Almost everything made here is private, and most records will never come near this page. These rules cover the narrow case where a record is published to people who did not receive a link from you. They are the rules a person reads, and they are the rules our agent reads. There is only one copy.
Where this stands today
Records here are private by default, and most never come near this page. When you choose to list a record so that strangers can find it, these rules are checked first, before anybody else can see it. Nothing is checked when you keep a record private or share it by link, because neither of those publishes anything.
How a decision gets made
Roadie is an AI agent, and it sends nothing itself. When you list a record, Roadie reads its public words against the rules below before the record goes anywhere. It can hold a record back and tell you which rule it turned on and what would fix it. It cannot take anything down, suspend anybody, touch money, or send you a message on its own. A person confirms all of those, and a person writes every letter that leaves here. Mail you send to us is read by an agent, which drafts a reply. A person reads and sends every reply that leaves here. If a record of yours is held and you think that is wrong, write to muso@orto.band and say so. If the check itself fails, your record is held rather than published, and a person will look at it. That is deliberate: waiting is a small cost and publishing something nobody read is not. We do not promise a turnaround, because one person reads that queue and a number we cannot keep is worse than no number. If a hold is holding you up, write and say so.
The rules
Records about a named private person
A record about a real person who is not a public figure is not published to strangers without their agreement. If the person has died, that means whoever speaks for them now: a partner, their children, or whoever is closest to them. Make it, keep it, give it to them. Publishing it is a different act from making it.
What would fix it: This is the normal case here, not a warning sign: a record about someone you love is exactly what this is for, and the only question is whether strangers get to see it. Keep the record private or share it by link, which is what most records about a person are for. If you do want it listed, you can edit the title and the concept on the record's own page to remove the name and the identifying detail. If the name is in your bio, you can rewrite that in Settings. If it is in a track title or a lyric, write to muso@orto.band and a person will read it.
This one gets a more careful review before anything is published, and a person decides only if that review does not clear it. Clause person.named-private.
Naming real artists and labels in public text
Public text on orto.band must not name a real artist, band, producer, or label. We describe how music sounds, we do not sell a resemblance to someone else's work.
What would fix it: Edit the title or the concept on the record's own page to describe the sound instead of naming who made it: warm seventies analogue soul reads better than a band name anyway. If the name is in your bio, rewrite it in Settings the same way. If it is in a track title, a lyric, or the handle, write to muso@orto.band and a person will read it.
We hold the record and tell you what would fix it. Clause names.artist-label.
Sexual content involving minors
Any sexual content involving a minor is removed and reported. There is no version of this that is allowed here.
What would fix it: Nothing on this page can be edited into an acceptable record. This one will always go to a person.
This one gets a more careful review before anything is published, and a person decides only if that review does not clear it. Clause illegal.minors.
Unlawful content
Records that are unlawful under New Zealand law, or that incite violence against real people, are not published.
What would fix it: You can edit the title and the concept on the record's own page to remove the unlawful material from the public words. If it is your bio, you can rewrite that in Settings. If it is in a track title or a lyric, or you think the reading is wrong, write to muso@orto.band and a person will read it.
This one gets a more careful review before anything is published, and a person decides only if that review does not clear it. Clause illegal.unlawful.
Harassment of a real person
A record, a shelf, or a handle that targets, humiliates, or harasses a real person is not published.
What would fix it: A record about how someone made you feel is welcome. A record aimed at them is not. You can edit the title and the concept on the record's own page to remove the targeting from the public words. A bio you can rewrite in Settings. If it is in a track title, a lyric, or the handle, write to muso@orto.band and a person will read it.
This one gets a more careful review before anything is published, and a person decides only if that review does not clear it. Clause conduct.harassment.
Impersonation
A handle, shelf, or record that presents itself as somebody else, or as orto.band itself, is not published.
What would fix it: Your bio is yours to rewrite in Settings, and saying plainly there that a record is a tribute rather than the work of the person named is usually all it takes. You can also edit the record's title and concept on its own page. A handle is claimed once and cannot be changed here, so if it is the handle, write to muso@orto.band and a person will read it.
This one gets a more careful review before anything is published, and a person decides only if that review does not clear it. Clause identity.impersonation.
Records that read as private grief
We assume a record that reads as a memorial or as private grief is meant to stay private, not go to the catalogue on a misunderstanding. If it looks that way, we hold it and ask first, to protect that assumption, not to second-guess you.
What would fix it: Most people making this kind of record want the link, not the catalogue, and the link is one click away. If you did mean to list it, write to muso@orto.band and say so: that reaches a person, who can lift the hold and list the record.
We hold the record and tell you what would fix it. Clause care.register.
What happens to a recording you upload
When you upload a recording, it goes into a private store that no other person using orto.band can read, and nothing public ever links to it. Muso listens to it so it can understand what you want, and it is sent only to the audio services that analyse it for your record. It is never published, never used in anybody else's record, never used to train a model, and never sold. Ask us to delete it at any time by writing to muso@orto.band, and we will.
Whether the finished record survives
orto.band is a one-time payment, not a subscription: there is nothing to keep paying to keep listening. Once your record is made, you can download the whole album as a set of files you keep, tagged with their titles and artwork and playable on their own, so a copy exists that does not depend on us, on this website, or on anything staying online.
When these change
Every rule carries a clause id that never changes meaning, and this page carries a policy version. Every decision records both, so it can be looked at again later against the rules that were actually in force at the time. Changing the rules never retracts a record that was published in good faith under the old ones.
These rules sit alongside our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.