Terms of service

Last updated: October 8, 2026

The service and its operator

ScoreStarling is operated by independent developer HaiyiMei and provides audio transcription, score playback, editing and export. By using the service you accept these terms and the privacy notice.

Accounts and usage

Provide an email address that can be verified and keep your sign-in credentials safe. A free account can run one transcription at a time, and an account with Plus five. Paid jobs with an unclear result are reviewed before they can be retried. The app displays your balance and the exact credit cost before you confirm a band transcription or the unlocking of a score. Transcribing one instrument or voice, or solo piano, is free; a free account can start three of these per 24 hours and, as a fair-use limit, an account with Plus 100.

Subscriptions and purchased credits

Stripe hosts checkout and shows the price and whether payment repeats. A monthly subscription renews until you cancel it through “Manage subscription” on your plan page. Subscription credits expire at the end of their paid period and do not roll over. One-time packs expire 90 days after their credits are added. Cancelling a subscription keeps existing pack credits until their expiry. An account that redeemed a beta code may subscribe at the beta price shown at checkout for 12 months, if it subscribes within 30 days of redeeming; a subscription started again after cancelling is at the list price.

A band transcription uses 40 credits per minute of audio, with the audio rounded up to 10 seconds; transcribing one instrument or voice, or solo piano, uses none. Before a band transcription starts, its price shows the credit cost, audio excerpt and processing choices; accepting that exact price reserves the displayed credits, and a completed task settles the accepted amount. Unlocking a score costs 15 credits, once per score, and the app shows the cost before you confirm it. Credits are spent on a score at most once. Subscription credits are spent first, then the credits that expire soonest. Failed tasks, tasks that find no notes and errors on our side release their reservation to the original allowance with its original expiry; uncertain paid results stay reserved for review. Editing, undo, saved versions, re-engraving, listening, PDF, MP3 and WAV downloads, re-downloads, imports, previews and instrument suggestions never use credits. Refunds and payment disputes adjust the associated credits, and spent refunded credits require review before another paid task. How credits work explains these rules. For payment or refund help, contact support@scorestarling.com.

Free credits, invitations and beta codes

Each account receives 100 free credits each month through December 2026, and 50 each month from January 2027, on its first visit in that month, while the daily number of first grants lasts. They expire at the end of the month, counted in China Standard Time (UTC+8), and do not accumulate. An account with an active Plus subscription receives the subscription’s credits instead. Every account has an invitation link. When a friend joins with it and completes a first transcription of any kind, free ones included, the friend and the account that invited them each receive 100 credits, valid for 30 days; an inviting account is rewarded for up to five friends. A beta code gives 300 credits, valid for 30 days, and each account can redeem one.

Unlocked scores and the footer line

A score that is not unlocked can be edited, played and downloaded as a PDF, MP3 or WAV. Its PDFs and page images carry a footer line reading “Made with ScoreStarling · scorestarling.com”. Its MusicXML, MXL, MIDI, ABC and MEI files are available once the score is unlocked. A score is unlocked when credits have been spent on it: 15 credits to unlock it, or the credits of a band transcription paid with credits. An unlocked score downloads in every format as often as you like, edits included, and its PDFs have no footer line. While an account has an active Plus subscription, every score is unlocked; when the subscription ends, a score that is neither a band transcription nor unlocked on its own returns to the free state. Scores made before these rules took effect stay fully open.

Audio processing and optional providers

Uploads can be up to 100 MiB. Each transcription processes up to five minutes per task, for every account. Longer recordings use the first excerpt within that limit, and the app or its price says so before the task starts. By default, transcription runs on ScoreStarling’s servers with a local model and incurs no third-party transcription API fees. If you choose a band transcription, your audio is sent to our partner Mirelo and processed for the credits shown in the price you accept. The credits you spend are ScoreStarling’s and are separate from what we pay Mirelo; a price you accept, or credits held for a task, is not Mirelo’s invoice.

Content and results

You keep any rights you already hold in the content you upload, and you are responsible for having permission to upload, process and use it. You allow us to process and store audio, scores and related files to provide the services you request. We will not publish your work just because you use the service. Automatic transcription can make pitch, rhythm or notation errors; listen and proofread before performing, teaching or publishing. Passing the structure check does not mean the transcription is accurate.

Edits, exports and storage

Changes proposed by a model should be previewed first and applied only after you confirm them. Exports are files of a specific revision, subject to the unlocking rules above; anyone holding a temporary download link can get that file until the link expires, so keep links private. The trash hides and restores work and is not permanent deletion; request deletion as described in the privacy notice, and keep any exports you need.

Fair use and changes to the service

Do not circumvent account permissions, usage or upload limits, upload malicious files or persistently disrupt the service. We may restrict abusive accounts, address security issues or pause the service for maintenance. Changes to credits, features or terms that affect existing use will be explained on the service pages; any new paid offering will be clearly disclosed and will require your authorization.

Plugin license and contact

Files in the public plugin package are governed by the MIT license included in the package. That license grants no rights to other users’ audio or work and does not change access to the service or these terms. For questions about the service, accounts or these terms, visit the support page.