Terms & Conditions

1. Introduction

1.1- Captivate.fm (“Captivate”) is a website owned by Captivate Audio Ltd, a registered company in England and Wales with a registered address of 30 Leicester Square, London, UK WC2H 7LA and company number 11840222.

1.2- Captivate.fm provides an innovative platform and tools to assist podcasters to create the best possible experience for their listeners. Below is set out the Terms and Conditions by which this site is governed, and section B sets out the Terms and Conditions that apply if you enable Tipping Functionality (as defined therein). By using this site, you agree to these Terms and Conditions and are bound by them. If you fail to comply with the Terms and Conditions in this policy, your use of our site may be terminated.

2. Data Protection 

2.1- Captivate Audio as a Data Controller acts at all times in accordance with UK Data Protection laws.  For further information, please view our  Privacy Policy and Privacy Policy for Listeners.

Captivate is not responsible for the collection, storage and processing of data carried out by customers. All customers using the Captivate platform must ensure that they are in compliance with all applicable Data Protection laws and regulations in their jurisdiction(s).

3. Age restrictions 

3.1- Customers must be 18 years old and above. We do not willingly sell our product to a consumer under 18 years of age and will not be responsible if a sale is made to anyone below this age limit.

4. Purchases

4.1- If you wish to make a purchase on our site, the site will guide you through our purchase process. However, we are not liable for incorrectly ordered items on your behalf, therefore, we recommend that you check orders carefully before submitting.

4.2- An order confirmation email shall be sent to you soon after the purchase has been processed. In the confirmation email, you can expect to find the following information:

  • Confirmation of the services ordered
  • Fully itemised pricing for the services you have ordered, including, where appropriate, taxes and other additional charges.

4.3- If Captivate, for any reason, does not accept or cannot fulfil a customer’s order, no payment shall be taken. If Captivate has taken payment without the order being successful, any such sums will be refunded as soon as possible in any event within 30 days.

5. Payment & refunds

5.1- Payment for our services can be found in our price policy https://www.captivate.fm/signup. You can purchase our services on the site. If a debit or credit card account is being used for a transaction, Captivate may obtain preapproval for an amount up to the amount of the payment. If you enroll to make recurring payments automatically, all charges and fees will be billed to the credit card you designate during the setup process. If you want to designate a different credit card or if there is a change in your credit card, you must change your information online. This may temporarily delay your ability to make online payments while we verify your new payment information.  You represent and warrant that if you are making online payments that (i) any credit card, debit card and bank account information you supply is true, correct and complete, (ii) charges incurred by you will be honored by your credit/debit card company or bank, (iii) you will pay the charges incurred by you in the amounts posted, including any applicable taxes, and (iv) you are the person in whose name the card was issued and you are authorized to make a purchase or other transaction with the relevant credit card and credit card information.

5.2- Automatic Renewal Subscription Terms. Where a customer’s free-trial comes to an end automatic billing will begin and the customer will be notified prior to the initial charge by email.  All payments are non-refundable and a customer can cancel a free-trial at any time during the trial period prior to being billed. Once billing has commenced, it will continue on the same date every month, or for annual accounts, on the same date every year, until such time as the customer chooses to cancel their Captivate account. Captivate does not offer refunds for part months (or in the case of annual subscriptions, part years) or payments made if a customer fails to cancel their free trial prior to billing commencing. From time-to-time, Captivate may run special, “money-back guarantee” offers. These are at the discretion of Captivate Audio Ltd and during these offers, refunds may be offered on initial payments for a period up to forty-eight (48) hours after the activation of a free-trial. When and how these special offers run is subject to change at any time and is at Captivate’s discretion.

Your subscription is continuous based on your account type and will be automatically renewed at the end of the applicable subscription period, unless you cancel your subscription before the end of the then-current subscription period by clicking here. If you cancel your subscription, your account’s access to our Services will automatically end at the end of your current billing period. Captivate may change the price for your subscription, from time to time and will communicate any price changes to you in advance and, if applicable, how to accept those changes. Price changes will take effect at the start of the next subscription period following the date after the price change takes effect. If you do not agree with a price change, you have the right to reject the change by unsubscribing from the Services or Products prior to the price change going into effect. If payment through your payment method is refused, rejected, or declined for any reason, we reserve the right cancel your subscription without notice. In the event that your subscription is cancelled for any reason, you will need to resubscribe in order to access our services.

5.3 Where Captivate’s pricing structure is based upon downloads/bandwidth, we reserve the right to invoke a fair usage policy where we feel it is required. We will always contact you about this prior to taking any action, in the rare circumstance that it does apply.

5.4- Should you exceed your Captivate download/bandwidth plan limit in any single month, no action will be taken on our part except for where item 5.3 is invoked. Exceeding your download/bandwidth plan limit for two (2) months consecutively by a margin greater than twenty-five percent (25%) will automatically upgrade you to the next payment tier. You will be notified of this change via email.

5.5- Failure to pay an invoice will result in a reduction in service and the possibility that your podcast may be removed from podcast directories including but not limited to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

6. Links to third party sites 

6.1- Links to third-party sites may be included on our site. If you choose to follow a link from our site to a third-party site, our Terms and Conditions will not apply and will be terminated at the point of you exiting our site. We recommend that if you leave our site through a third-party link, you read their Terms and Conditions before proceeding to browse, use or interact with the other site.

7. Conduct 

7.1- By using our site, you agree to be bound by our Terms and Conditions.

7.2- If you upload, download or stream malicious software onto or from our site, your use of our site will be terminated. We are not responsible for any malware that may be on our site.

7.3- If you upload, download or stream inappropriate content onto or from our site, your use of our site will be terminated. We are not responsible for any inappropriate content which may be found on our site.

7.4- Visitors must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the site, the server on which the site is stored, or any other server, computer, or database connected to the site.

7.5- Anyone breaching the provisions of this section may be committing a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (UK), the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (US), or other applicable laws.

7.6- Any and all such breaches will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities and Captivate will cooperate fully with those authorities by disclosing the identity of the breacher to them.

7.7- By using Captivate, you agree that you will not re-sell Captivate in full or in part. If you wish to use Captivate as part of your product offering you must contact Captivate at [email protected] to ensure that you are signed up to our resale agency/network plans which may allow you certain extra usage rights. You may never publicly state that you are “a podcast host”/”hosting company” or similar; Captivate’s brand and any trade marks must remain intact even in instances of co-branding. Failure to comply may result in termination of service.

7.8- By using Captivate, you agree that you will only host podcasts that you personally produce. If you wish to host shows that you do not produce, you must contact Captivate at [email protected] to ensure that you are signed up to our agency/network plans. Failure to comply may result in termination of service.

7.9- Should you choose to become a Captivate Affiliate, you agree not to sign up for a Captivate account yourself using your affiliate link nor run any form of paid advertising to your affiliate link either online or offline. Should any of these things occur, your Captivate affiliate programme access will be terminated and you may be banned from rejoining and your Captivate podcast hosting account may be suspended or deleted immediately at our discretion.

7.10- Captivate will not tolerate rude, abusive or discriminatory language from users to staff or other users. Users choosing to persist with any behaviour of this nature may be removed from the platform.

8. Provisions of service 

8.1- In certain circumstances, for example where a technical problem arises , Captivate may need to suspend or otherwise interrupt the services to resolve the issue. Unless the issue is an emergency that requires immediate action, Captivate will inform all customers in advance before suspending or interrupting the services.

9. Cookies and Privacy policies

9.1- Use of the site is also governed by a Cookie and Privacy Policies. These policies are incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by this reference.

10. Changes to these Terms and Conditions 

10.1- Captivate may alter these Terms and Conditions at any anytime. If Captivate does so, details of the changed will be highlighted at the top of this page. Any such changes will become binding on all visitors upon each and upon first use of the Site after the changes have been implemented. All visitors are therefore advised to check this page from time to time.

11. Severability

11.1- If any of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions are found to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by any court or other authority, that / those provision(s) shall be deemed severed from the remainder of these Terms and Conditions. The remainder of these Terms and Conditions shall be valid and enforceable.

12. Limitation of liability 

12.10 The statistics shown on our site are measured as accurately as possible. If these statistics are incorrect by any degree, then we will not be liable for this inaccuracy.

12.2- Captivate will not be held liable for any of the actions of its customers using the Captivate platform except to the extent of enforcing the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

12.3  Captivate  will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both Captivate and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales process.

12.4 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the products including the right to receive products which are as described, of satisfactory quality, fit for any particular purpose made known to us, and supplied with reasonable skill and care.

12.5 If defective digital content which we have supplied damages a device or digital content belonging to you and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation. However, we will not be liable for damage which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply an update offered to you free of charge or for damage which was caused by you failing to correctly follow installation instructions or to have in place the minimum system requirements advised by us.

13. IP provision 

13.10 Captivate has full rights, ownership or license in the intellectual property provided on this website. No content on the Captivate site shall be copied, or duplicated in any manner. Any breach of Captivate’s Intellectual Property Rights will be pursued under the appropriate intellectual property laws or regulations. “Intellectual Property Rights” means patents, utility model rights, database rights, performance rights, copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, service marks, trade, business and domain names, database rights, design rights, topography rights, computer software rights, moral rights, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off, rights in any confidential information and all other similar or analogous rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications for and renewals and/or extensions of such rights in each case in any part of the world, and all rights or forms of protection having equivalent or similar effect to any of the foregoing which may subsist anywhere in the world.

13.2- Customers who upload intellectual property to the Captivate site grant a limited non-exclusive license to Captivate of such intellectual property for the period the consumer is using the Captivate platform. Any intellectual property or other data uploaded by the customer to the platform will be deleted from the system thirty (30) days after termination of the use of the Captivate platform by either the customer or Captivate.

13.3- Customers using the Captivate platform and hosting services retain the Intellectual Property Rights in the materials they create and upload (“User Material”). It is the customer’s sole responsibility to verify the ownership and legal rights to use any intellectual property placed on the platform. Captivate will not be liable for any customer’s breach of another’s Intellectual Property Rights.

13.4- By using the Captivate platform to create or host User Material you warrant and agree that:

(i)    you own or are licensed in respect of the User Material and that you have the right, power and authority to grant the rights set out in these terms;
(ii)    that Captivate is free and able to use User Material in accordance with and in the manner set out in these Terms and Conditions without any payment (including any royalty payments to third parties) and that in particular Captivate may lawfully permit other users to view the User Material; and
(iii)    you have obtained all consents, releases and permissions (including of each person identifiable) in respect of the User Material;

and in addition you warrant and agree that such User Material:

(iv)    is not confidential and does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy or any other rights of any third party, and does not contain anything which is unlawful, libellous or defamatory; and
(v)    is not copyrighted  or alternatively that you own the copyright or have the necessary permissions and rights to use it;

13.5 By using the Captivate platform to create or host User Material you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Captivate from all claims, demands, actions, awards, judgements, costs, expenses liabilities, settlements, proceedings, damages, compensation, losses (including any interest, fines, penalties, management time,legal and other professional expenses), loss or damage to reputation, brand or goodwill, and to the extent permitted by law, administrative fines, penalties, sanctions, liabilities or other remedies imposed by any person (including any regulator or similar authority) (“Losses”) suffered by Captivate arising out of any User Material that is in breach of these Terms and Conditions or arising out of a breach of your warranties and obligations herein.

13.6 You agree that we may disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that your User Material violates their Intellectual Property Rights or any other right.

13.7  Claims of Copyright Infringement. We disclaim any responsibility or liability for copyrighted materials posted on our site.  If you believe that your work has been copied in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please follow the procedures set forth below.

Captivate respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects its users to do the same. In accordance with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), we will respond promptly to notices of alleged infringement that are reported to Captivate’s Designated Copyright Agent, identified below.

Notices of Alleged Infringement for Content Made Available on the site

If you are a copyright owner, authorized to act on behalf of one, or authorized to act under any exclusive right under copyright, please report alleged copyright infringements taking place on or through our site by sending us a notice ("Notice") complying with the following requirements.

  1. Identify the copyrighted works that you claim have been infringed.
  2. Identify the material or link you claim is infringing (or the subject of infringing activity) and that access to which is to be disabled, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the site where such material may be found.
  3. Provide your mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, email address.
  4. Include both of the following statements in the body of the Notice:

"I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use)."

"I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyright or of an exclusive right under the copyright that is allegedly infringed."

  1. Provide your full legal name and your electronic or physical signature.

Deliver this Notice, with all items completed, to our Podcaster Support & Experience Lead, Danny Brown by emailing [email protected].

14. Law and jurisdiction 

14.1- Unless otherwise required by mandatory laws in your country of residence, any disputes concerning these Terms of Use (and any non-contractual disputes/claims arising out of or in connection with them) or the relationship between customers, visitors and Captivate or any matters arising therefrom or associated therewith are subject to the laws England, without regard to choice or conflicts of law principles, unless you are a US resident in which case the laws of New York shall apply.

14.2 You and Captivate agree to the jurisdiction of the English courts to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy that arises in connection with the Terms of Use (and any non-contractual disputes/claims arising out of or in connection with them) the relationship between customers, visitors and Captivate or any matters arising therefrom or associated therewith, except where under applicable mandatory laws, you can choose to bring legal proceedings in your country of residence, or we are required to only bring legal proceedings in your country of residence, or if you are a US resident, in which case the New York courts shall have jurisdiction.

Section B

Monetization  Services

  • What is Tipping Functionality

Captivate’s tipping functionality allows you to receive money (“Tips”) directly from your listeners and subscribers (“Tippers”) via Stripe (“Tipping Functionality”). Tipping Functionality is not available if you are on a free-trial or are not paying subscription fees to Captivate.

Tipping Functionality will give you access to a dashboard which allows you to view the tips you have received from Tippers, and, unless they have Tipped anonymously, their names and messages. Tips are voluntary and your Tippers may stop Tipping at any time. Enabling the Tipping Functionality does not mean that you will receive Tips.

To set up Tipping Functionality you will need to create an account with Stripe which will be subject to Stripe’s Connected Account Agreement and Stripe’s Privacy Policy.

By setting up the Tipping Functionality you agree to Captivate performing the services to enable the Tipping Functionality and communicating your data to Stripe in accordance with our Privacy Policy below.

By enabling the Tipping Functionality you represent to Captivate that all of the information you provide to us is accurate and complete, you are aged 18 or over, and that you are authorized to agree to enabling the Tipping Functionality.

Tipping Functionality is currently only available to accounts based in the following jurisdictions:  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, US.

  • What Captivate does

To the maximum extent permitted by law, except as expressly provided in these terms, Captivate provides the services and the Tipping Functionality to you on an “as is” “as available” basis, without any warranties, express, implied, or statutory.

  • Your responsibilities

Captivate is not responsible for your obligations to your Tippers. You are solely responsible for, and Captivate expressly disclaims all liability for:

  • your compliance with applicable laws,
  • your obligations related to your receipt of a Tip or other funds via the Tipping Functionality; or
  • your provision of any goods or services to your Tippers including services or actions connected with the Tip,

this includes, but is not limited to your responsibility to:

  • provide customer service;
  • handle and make refunds;
  • handle complaints;
  • provide receipts;
  • register as a legal entity;
  • deal with tax or Gift Aid; or
  • meeting any other statutory requirements in your jurisdiction.

You are responsible for all actions taken on your Stripe dashboard, including the initiation of refunds or ensuring your banking information is accurate and up to date.

Captivate is not responsible for the acts or omissions of Stripe in providing services to you or your Tippers, or for any non-compliance by Stripe with the terms of your agreement with Stripe.

You will not use the Tipping Functionality or knowingly permit the use of Tipping Functionality in a manner that is fraudulent, unlawful, deceptive or abusive.

  • Your Liability

You agree to reimburse Captivate for any Losses we incur based on; i) your failure to comply with your legal or contractual obligations to us, your Tippers or to Stripe; ii) any disputes between your Tippers or Stripe; iii) your use of the Tipping Functionality in a manner which is illegal; or iv) any inaccurate of incomplete information that is provided to us or Stripe.

Where either Captivate or Stripe incurs any Losses based on unauthorized access or activity on the Stripe dashboard initiated by you, or your employees, or your agents, or anyone you have granted access to it, you will be financially liable for such Losses. Captivate or Stripe may deduct such Losses from your account, or require you to immediately pay such Losses to Captivate or Stripe.

You are always financially liable to Captivate for disputes (including chargebacks), refunds, and any fines that arise from your use of the Tipping Functionality for example which is levied on Captivate or Stripe by a bank or credit or debit card provider.

  • Payouts, Fees and Refunds

Once you have a balance of at least £10 in total of Tips in your account, you may request a payout via the dashboard. The dashboard will show you the fees which are payable when you make the payout.

You can make multiple payouts in a month, provided you have enough credit in your account.

The fees charged by Stripe for making a payout for Express Accounts are set out here – they include:

  • a fee for each month your account makes a payout;
  • a fee based on the amount of your payout;
  • a fee if the payout is paid to a bank account or debit card;
  • a fee paid for currency conversion (if applicable); and
  • VAT (if applicable) will also be charged.

Please see our FAQs for examples of how the fees will apply.

Captivate does not charge any fees over and above those charged by Stripe.

You can initiate refunds to your Tippers via the dashboard, no charges or fees are taken from your account if you initiate a refund.

When your account with Captivate is closed, any Tips will be paid out to your designated bank account less fees.

  • Privacy

Please see our Privacy Policy and the Stripe Privacy Policy  to see the data that Captivate has access to and how we will use, display, and transfer that data.

  • Restrictions

You must not use the Tipping Functionality for those activities listed at Stripe’s Restricted Businesses List (“Restricted Activities”). Captivate may terminate or suspend your account or the Tipping Functionality if we suspect that you are carrying out Restricted Activities or are otherwise in breach of these terms or your agreement with Stripe.

  • Captivate’s Liability

In no event will Captivate be liable for any lost profits, or any indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising out of, in connection with, or relating to the Tipping Functionality, including the use of, inability to use, or unavailability of the Tipping Functionality.

Captivate has no liability or responsibility for any (a) damage, loss, or injury resulting from hacking, tampering, or other unauthorized access to, or use of, the Tipping Functionality, including any unauthorized access to or use of third-party servers used in connection with Stripe and/or any personal information stored therein; (c) interruption or cessation of the Tipping Functionality; (d) software bugs, viruses, trojan horses, or other harmful code that may be transmitted to or through the Tipping Functionality; (e) errors, inaccuracies, or omissions of information, or any damages or losses incurred as a result of such errors inaccuracies or omissions, resulting from the use of the Donations Functionality; (f) information that is transmitted using the Tipping Functionality that is defamatory, offensive, or illegal; and/or (g) conduct of any third party.

Without limiting the foregoing provisions of this Section [8], Captivate’s cumulative liability to you in connection with the Tipping Functionality will be limited to direct damages and in all events will not exceed in the aggregate the amount of fees paid by you to Captivate during the three (3) month period immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim for liability.

This limitation of liability section applies to the maximum extent permitted by law, and applies regardless of the legal theory on which the claim is based, including contract, tort (including negligence, product liability, or otherwise), strict liability, or any other basis. The limitations apply even if Captivate has been advised of the possibility of such damage.