Terms of Service

Matt Shill Music provides one-on-one online music lessons and related studio tools: scheduling, a student portal, lesson notes, and the Never Miss a Lesson™ guarantee. Subscriptions are billed through Stripe. Booking and portal features currently run on My Music Staff.

If you have questions: contact@mattshill.com.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, subscribe, or accept these Terms. If a student is under 18, a parent or guardian must enter the agreement, manage billing, and is responsible for the student’s use of lessons and the portal.

We may decline a trial or subscription, or discontinue lessons, if we determine the studio is not the right fit or these Terms are not being followed.

A free trial is a short, no-commitment online session so we can talk through goals, assess level, and see whether weekly lessons are a good fit. A trial does not create a paid subscription. After the trial, you may subscribe through this site if we both want to continue.

Paid lessons are sold as a weekly subscription. You choose a lesson length and pay monthly or yearly through Stripe. Current prices are listed on the website and may change for future billing periods; we will not change the rate of an already-paid period without notice.

Yearly billing is discounted relative to monthly billing, as shown at checkout. After you subscribe, you choose a weekly lesson time. Confirmations and account updates come from me.

You may cancel anytime before your next billing cycle through the Stripe billing portal or by emailing us. Cancellation stops future charges. Unless required by law or we agree otherwise in writing, we do not refund a billing period that has already started, including unused lessons in that period.

Failed payments may pause scheduling until the account is current. We may suspend or end lessons for nonpayment.

Lessons are live, one-on-one video sessions at the weekly time you select, in the time zone you choose. You are responsible for a reliable internet connection, a device with a camera and microphone, a reasonably quiet space, and your instrument (or a keyboard for beginning piano).

If you need to change a regular time, contact us as early as you can. We will do our best to find another slot, but a preferred time is not guaranteed.

Every subscription includes the Never Miss a Lesson™ guarantee. If a student cannot attend the live lesson, you may request a custom recorded lesson with updated notes so that week’s progress is not lost. Live lessons may also be recorded for review.

A Never Miss a Lesson™ video is a makeup for that week — it is not a refund, a credit, or an extra lesson. If I need to cancel a live lesson, I will reschedule or provide a recorded lesson so you still receive instruction for that week.

Students and parents agree to treat lessons, recordings, and studio communication with basic professionalism: show up on time or request a makeup, keep the session appropriate for a teaching environment, and avoid sharing portal logins.

Parents are welcome to observe younger students, especially early on. We will agree on what works for your family. Parents remain responsible for supervision of minors on video calls and for any equipment in the home.

We may end a lesson or the subscription if conduct is abusive, unsafe, repeatedly disruptive, or otherwise incompatible with teaching.

By taking lessons, you consent to instructional recording of live sessions and Never Miss a Lesson™ videos, as described in our Privacy Policy. Recordings are for teaching and review, not for public posting or sale.

Lesson plans, method materials, recordings I create, and studio content remain the property of Matt Shill Music. You may use them for the student’s personal practice. You may not copy, resell, or publish them as your own teaching product.

Original music a student writes or records as their own work remains the student’s (or the family’s) property. If we later want to share a student performance publicly, we will ask first.

Lessons are designed to help students make real progress. Conservatory acceptances, exam results, performance opportunities, and creative outcomes depend on many factors outside the studio. We do not guarantee a specific result, admission, score, or timeline.

Checkout, billing, scheduling, and the portal rely on third parties, including Stripe and My Music Staff. Their sites and widgets have their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for a third-party service we do not control, including an outage that delays checkout or login.

You may use mattshill.com to learn about the studio, book a trial, subscribe, and reach the portal. You may not misuse the site — including attempting to break security, scrape the site in a way that harms its operation, or use it for anything unlawful.

Lessons and the website are provided “as is.” To the fullest extent allowed by law, we disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Online lessons depend on your internet, device, and environment; we are not responsible for problems on your side of the call.

To the fullest extent allowed by law, Matt Shill Music’s total liability for any claim arising out of the site or lessons is limited to the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or lost-profit damages. Some places do not allow these limits; in those places, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Matt Shill Music and Matt Shill from claims, damages, and reasonable legal fees arising from your (or the student’s) misuse of the site or lessons, or from your breach of these Terms — except to the extent we caused the problem.

You may cancel as described in the billing section. We may suspend or end access if you breach these Terms, fail to pay, or if we discontinue the studio. Sections that should survive — including payment already due, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and indemnity — will survive cancellation.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date on this page will change when we do. If you continue lessons or use the site after an update, you accept the revised Terms. If you do not agree, cancel before your next billing cycle and stop using the site.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the plan you select at checkout, are the entire agreement between you and Matt Shill Music for the website and lessons. They replace any prior informal promises about the same subject.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If a court finds a part of these Terms unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

Matt Shill Music — contact@mattshill.com.