Policies

How we handle your information

We collect the personal information you give us directly — through website forms, Clarity Call bookings, and enquiries by email or social media (including Instagram and Facebook Messenger) — like your name, email, phone number, and what you're hoping to create.

We use it to respond to you, run your sessions, and follow up about our programs. We share only what's needed to do that with the services that run our business: Pipedrive (so we remember your enquiry), Acuity (bookings), Xero and Stripe (payments, once you're enrolled), and Google and Meta (so we understand what's working in our marketing). If you message us on social media, we'll use that conversation to help you, not sell it on.

We keep your information only as long as we need it, and take reasonable care to protect it. You can ask us what we hold about you, ask us to fix it, or ask us to delete it, any time.

Requesting deletion of your data

Email ben@adelaideaudioinstitute.com and ask us to delete the personal information we hold about you. We'll action this within 30 days, except where we're required to keep something for legal or accounting reasons — like enrolment records tied to an active or completed program.

Paying for a program

Your fee is confirmed with you at enrolment and is fixed for your sessions, even if our pricing changes later. If you're on a payment plan, instalments are charged automatically to the card you provide at enrolment — your enrolment agreement sets out the amounts and the dates.

Stripe emails you a receipt for every payment and lets you know if your card is about to expire, and you can update your card at any time.

Each session runs once the payment for it has cleared. If a payment hasn't cleared at least 48 hours before a session, that session is treated as a late cancellation under the rule below. If money gets tight, talk to us early — we'd much rather adjust the schedule with you than have a payment fail.

Cancelling a session

We ask for at least 48 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule a studio session or lesson. With less than 48 hours' notice, the session is treated as delivered and charged in full. The same applies if you don't show up.

If something genuinely beyond your control comes up — illness, a natural disaster, anything like that — talk to us. We'll work with you rather than hold you to the letter of this policy.

Rescheduling

The same 48-hour rule applies, for the same reason: inside 48 hours, your mentor's time is already committed. With 48 hours' notice or more, rescheduling is free.

Who owns what you create

For recording sessions: you own your songs and lyrics, and you get a license to use the recordings commercially. We keep ownership of the master recording itself and may use it to promote AAI — engineers and producers get credit where it's due.

For lessons: you own what you write. We might use footage of your performance to promote AAI, unless you tell us in writing you'd rather we didn't.

Working with other people on a project? We'll put a separate written agreement in place covering who owns what and how it's split.

Using our equipment

Studio gear is for our team to operate, unless we've specifically agreed otherwise — and you're responsible for damage caused by misuse. Lesson instruments are for use during your scheduled lesson, handled the way you're shown. We're not responsible for personal gear you bring in.

How long you've got

For studio projects, we'll agree a timeline with you up front. If a project goes quiet for 60 days, we may archive it — getting it going again might mean a small fee. For lessons, a private package is valid for 90 days from purchase.

Refunds

Deposits aren't refundable, but stay usable toward future sessions for 90 days. If a recording is technically unusable through our fault, we'll redo it or refund it — but not liking the creative result isn't grounds for a refund, since that's inherently subjective.

Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 14 business days.

A few other things

We can decline to provide a session to anyone behaving unsafely or inappropriately. We're not liable for indirect flow-on losses. Everyone on-site needs to follow our posted safety guidance.