Studio policies & client agreement

Studio time

• Your session starts at the time you booked. If you arrive late, the session still ends when it was scheduled to end — we hold the room for you, not the clock.
• We allow 15 minutes' grace before we treat a session as a no-show. The booked time is still charged.
• Running over is fine if the room is free afterwards. Extra time is billed at the additional-hour rate of the option you booked.

People in the studio

• Strictly 2 people per session, including the client. This is a safety and access limit rather than a preference, and additional people cannot be admitted on the day.
• Valid ID is required twice: to make the booking, and again on arrival — everyone entering the studio signs in before the session begins.
• Whoever is named on the booking is responsible for everyone they bring, including guests who arrive later.
• Clients under 18 book with a parent or guardian named on the booking and consenting to these terms.

Equipment

• Only Northern Root engineers and staff adjust the console, mic placement, monitoring, patching, the DAW or any studio settings. Please don't change anything yourself — ask and we'll do it.
• Bring your own instruments if you can. Studio instruments rent at ₱500 per hour.
• If you or your party damage studio equipment, you cover the repair or replacement cost. We photograph and write up any damage at the end of the session and share it with you the same day.

Conduct and premises

• No food or drink other than sealed water in the live room and control room.
• No smoking, alcohol or illegal substances anywhere on the premises.
• No filming, recording or streaming the studio interior without our consent.
• We can end a session without a refund if what's happening puts people or equipment at risk. This is a last resort, not a technicality.

Liability

• Personal belongings remain the client's responsibility throughout. We can't accept responsibility for the loss, theft or damage of instruments, gear, or personal items brought onto the premises, whether or not the session is running.
• Clients and their guests use the premises and equipment at their own risk. We aren't liable for injury, loss or damage arising from their own acts or omissions, from equipment they bring in, or from a failure to follow the studio protocols in this agreement.
• None of this sets aside a responsibility the law doesn't allow us to set aside. Where the law holds us responsible, we are, and this agreement doesn't change that.

Recording and CCTV

• The premises are monitored by CCTV, including audio, covering the live room, control room and common areas. This is for the safety of everyone in the building and the security of the equipment.
• Recordings are kept for 30 days and are reviewed only where there is a safety, security or dispute reason to do so. They are never published, shared or used for promotion.
• By making a booking you consent to being recorded on these terms. Because the person who books is responsible for their guests, please tell anyone you bring before they arrive — the notice at the entrance says the same thing.

Payment

• 70% of the total reserves your slot. A booking is confirmed once we've verified that payment.
• The remaining 30% is due before we release your finished files.
• A booking may be cancelled up to 3 days before the session date. A non-refundable reservation fee of ₱2,000 is retained and the balance of what you paid is refunded.
• The fee covers the cost of holding the room. From the moment a booking is confirmed the date and the hours are taken off our calendar and declined to other clients, and the session is scheduled, staffed and prepared. That cost is incurred whether or not the session goes ahead, which is why it isn't returned.
• Once a session has begun there are no cancellations and no refunds, as the time and the engineer have been used.
• Need to move a session rather than cancel it? Ask us — we'll do what we can.

Files, rights and delivery

• We keep session files for 30 days after a session completes.
• Final masters are released once the balance is settled.
• The recording is yours. Ownership only changes if you sign a separate label, distribution or management agreement with us.
• Mixed or mastered tracks include 2 revisions each. Further revisions are billed.