Terms of Service & License Agreement

These Terms of Service and End-User License Agreement (together, the “Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Fret Beam LLC, a New York limited liability company (“we,” “us,” or “Fret Beam LLC”). They govern your use of the Fret Beam™ application and the fretbeam.com website (together, the “Service”). Fret Beam is a product of Fret Beam LLC. By creating an account, starting a trial, subscribing, or using Fret Beam, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Who we are

The Service is provided and sold by Fret Beam LLC, the seller of record for every Fret Beam purchase. Fret Beam is the product; Fret Beam LLC is the company behind it. You can reach us any time at support@fretbeam.com.

Your license to use Fret Beam

Your subscription grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use Fret Beam for as long as your subscription is in good standing, subject to these Terms. You may install and use Fret Beam on up to the number of computers included in your plan (your plan’s device limit):

• Basic, up to 1 computer.
• Pro, up to 2 computers.
• Ultimate, up to 3 computers.

The exact features included in each plan are shown on our pricing page and are enforced by your license entitlements. You may not sell, rent, lease, sublicense, share, or transfer your license or account credentials; reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software except to the extent that law expressly permits despite this limit; remove or alter any proprietary notices; or use the Service to build a competing product. The device limit is enforced generously. We may contact you before taking any action if a key appears on more computers than your plan includes.

Free trial, billing, and renewal

• Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. A payment method is required to begin the trial. Starting a trial creates a real subscription with your card or PayPal account that includes a 7-day free period. You are not charged during the trial.
• Unless you cancel before the trial ends, your first charge occurs on day 7 at your plan’s price for the billing interval you chose (monthly or yearly), and your subscription then auto-renews each billing period, monthly or yearly, whichever you chose, at that price until you cancel.
• We send a reminder email a few days before your trial ends, before it converts, so a charge never surprises you.
• You can cancel any time, and canceling is as easy as signing up, self-serve, with no phone call or email required. Canceling during the trial means you are never charged.

What happens if your trial ends without subscribing

If your free trial ends and you have not started a paid subscription, Fret Beam locks and shows a “Your trial has ended” message. Subscribing at any time unlocks the app again.

What happens when you cancel

You can cancel anytime, self-serve, from your account page. Canceling stops all future billing. Your subscription, and the app, keep working through the end of the period you’ve already paid for. When that paid period ends, the app locks, the same way an expired free trial locks. Your license key, your saved tabs, and your exported files are never deleted: resubscribe with the same key at any time and the app unlocks with everything where you left it.

Included AI (see “Third-party dependencies” below) requires an active membership. It is available only while your subscription is current, and it is subject to fair-use quotas. Everything already installed and every already-drawn tab, chart, or recording is yours and stays on your computer, and voice features can continue if you supply your own OpenAI key.

Your account

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials and license key confidential and for all activity under your account. Tell us promptly at support@fretbeam.com if you believe your account or key has been compromised. You must provide accurate billing information and keep it current.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms;
• share, resell, or redistribute your license, key, or account access, or attempt to circumvent the device limit or entitlement checks;
• interfere with, disrupt, or place an unreasonable load on the Service or the systems it relies on;
• use the Service’s included AI features in an abusive, automated, or excessive way (for example, scripting requests or using them as a general-purpose AI service unrelated to Fret Beam). Fair-use quotas apply to included AI, and Fret Beam LLC may throttle or suspend your access to included AI for abuse while the rest of the app continues to work normally; or
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service or its data.

System requirements

Fret Beam runs on Mac and Windows. On Mac it requires an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 13 (Ventura) or later. On Windows it requires Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Meeting these requirements is your responsibility; we do not guarantee the app runs on hardware or OS versions outside this range.

Third-party dependencies

Some features of Fret Beam depend on third-party products and services that Fret Beam LLC does not own or control:

• Understanding your voice and typed requests is powered by AI. When you speak or type a request, an edit, or asking for a chord, scale, or arpeggio chart, the app uses AI to understand what you asked for; the tabs and charts themselves are computed by Fret Beam’s own engine, and the AI never invents notes or frets. With an active membership, this AI is included at no extra charge. Fret Beam LLC provides it to you through OpenAI, acting as our processor, and Fret Beam LLC pays OpenAI for that usage. You are never billed separately or by usage for it, and no setup or API key is required. Fair-use quotas apply, as described under “Acceptable use.” You may instead supply your own OpenAI API key in Settings, in which case you contract directly with OpenAI and pay OpenAI for that usage, and Fret Beam LLC is not involved in it. Supplying your own key does not change your subscription price. Either way, availability and quality of these features depend on OpenAI’s own service, which is outside our control and can change or be interrupted. Recording tabs happens on your computer and does not require an OpenAI key.
• OBS integration depends on OBS Studio, a free third-party application we do not provide or control.
• Live Tab output quality depends on your audio setup, your guitar, pickup, audio interface, and signal. Results vary with your equipment. Works with any guitar modeler, floorboard, or USB audio interface; note-perfect with a Fishman TriplePlay hex pickup.

Payments and statement descriptor

Payments are processed by our payment providers. Card payments are processed by Stripe and appear on your card statement as “FRET BEAM LLC.” PayPal payments appear under our business name, Fret Beam LLC. All prices are in U.S. dollars and exclude any taxes that may apply.

Refunds

Our refund commitments are set out on our Refund Policy page, which forms part of these Terms.

Intellectual property

Fret Beam, including its software, design, branding, and content, is owned by Fret Beam LLC and its licensors and is protected by intellectual-property laws. These Terms grant you a license to use the Service, not any ownership of it. Third-party components included in Fret Beam are provided under their own licenses. See our Open-Source Notices. Anything you create while using Fret Beam (your tabs, charts, and recordings) is yours.

Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that transcription, tab, or chord output will be perfectly accurate.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Fret Beam LLC and its owners, members, and suppliers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the amount you paid us for the Service in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of these may not apply to you.

Termination

You may stop using the Service and cancel your subscription at any time, per the “What happens when you cancel” section above. We may also suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms; in that case the app locks immediately, without waiting for the end of a paid period.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Continued use of the Service after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You agree that the state and federal courts located in New York will have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service, to the extent permitted by law.

Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email support@fretbeam.com.