA Policy; Content may be taken down and royalties held per the Anti-Fraud Policy escrow process |
| Repeated or deliberate violations (catalogue spam, deceptive metadata, impersonation) | Formal warning under the Anti-Fraud Policy warning system, with escalation toward account review on repeat occurrence |
| Illegal content, or content presenting material and immediate harm | Immediate takedown and account suspension, without a prior warning; referred to authorities where applicable |
If you believe a rejection or takedown was made in error, contact content@tonegrid.pro with the release details. Appeals relating to a warning or account status are handled under the process described in our Anti-Fraud Policy.
13. Reporting a Violation
If you believe Content distributed through ToneGrid violates this Policy — whether it infringes your rights, impersonates you, or otherwise should not be on the platform — you can report it to us directly:
Content & Trust and Safety
InterSpace Distribution Limited
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Email: content@tonegrid.pro
Copyright-specific takedown requests should go through our DMCA Policy instead, which sets out the formal notice requirements. Suspected fraudulent streaming should be reported per the Anti-Fraud Policy.
14. Changes to This Policy
DSP content requirements evolve, and we update this Policy accordingly. Material changes will be communicated via email and/or in-platform notification at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the platform after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.
Questions about this policy? Contact us at content@tonegrid.pro or visit our contact page.
See also: AI Music Policy • Anti-Fraud Policy • DMCA Policy • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy