Data and purposes
We use the information needed to create and secure accounts; receive music, artwork, credits and information about AI tools; run the competition and audience ratings; manage passes, payments and refunds; answer messages; check eligibility and rights; announce winners; and pay prizes. This may include email, account and artist names, country, entry and rating history, technical security data, support messages and the version of the Rules accepted. Potential winners may need to provide identity, rights, bank and tax information. Our payment provider processes card details; NEXT SOUND needs the payment status and reference, not your full card number.
Where the GDPR applies, we process account, entry and purchase data to perform our agreement with you; tax and accounting records to meet legal duties; and limited security and fraud data for our legitimate interests in keeping the service and Awards fair. Marketing emails require a separate choice and can be stopped at any time. Accepting the Competition Rules is not marketing consent.
NEXT SOUND Partners
By individual invitation and explicit electronic acceptance, approved creators may participate in NEXT SOUND Partners. We process the agreed commercial conditions, acceptance record, referral attributions, payment and commission status, transaction-reconciliation values and manual Wise payout references to manage the agreement and meet financial recordkeeping obligations. The Partner Dashboard shows aggregate results, not individual customer emails. Referral cookies are optional and are set only when a visitor consents; see the Cookie Notice. Partners may provide bank or Wise receiving details separately through an appropriate secure channel; full bank account details are not collected in the public dashboard.
What others can see
If an entry is published, listeners may see its artist name, title, audio, artwork, credits, category, country and any process description marked for publication. We may publish winners' artist names, works, countries and categories. Individual listeners' identities, identity documents, bank details and private verification evidence are not published.
Providers and international use
Providers that host the service, deliver audio, authenticate users, process payments, send service emails or help protect the platform receive only the data needed for their tasks. Some may operate outside the European Economic Area. Where a restricted international transfer occurs, we use an applicable adequacy decision or another lawful safeguard. We do not sell personal data.
Retention and your rights
We keep active account and entry information while needed to run the service and the five-year Awards licence. We remove active audio after the licence ends, subject to the Rules and technical caches. Transaction, acceptance, award and rights records are kept for the legally required period and, where necessary, to resolve claims. Security logs and unsuccessful verification material are deleted or anonymised when no longer needed for those purposes. Historical award results may remain without full-length audio.
You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or objection where the law gives you that right. You may withdraw any separate marketing consent. Contact hello@NextSoundAwards.com; we may verify your identity before acting. You may complain to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos or another competent data-protection authority. We do not knowingly accept competition accounts from people under 18. Material eligibility or fraud decisions receive human review.
See the Cookie Notice for strictly necessary browser storage. We will update this Notice if the service or its operator changes materially.