# Cover My Song > CROWDFUNDED SONG COMMISSIONS Get your song performed. Songwriters post originals. The audience funds a pot. Real musicians perform it — on camera or in the studio. Winner takes th… ## About covermysong.us is an online platform designed to facilitate crowdfunded commissions for original songs, connecting songwriters with musicians. Songwriters post their original compositions, and an audience funds a pot to commission a performance. Professional musicians then claim the commission and deliver a recorded performance, which can range from a TikTok clip or YouTube video to a studio master. The platform strictly requires human musicians and real instruments; AI-generated performances are not accepted. The process begins with a songwriter uploading a demo or score and setting a minimum reserve. Audience members pledge funds, which are authorized on their cards and captured only when the commission's reserve is met. Once funded, musicians can claim the commission, agree to a standardized contract known as "The Deal," and deliver the requested performance. covermysong.us retains a 10% platform fee from the funded pot, with the remainder going to the performing band upon the songwriter's approval of the delivery. Songwriters retain 100% of their composition rights, while the sound recording rights are split 50/50 by default, though this can be negotiated between the parties. All funds are held in escrow until the delivery is approved, ensuring financial security for both parties. If a commission does not meet its reserve within 90 days or if a band fails to deliver an approved performance, pledges are fully refunded to backers. Dispute resolution is handled by covermysong.us based on the terms of "The Deal," which is designed for clarity and easy arbitration. The platform operates entirely online, managing transactions and communications. It emphasizes transparency, fairness, and the promotion of original music performed by human artists, positioning itself as a marketplace for one-off commissioned recordings rather than a record label or PRO. As of the provided information, covermysong.us is in its "scaffolding" phase, with full operational functionality, including sign-ups, posting, pledging, and performing, pending finalization of its legal framework and technical integrations. Machine-readable site briefing (llms.txt · llmstxt.org) for https://covermysong.us, published for AI and LLM readers. ## Pages - [Cover My Song](https://covermysong.us/?p=home): CROWDFUNDED SONG COMMISSIONS Get your song performed. Songwriters post originals. The audience funds a pot. Real musicians perform it — on camera or in the studio. Winner takes th… CROWDFUNDED SONG COMMISSIONS Get your song performed. Songwriters post originals. The audience funds a pot. Real musicians perform it — on camera or in the studio. Winner takes the pot. Both sides sign The Deal. Post a Song Browse Commissions I'm a Band Originals only No AI performances Anonymous pledging OK Escrow held until delivery approved How it works 1 Songwriter posts an original Upload your demo, score, or lyric sheet. Pick what you want delivered — a TikTok clip, a YouTube video, a studio master, or a full session with stems. Set a reserve. Certify it's yours. 2 Audience funds the pot Anyone can pledge toward a song they want to hear performed. Pledges are authorized on card, captured only when the reserve is met. You can pledge anonymously. 3 Bands claim & perform Once funded, real musicians can claim the commission, sign The Deal, and deliver. AI-generated performances are not accepted — the song must be heard as a real band playing it. 4 Everyone gets what they came for Songwriter approves the delivery. Escrow releases to the band. Backers get the song they funded. covermysong.us keeps 10%. Nothing moves until both parties sign. THE DEAL · draft v0.1 · awaiting reviewer feedback The Deal — plain bullets, both sides sign Every commission is governed by a single, frozen agreement. No fine print. Written so a non-lawyer can read it in 90 seconds and an arbitrator can decide on it in minutes. Ground rules Originals only. Songwriter certifies rights before posting. No AI-generated performances. Human musicians, real instruments, real voices. Mastering plugins and routine post-production are fine. Money Platform fee: 10%. Band nets the rest of the pot. Escrow holds funds. Band is paid within 3 business days of approval (or auto-approval after 7 days). Rights Songwriter keeps 100% of the composition. Sound recording splits 50/50 by default. Both parties may negotiate a different split before signing. Non-commercial promo use is free for both sides. Commercial use needs mutual OK. Backing out & refunds Songwriter can cancel until a band claims. After claim, it's locked except for rights issues. Band has 48 hours after claiming to withdraw penalty-free. No claim in 90 days = full refund to backers. The full template is reviewable before you sign anything. Every version is archived verbatim — if there's ever a dispute, the arbitrator reads exactly what both parties saw. Coming soon We're scaffolding the platform now. Sign-ups, posting, pledging, and performing will open as The Deal is reviewer-approved and the escrow pipeline is wired. If you want early access as a songwriter, a band, or a backer, drop us a line. - [FAQ](https://covermysong.us/?p=faq): FAQ Questions before you sign anything. If something here is unclear or missing, tell us. We'd rather fix the platform than handle a dispute. For songwriters Why can't I post a co… FAQ Questions before you sign anything. If something here is unclear or missing, tell us. We'd rather fix the platform than handle a dispute. For songwriters Why can't I post a cover of someone else's song? Covers bring in mechanical-license complexity — who pays the publisher, what rate, whose territory. We're building a platform for originals so both sides start with clean rights. If we ever add cover-commissions, it'll be a separate flow with licensing built in. What does "certify rights" actually mean? You're stating, in a signed record, that you wrote the song and have the legal right to commission a recording of it. Fraud — posting someone else's work as yours — is grounds for account termination and forfeiture of any funded pot. We verify where practical (PRO lookups, previous release history). Do I lose my song rights? No. You keep 100% of the composition (melody, lyrics). What you split with the band is the sound recording — the specific performance they created. Default is 50/50 on the recording; you can negotiate a different split before the commission locks. Why is the minimum reserve $300? Below that, bands won't bother claiming — you'll end up with a funded pot and nobody to perform it. $300 is the floor where a band can justify the session time, gear, and delivery effort. Studio-grade deliverables typically need $1,000+. What if I hate the delivery? You have 7 days to approve or request a revision. Rejection needs specific, written reasons — "I don't like it" isn't one. The band gets one revision round (default) and 14 days to deliver it. If you just disappear, the commission auto-approves and the band gets paid. For backers Can I really pledge anonymously? Publicly, yes — the commission page shows a handle or "Anonymous backer." Internally, we keep your email so we can send a receipt, notify you when the song funds, and contact you if a refund happens. That email is never shown publicly. When does my card get charged? Your pledge authorizes your card (a hold) when you pledge. The capture — the actual charge — happens only when the commission reaches its reserve. If the reserve isn't met within 90 days, the authorization drops and you're never charged. What if the band doesn't deliver? Escrow holds the pot. If the winning band fails to deliver by the deadline, the commission opens for a new claim. If no one ever delivers, you get a full refund. You don't lose money to silence. Do I get the recording? You get access to whatever the creator chose to make public. If the commission is a TikTok clip, you'll see it on TikTok. If it's a studio master, you'll get a streaming link. You don't get commercial rights — those stay with the songwriter and band. For bands & musicians Can I use AI to help with the recording? Depends on what you mean. Yes: AI mastering plugins (iZotope, LANDR), natural pitch correction (Melodyne, Auto-Tune used normally), AI-assisted mix recommendations, video color grading. No: AI-generated vocals, AI-generated instruments, Suno/Udio full-song covers, voice cloning, deepfake performances. The song must be heard as a real band playing it. What's the "proof-of-performance" requirement? For video deliverables (TikTok, YouTube, etc.) the video is the proof. For audio-only studio deliveries, we need one of: a ≥15s behind-the-scenes clip from the session, the multi-track stems, or ≥3 session photos clearly showing the band and instruments. Audio by itself can't prove humans played it. What does "live one-take required" mean? The creator can flag a commission as live-one-take. That means the audio in the video must be what the band is heard playing in-frame — no pre-recorded backing track, no overdubs. Default is live-to-master: the band can mime to their own recorded master track, but the underlying audio must be human-performed. What are the rights terms? Default: songwriter keeps 100% of the composition, you split the sound recording 50/50. Either side can use the recording non-commercially (promo, portfolio, social) without asking. Commercial uses (sync, DSP monetization, sale) need mutual OK, and revenue on the sound recording splits per your agreement. Can I back out after claiming? Yes — within 48 hours of claiming, no penalty. After that, withdrawing forfeits the claim and the commission opens for another band. If you deliver something that violates The Deal (AI performance, rights issue), you forfeit the pot and can be banned. When do I get paid? Within 3 business days of songwriter approval — or auto-approval, which happens 7 days after delivery if the songwriter goes silent. Platform fee is 10%. Payouts via Stripe Connect. The platform Who arbitrates disputes? covermysong.us. We read the signed version of The Deal — exactly what both parties saw — and decide. Arbiter decision is final. The Deal is written to make this easy: plain bullets, no fine print, no ambiguity about who owns what. Is this a label? A PRO? No. We're a marketplace for one-off commissioned performances. We don't sign artists, we don't register songs, we don't distribute. After the commission, both parties walk away with whatever they agreed to in their split. When does it launch? The scaffold is live. The Deal is drafted and under reviewer feedback. The full signup → post → pledge → claim → deliver → payout loop opens when The Deal is finalized and the escrow + audio pipelines are wired. Want to be notified? Keep an eye on this page. - [How It Works](https://covermysong.us/?p=how-it-works): HOW IT WORKS From song to stage, without the gatekeepers. Cover My Song is a three-sided marketplace. Songwriters post originals they want performed. The audience funds a pot. Rea… HOW IT WORKS From song to stage, without the gatekeepers. Cover My Song is a three-sided marketplace. Songwriters post originals they want performed. The audience funds a pot. Real musicians perform it, get paid, and everyone keeps the rights they came with. SONGWRITERS You wrote it. You want to hear it performed. Upload your original — a demo, a score, or just lyrics. Certify it's yours. Pick a deliverable — a TikTok clip, a YouTube video, a studio master, or all three. The platform suggests a minimum reserve based on what you're asking for. Set your terms — revision policy, recording split (default 50/50 on the sound recording), deadline, any scope filters like language or instrumentation. Post it. The commission opens for backer pledges. Approve the delivery. You have 7 days after submission to approve or request one revision. Auto-approved after 7. You keep 100% of the composition. Always. BACKERS You want to hear the song performed. You pledge toward it. Browse commissions that haven't been funded yet. Pledge an amount. Your card is authorized but not charged. You can pledge anonymously — the public page just shows a handle. Wait for the reserve to be met. If the pot doesn't fill within 90 days, your pledge is released and no charge happens. When it funds, your card is charged and the commission opens for bands to claim. Get notified when the band delivers. Your pledge made it happen. No account required to browse. Email kept internally for receipts + refunds only — never shown publicly. BANDS & MUSICIANS You play. Funded commissions are paying gigs. Sign up as a performer. Lean profile — bio, socials, genre tags. No press kit needed. Browse funded commissions that match your style. See the pot, the deliverable, The Deal, and any scope filters. Claim the one you want. You have 48 hours to back out without penalty. Sign The Deal. Both parties see the same document. Overrides (split, deadline) can be proposed before locking. Perform, record, deliver. Video deliverables show the performance. Studio audio deliveries require a proof-of-performance artifact (BTS clip, stems, or session photos). Get paid within 3 business days of approval. Platform fee is 10%. No AI-generated performances. No Suno, no Udio, no voice clones. Real musicians only. Violation = pot forfeited, band banned. The ground rules Originals only Songwriters submit their own work. No covers of existing copyrighted material. We're commissioning performances of new songs, not cover bands of existing tracks. No AI performances The whole point is hearing real humans play. AI-generated vocals, instruments, or full-song covers are forbidden. Routine post-production — mastering plugins, natural pitch correction, mixing — is fine. Escrow protects both sides Money doesn't move until both parties agree. Backers get charged only when the reserve is met. Bands get paid only after the songwriter approves. Disputes are arbitrated using The Deal as the single source of truth. Lean profiles Bands and songwriters are service providers, not personalities. Profiles are short — handle, bio, genre, socials. If you want a portfolio site, link to it. We're not promoting you. Coming soon Sign-ups, posting, pledging, and performing open when The Deal is finalized and the escrow pipeline is wired. Want early access? Check the FAQ or read The Deal. - [The Deal](https://covermysong.us/?p=the-deal): THE DEAL · template v0.1 · draft Plain bullets. Both sides sign. No fine print. Every commission is governed by a single, frozen agreement — written so a non-lawyer can read it in… THE DEAL · template v0.1 · draft Plain bullets. Both sides sign. No fine print. Every commission is governed by a single, frozen agreement — written so a non-lawyer can read it in 90 seconds and an arbitrator can decide on it in minutes. If the template is updated, older commissions stay governed by the version that was signed at the time. This draft is under reviewer feedback. Final wording will be archived verbatim per commission, with both signatures (timestamp, IP hash, template version) attached. Platform ground rules Originals only. Songwriter certifies rights before posting. No AI-generated performances. Song must be performed and recorded by human musicians. No Suno / Udio / full-song AI covers. No deepfake or voice-cloned vocals. Allowed: mastering plugins, natural pitch correction, AI-assisted mixing, video color grading, routine post-production. Violation forfeits the pot, bans the band, and refunds backers. What's happening Songwriter {handle} is offering their original song "{title}" to be performed and recorded. Band {handle} agrees to deliver by {deadline} in the format(s) selected at post time. Deliverable (creator selects 1+) ☐ Social vertical clip — TikTok / Reels / Shorts, ≥60s, 720p+, vertical ☐ Long-form video — YouTube / Facebook, full song, 720p+, horizontal ☐ Studio audio master — WAV ≥16-bit/44.1kHz, full song ☐ Studio multi-track stems — add-on for remix/license use ☐ Studio recording preferred — advanced signal ☐ Live one-take required — no overdubs; band must be heard playing in-frame Proof-of-performance: Video deliverables: the video is the proof. Audio-only deliveries: band includes a ≥15s behind-the-scenes clip, multi-track stems, or ≥3 session photos showing the band + instruments. The money Commission pot: ${pot} (audience-funded, anonymous backers allowed). Platform fee: 10%. Band net payout: ${band_net}. Money sits in escrow. Band is paid within 3 business days of songwriter approval (or auto-approval). The rights Composition (melody / lyrics): Songwriter keeps 100%. Sound recording (master): 50% Songwriter / 50% Band by default, unless both sign a different split in the overrides. Either side may use the recording non-commercially (promo, portfolio, social). Any commercial use (sync, DSP monetization, sale) requires both parties' written OK; sound-recording revenue splits per the signed split. Approval window Songwriter has 7 days to approve after delivery. No response = auto-approved. One revision round (default) if rejected with specific, written reasons; 14 days to deliver the revision. Backing out Songwriter may cancel anytime before a band claims → all pledges refunded. Once a band claims, the commission is locked. Songwriter cannot cancel except for rights violation. Band may withdraw within 48 hours of claiming — no penalty. Band withdrawal after 48 hours forfeits the claim. Refunds to audience No band claims in 90 days → full refunds. Band claims but fails to deliver → new claim window opens; pledges stay in escrow. Delivery approved → no refunds. Disputes Either party opens a dispute within 14 days of delivery. covermysong.us arbitrates using this agreement as the sole source of truth. Arbiter decision is final and releases/refunds accordingly. Overrides (optional) Both parties can propose changes to these defaults before locking the commission. Edits are tracked; struck if left blank. Split override: ______________ Revision rounds: ______________ Deadline override: ______________ Other: ______________ Signatures When the commission locks, both parties sign a frozen snapshot of this template with their handle, timestamp, IP hash, and the template version. That snapshot is the legal document — the language above might change over time, but the one you signed never does. Questions before you sign anything? Read the FAQ · How the platform works --- ## How this was generated This document is auto-generated by **Luminal CMS — The Vault** from the site's own content and any connected sources, published for AI/LLM readers. - **Sources:** 4 pages · curated About - **Generated:** 2026-07-13 UTC · refreshed weekly - **Format:** llmstxt.org (`llms.txt` = index · `llms-full.txt` = full briefing)