What you can — and can’t — put behind a gate.

GateCrate is for independent artists and DJs gating their own music to grow a real, consenting fanbase. This policy is the line between that and the stuff that ruins it for everyone. Break it and we can remove content, suspend the gate, or close the account — see your Terms of Service.

You can put behind a gate:

• Your own recordings, edits, and DJ mixes you have the rights to distribute.
• Artwork, audio, and reward files you own or are licensed to share.

You can’t gate:

• Tracks, samples, stems, or artwork you don’t have permission to distribute.
• Bootlegs or unlicensed remixes you can’t legally give away.
• Anyone else’s release passed off as your own.

If a rights holder objects, we follow our copyright process.

• Illegal content, or content that promotes serious harm.
• Hate, harassment, threats, or content targeting people for who they are.
• Sexual content involving minors — reported to the authorities, no exceptions.
• Malware, phishing, or reward files that aren’t what they claim to be.
• Impersonating another artist, label, or person.
• Spam, or importing fans who never consented — buying, scraping, or renting email lists.

The charts and the “owned audience” promise only mean something if the numbers are real. So no:

• Bots, fake accounts, or paid click-farms to inflate unlocks or chart position.
• Self-unlocking on loop, or rewarding fake engagement.
• Working around a platform’s API rules or rate limits to fake a verification.

Where a platform’s API can’t actually confirm an action, GateCrate labels that step as best-effort rather than pretending it’s verified. Don’t try to dress a soft step up as a hard one.

• Only collect fans with a lawful basis and honest consent.
• Honour every unsubscribe and erasure request promptly.
• Don’t sell, rent, or hand off your fan list in breach of the consent they gave.
• Use the CRM to reach your fans — not to spam or mislead them.

Where it’s safe and fair to, we’ll warn you and give you a chance to fix things. For serious or repeated breaches — or anything illegal — we’ll act immediately: remove content, suspend the gate, or close the account. Suspended content is held rather than wiped where possible, so it can come back if a complaint is withdrawn.

Seen something on GateCrate that breaks this policy? Report it to abuse@gatecrate.com and we’ll look into it.