Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using Fretlist, a service operated by Dear John Studio, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use the service.

2. Description of Service

Fretlist is a web application that allows musicians to manage their songs (lyrics and chords) and organize setlists. The service includes features such as:

• Creating and storing song chord sheets
• Organizing songs into setlists
• Transposing chords to different keys
• Accessing your content across multiple devices

3. User Accounts

To use Fretlist, you must create an account. You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the security of your account credentials
• All activities that occur under your account
• Notifying me immediately of any unauthorized access

You must provide accurate and complete information when creating your account.

4. Your Content

Ownership: You retain full ownership of all songs, lyrics, chords, and other content you create or upload to Fretlist. I do not claim any intellectual property rights over your content.

License to Me: By using Fretlist, you grant me a limited license to store, display, and transmit your content solely to provide the service to you.

Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring you have the right to use any content you upload, including lyrics and chord arrangements that may be subject to copyright.

Getting your content out: You can export everything you have at any time, in formats that are not specific to Fretlist, including ChordPro, plain text, Word and PDF, plus a full JSON backup. That stays true on the free plan, and it stays true if you stop paying.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use Fretlist to:

• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Infringe on the intellectual property rights of others
• Upload malicious code or attempt to compromise the systems
• Share your account credentials with others. If you want to share a library with your band, that is what the Bands plan is for: see Bands and Shared Libraries.
• Use automated systems to access the service without permission

6. Plans, Payments and Refunds

The plans. Fretlist has a free plan and two paid ones.

• Free: 50 songs and 3 setlists. Every feature. No card and no time limit.
• Pro: no set limit on songs or setlists. €24 a year or €3 a month.
• Bands: one shared library for up to 15 people, €58 a year or €7 a month for the whole band. The leader pays. Members pay nothing, and Pro is included for the leader while the band is paying.

Prices are in euros, and no VAT is added on top. Payments are processed by Stripe, and I never see or store your card details.

Renewal and cancelling. Paid plans renew automatically until you cancel. You can cancel at any time in your account settings, and you keep everything you paid for until the end of the period you already paid: cancelling does not cut your access short.

The band trial. The first band an account creates comes with a 30-day trial, and no card is needed for it. Without a card the trial does not turn into a subscription on its own, and nothing is charged when it ends. If you add a card during the trial, your plan starts when the trial ends and the card is charged then, at the price shown when you added it; cancel before that day and you pay nothing. You are reminded by email before any charge. One trial per account.

If you start a band while you pay for Pro. Bands already includes Pro, so you should never pay for both. Your Pro subscription stops renewing, and when the band is first paid for, whatever you have already paid for and not used is refunded to your card. That happens on its own, and you do not have to ask. Until the band is paid for, your Pro keeps running as before.

If a payment fails. Nothing stops working that day. You keep full access for 30 days while it gets sorted out, and I will tell you what is happening. After that a personal library goes back to the free limits, and a band library becomes read only. Nothing is deleted either way.

Your right to withdraw. As a consumer in the EU you have 14 days from starting a paid plan to change your mind and get your money back, without giving a reason. Write to me at hello@fretlist.com and I will refund you.

Refunds beyond that. If something went wrong, or you paid for something you did not mean to, write to me. I would rather refund you than have you feel stuck.

Price changes. If I change a price, it does not change what you pay on an existing subscription without telling you first, in writing, with at least 30 days notice and the chance to cancel.

7. Service Availability

I strive to keep Fretlist available at all times, but I do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond my control.

I reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the service with reasonable notice.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Dear John Studio and Fretlist shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from your use of the service.

I am not responsible for any loss of data, although I take reasonable measures to protect your content. I recommend keeping backups of important material.

9. Account Termination

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings. I may also terminate or suspend your account if you violate these terms.

Upon termination, your right to use the service will cease immediately, and I may delete your account data in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

10. Changes to Terms

I may update these Terms of Service from time to time. I'll notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on the website or sending you an email. Your continued use of the service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

11. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the law of the Netherlands, and any dispute goes to the competent Dutch courts.

If you are a consumer living elsewhere in the EU, this does not take away the protections of your own country's consumer law. You keep those either way.

12. Early Bird Pro Terms

Early Bird Pro access was granted to the first 50 users during the early access phase. Early Bird spots are now full. This includes:

• All Pro features at no cost, for life
• Priority support and direct feedback channel

Activity requirement: Accounts with no meaningful activity for 12 consecutive months may lose Early Bird status. Meaningful activity includes: logging in, creating or editing songs, building setlists, or exporting data.

If Early Bird status is withdrawn, the account moves to the free plan. Nothing is deleted, and you can export everything at any time. I will always notify you before any status change.

13. Early Access Terms

Everyone who creates an account before 1 November 2026 is an Early Access user. Early Access users receive:

• All Pro features at no cost until 1 November 2026
• 50% off every paid plan, for life, when they subscribe by 1 December 2026
• Priority support and direct feedback channel

From 1 November 2026: paid plans launch, and you can subscribe to Pro or Bands. If you subscribe to any paid plan by 1 December 2026, the 50% discount belongs to your account permanently. It applies to every paid plan, including plans you take out later. It does not combine with other discounts.

If you don't subscribe, your account moves to the Free plan (50 songs, 3 setlists). Everything you have stays yours: your existing songs and setlists are never hidden, locked or deleted. You simply won't be able to add new ones beyond the free limits.

We'll email you before 1 November with the details.

14. Intellectual Property: Fretlist Brand

The name “Fretlist”, the Fretlist logo, and all associated branding, visual design, and trade dress are the intellectual property of Dear John Studio. You may not use, copy, imitate, or create derivative works of the Fretlist name, logo, or visual identity without prior written permission.

The Fretlist software, including its source code, architecture, and user interface design, is proprietary. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or creation of competing services using Fretlist's branding or design is strictly prohibited.

15. Usage Limits

Free accounts can store up to 50 songs and 3 setlists. Pro and Bands have no set limit on songs or setlists, within fair use by musicians and bands. A band can have up to 15 members.

A limit applies to adding, never to what you already have. Nothing is hidden, locked, downgraded or deleted because of your plan: everything you have made stays yours, keeps opening, keeps playing, and can be exported at any time. If you go over a limit, the only thing you cannot do is add more.

Starter songs added to a new account do not count toward these limits.

Unlimited means unlimited for anyone using Fretlist to manage their own music. If a single account is being used in a way that is clearly not that, I will contact you before doing anything about it.

If you need a higher limit for a real reason, ask me at hello@fretlist.com.

16. Bands and Shared Libraries

A band is a shared library that several people use. Some things about it are worth stating plainly.

• The leader pays. Everyone else pays nothing and does not need a plan of their own to take part.
• A band holds 15 people including the leader, in any mix of roles. If you need more, get in touch.
• Songs in a band library belong to the band. When you add a song to a band, the other members can see, play and edit it. Do not put anything in a band library that you do not want the rest of the band to have.
• Leaving. If you leave a band you keep your own personal library and lose access to the band's, which is unchanged for everyone else. Your own library is on whatever plan you have yourself; a band's plan covers the band's library, not your personal one.
• If the band stops being paid for, the library becomes read only. Every song stays exactly where it is, everyone can still open, play, print and export them, and paying again makes it editable. Nothing is deleted.
• If the leader leaves, the band can be handed to another member or put on hold. It is not deleted and the songs are not lost.

17. Contact Me

Fretlist is operated by Dear John Studio, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and trading as Fretlist. If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact me at hello@fretlist.com