Ethics Policy
STANDARD was built because the music review industry needed fixing. This policy explains what we're doing differently.
The Problem We're Solving
For too long, the music feedback industry has been plagued by unethical practices:
- Pay-for-praise: Services that give positive reviews regardless of quality, as long as you pay enough.
- Fake engagement: "Review" services that are really just bots and fake streams in disguise.
- Hidden conflicts: Reviewers pushing their own services (mixing, production) during "objective" reviews.
- Platform exploitation: Companies taking 30-50% of reviewer earnings, forcing them to cut corners.
- No accountability: No way for artists to report bad actors or rate their experience.
STANDARD exists to fix all of this.
Our Commitments
More to Creators
Creators keep more of their earnings on STANDARD than on any other platform. We make money through optional platform features, not by taxing creator income.
No Pay-for-Praise
Higher tiers get more time and detail—not better reviews. Every creator signs an ethics pledge promising honest feedback regardless of payment amount.
Creator Accountability
Artists can rate and report creators. We investigate every ethics complaint. Bad actors get removed. Good creators build verified reputations.
Ethics Pledge Required
Every creator must read, understand, and agree to our Creator Ethics Policy before they can review anyone.
Actionable Feedback
Creators are required to provide specific, actionable feedback. "It's good" isn't a review. "Your hook needs X because Y" is.
Transparency
We publish quarterly reports on ethics enforcement. You'll know how many complaints we received, investigated, and acted on.
What Artists Can Expect
Honest feedback about what's working and what isn't
Specific, actionable suggestions you can implement
Creators qualified in the genres they're reviewing
The ability to rate your experience and report problems
Progress tracking to see improvement over time
Guaranteed positive reviews (that's not what we do)
Fake streams, followers, or engagement
Reviews influenced by payment amount
Reporting Ethics Concerns
If you believe a creator has violated our ethics policy, you can:
- Rate your review: After every review, you can rate the creator 1-10 and leave notes.
- Submit a report: If you believe there was an ethics violation, click "Report" on the review page.
- We investigate: Every report is reviewed by the STANDARD team within 48 hours.
- Action is taken: Confirmed violations result in warnings, suspension, or removal.
We take ethics seriously. The whole point of STANDARD is to be the platform you can trust.
Questions about our ethics policy?
Email us at ethics@standard.live