Last updated 28 August 2026

Terms & Conditions

These terms govern use of Compare the Band by customers and live acts. Important booking-specific information—including the chosen act, event details, price, cancellation terms and performance obligations—will also appear in the booking summary and customer–act contract before anyone signs or pays.

1. Who we are and what we do

Compare the Band is an online introduction and booking service for live music. We help customers describe an event, privately shortlist acts and receive sealed, event-specific quotes. Unless a booking summary expressly says otherwise, the live-performance contract is between the customer and the selected act. Compare the Band is responsible for its own introduction and booking service, but is not the performer, venue operator or employer of the musicians.

2. Accounts and eligibility

Users must be at least 18, provide accurate information, protect their login details and promptly update material changes. An act must have authority to represent every musician and line-up it offers.

3. Act profiles and agency-only names

Acts must use a newly created name used only on Compare the Band. It must not be the act’s existing name or be used on another website, social account, directory or agency. Profiles must not contain contact details, real band names, social handles or links other than permitted YouTube performance links. Acts must own or have permission to use all uploaded media and keep line-ups, travel limits, services, insurance, videos and the complete public setlist accurate.

4. Enquiries, private budgets and sealed quotes

The customer’s maximum total budget is private. Acts receive the event requirements but not that budget or another act’s quote. Each quote must include the complete performance fee, travel, accommodation, equipment and every other act expense. A quote is not a booking until the customer and act both confirm, the final contract is signed by both, and the booking deposit is paid by its deadline.

If no quote is within budget, Compare the Band may show the closest option and the amount above the maximum. The act is not told the customer’s budget or that it is the closest quote.

5. Prices and payment

The customer’s displayed total includes the booking deposit and the act’s accepted event fee. The booking deposit incorporates Compare the Band’s booking fee, is retained by Compare the Band for its booking service, and is not deducted from the act’s fee. The customer pays the full accepted act fee directly to the act at the event using the method stated in the contract. The displayed booking deposit is the final amount payable to Compare the Band; nothing should be added above the confirmed total without the customer’s express agreement.

6. Confirmation and contract sequence

After a customer selects a quote, the act must reconfirm availability and the final requirements. The customer then confirms, one contract is generated for those two parties, both sign, and the customer pays the booking deposit. Contact details are released only after those steps. A payment deadline may apply; if missed, the reservation may expire.

7. First-dance requests

For weddings, the customer should provide the song, artist and preferred version with the enquiry or mark it undecided. With its quote, the act must state whether the song is already known, will be learned within the quote, can be learned for a separately stated supplement, or cannot be performed live. The contract records the agreed arrangement. If undecided, the final request is due at least eight weeks before the event. A later change requires the act’s written agreement, including any price change.

8. Customer responsibilities

The customer must provide accurate event and venue information; ensure the venue permits and is suitable for the booked live music, line-up, equipment, volume and access requirements; provide adequate safe performance space and power; pay the act as agreed; and comply with the signed contract. For the entire time the act is in attendance, the customer must provide unlimited drinking water, unlimited non-alcoholic soft drinks and at least one hot meal for each person in the hospitality headcount stated in the accepted quote. That number includes only booked musicians and essential crew disclosed before acceptance. Undisclosed guests, partners, drivers or crew are not included. Substitutions do not increase the headcount; any later increase requires the customer’s written agreement. Dietary requirements must be notified in good time.

9. Act responsibilities

The act must perform the agreed service on time, dressed appropriately and to a standard comparable with its advertised videos. It must maintain appropriate public liability insurance and other required documents. If an advertised member cannot attend, the act must provide a suitably rehearsed replacement musician of comparable professional quality without materially reducing the agreed standard or line-up, and notify the customer promptly. If the act is unable to perform the event for any reason, it must promptly arrange, at no additional cost to the customer, a suitably rehearsed replacement act of comparable professional quality, musical style and set-list capability. The original act remains responsible for ensuring the replacement can provide the agreed service and holds the required insurance. Where DJ playlist service is included, the act must provide music appropriate to the event and prioritise any usable playlist supplied by the customer over its standard event playlist. After contact details are released, the act must contact the customer promptly and agree suitable load-in, setup and soundcheck times that allow the agreed performance to start punctually.

10. Cancellations, changes and refunds

The booking summary and customer–act contract will display the cancellation and date-change schedule before signature and payment. Statutory consumer rights are not excluded. Compare the Band will not describe a fee as non-refundable where the law requires a refund. Where its introduction service has already been fully supplied at the customer’s express request, the treatment of its booking fee will depend on the booking summary, the reason for cancellation and applicable law. Cancellations caused by the act, customer, venue, force majeure or material changes to the event may have different consequences, which must be stated clearly in the signed contract.

11. Premium listings

Premium is optional and must be clearly labelled. It may provide relevant featured placement and analytics but does not reveal customer budgets or guarantee enquiries, quotes or bookings. Premium acts must still satisfy the customer’s search requirements. Subscription price, billing interval, renewal and cancellation controls will be displayed before purchase.

12. Reviews, content and acceptable use

Users must not submit unlawful, misleading, discriminatory, defamatory or infringing material; manipulate quotes or reviews; scrape profiles; circumvent the booking process; impersonate another person; or interfere with security. We may moderate, reject or remove content and suspend accounts where reasonably necessary.

13. Problems and disputes

Customers and acts should first raise performance-contract issues directly with one another and notify Compare the Band so that the booking record can be preserved. We may facilitate communication but do not decide legal disputes between them. Complaints about Compare the Band’s own service should be sent to support@comparetheband.co.uk.

14. Liability

Nothing excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or statutory consumer rights. Subject to that, each party remains responsible for its own acts, omissions and contractual promises. Compare the Band is not responsible for an act’s performance or a venue’s condition merely because it facilitated the introduction, but remains responsible for providing its own service with reasonable care and skill.

15. Changes, law and contact

We may update these terms prospectively and will identify the revision date. Material changes affecting an existing booking will not replace the signed booking terms without the affected parties’ agreement. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, without removing any mandatory rights a consumer has where they live.

Legal contact: legal@comparetheband.co.uk.