Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") govern your use of prodessential.com (the "Site") and your purchase of products offered through the Site. The Site is operated by Owen Hucal, doing business as prod.essential ("prod.essential", "we", "us"). By using the Site or purchasing a product, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

1. Who We Are

prod.essential is an independent music production brand operated by Owen Hucal, based in Michigan, United States. Contact: prodessential@gmail.com.

2. Products

The Site offers two categories of digital products:

Beats. Instrumental music tracks offered under tiered license agreements (Free/Demo, Basic, Premium, Premium + Stems, Unlimited, and Exclusive). Beats are licensed, never sold outright, except under a negotiated Exclusive agreement.

Producer products. Drum kits, one-shot kits, loop kits, MIDI packs, synthesizer preset banks, multikits, and bundles, offered on a royalty-free basis as described in Section 5.

3. Checkout, Payment, and Delivery

Purchases are processed by Payhip Limited ("Payhip"), our e-commerce and digital delivery platform. When you check out, you are transacting on Payhip's checkout system and Payhip's own Terms of Use (payhip.com/terms) and Privacy Policy (payhip.com/privacy) also apply to the transaction. Payments are processed by Stripe or PayPal; we never see or store your payment card details.

All prices are listed in US dollars. For customers located in the European Union or the United Kingdom, Payhip acts as the reseller of our digital products and is responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting applicable EU or UK VAT, which will be added at checkout where required. Other taxes, duties, or bank fees applicable in your country are your responsibility.

Products are delivered by digital download immediately after payment. A download link is also sent to the email address you provide at checkout, and you can use that link to re-download your files. You are responsible for providing an accurate email address and for downloading and backing up your files.

4. Beat Licenses

Every beat purchase is governed by the written license agreement for the tier you select, which is presented before purchase and delivered with your order. The license agreement for your tier is the controlling document for your rights in the beat. If there is any conflict between these Terms and a beat license agreement, the license agreement controls with respect to the beat.

In summary, and without limiting the full license terms:

• Non-exclusive tiers (Basic, Premium, Premium + Stems, Unlimited) grant limited rights to create and exploit one new song, subject to the caps, restrictions, publishing splits, and credit requirements stated in the applicable agreement. The same beat may be licensed to other buyers.
• Free/Demo downloads are tagged files licensed for non-profit and demo use only. No monetized or commercial release is permitted under the free tier.
• Exclusive licenses are negotiated individually and remove the beat from sale.
• Producer credit in the form "Prod. essential" is required on releases as stated in each agreement.
• Ownership of each beat, including its master and underlying composition, remains with the Licensor except as expressly granted in a license agreement.

By completing a purchase or free download, you accept the applicable license agreement by electronic acceptance as described in that agreement.

5. Producer Product License (Kits, Loops, One-Shots, MIDI, Preset Banks)

Unless a product page states otherwise, producer products are sold under the following royalty-free license:

• You may use the included sounds, loops, MIDI files, and presets in your own original musical compositions, beats, and productions, including commercial releases, without paying additional royalties and without crediting prod.essential.
• Your original works created using these products belong to you, including works you sell or license to others.
• You may NOT resell, redistribute, share, sublicense, or give away the files themselves, in whole or in part, on their own or repackaged in any sample pack, loop kit, preset bank, or similar product, whether modified or not, whether free or paid.
• You may NOT upload the files to any file-sharing service, sample library, marketplace, AI training dataset, or platform that enables third parties to obtain them.
• You may NOT claim authorship of the original sounds as standalone works.
• This license is granted to a single user and is non-transferable.

6. Refund Policy

Producer products (kits, packs, banks, bundles): we offer a 7-day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase. If you are not satisfied, email prodessential@gmail.com within 7 days of purchase with your order details and we will refund you.

Beat licenses: because untagged files and stems cannot be returned once delivered, all beat license sales are final upon delivery, as stated in each license agreement, except where the Licensor materially breaches the warranties in the applicable license agreement and fails to cure that breach.

Delivery problems: if your files are corrupted, incomplete, or otherwise not as described, email us and we will fix the issue or provide replacement files.

Nothing in this section limits any non-waivable statutory rights you have as a consumer in your country of residence.

7. Digital Content and the Right of Withdrawal (EU and UK Customers)

If you are a consumer in the EU or UK, you normally have a 14-day right to withdraw from a distance purchase. By purchasing digital content on the Site, you expressly consent to immediate delivery of the digital content and acknowledge that you lose your statutory right of withdrawal once delivery has begun. This does not affect the voluntary 7-day guarantee for producer products in Section 6 or your rights in respect of faulty digital content.

8. Free Downloads and Email List

Free downloads may be conditioned on providing your email address. By requesting a free download or joining the email list, you agree to receive emails from prod.essential, from which you can unsubscribe at any time. Free beat downloads are subject to the Free/Demo license terms and must be accepted before download. Handling of your email address is described in our Privacy Policy.

9. Intellectual Property in the Site

All content on the Site, including beats, audio previews, artwork, product names, text, code, and the prod.essential name and branding, is owned by Owen Hucal or used with permission, and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted by a purchased license, you may not copy, download, scrape, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from Site content. Audio previews are for evaluation on the Site only and may not be extracted, recorded, or used in any production.

10. Acceptable Use

You agree not to: use the Site for any unlawful purpose; attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Site or its infrastructure; interfere with the Site's operation; use bots, scrapers, or automated tools to access or download Site content; misrepresent your identity in connection with a purchase; or circumvent any technical measure, license restriction, or payment requirement.

11. Third-Party Services

Checkout runs on Payhip, email runs on Kit, and the Site links to third-party platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. We are not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of third-party services. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms.

12. Intellectual Property Complaints

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe any content on the Site infringes your rights, send a notice to prodessential@gmail.com including: identification of the work claimed to be infringed, the location of the allegedly infringing material on the Site, your contact information, a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized, a statement under penalty of perjury that your notice is accurate and that you are the rights owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf, and your physical or electronic signature. We will review and respond to valid notices consistent with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

13. Disclaimers

The Site and all products are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, except for the express warranties stated in the beat license agreements. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, prod.essential and Owen Hucal will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or lost business opportunities, arising out of or relating to the Site or any product, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for any claim arising out of the Site or a product will not exceed the amount you paid for the product giving rise to the claim, or ten US dollars if no purchase was made.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or damages. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including the statutory rights of consumers in the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, or elsewhere.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless prod.essential and Owen Hucal from any claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or third-party right, or your misuse of any product outside the scope of its license.

16. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of these Terms or the Site will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Wayne County, Michigan, and both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. If you are a consumer residing in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction whose law grants you mandatory consumer protections or the right to bring proceedings in your local courts, nothing in this section deprives you of those protections or rights.

17. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last Updated" date shows the latest revision. Changes apply prospectively from the date they are posted. Purchases are governed by the Terms and license agreements in effect at the time of purchase. Continued use of the Site after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

18. General

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a transfer of the business. These Terms, together with the applicable license agreement for any purchased beat and our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site.

19. Contact

Questions about these Terms: prodessential@gmail.com

Owen Hucal d/b/a prod.essential, Michigan, United States.