The deal, in plain words.

What Hipstarr does

Hipstarr lets a fan send money directly to an independent artist. We are not the recipient of your tip and we do not hold artists' money. Payment is taken by a licensed payment provider (Paystack or Flutterwave), which splits it at the moment of payment: the artist's share goes to the artist's own payout account, and our fee goes to ours.

The fee

The artist receives 100% of the tip. Our fee is added on top and paid by the fan. It is 10% of the tip where the fan pays in Naira and 20% where the fan pays in USD or GBP.

The full breakdown — the tip, the fee, and the total you will be charged — is shown before you pay. Nothing is deducted from the artist's share.

There is a smallest tip we can accept: ₦100 in Naira, $5 in US dollars, £5 in pounds. The Naira floor is one our payment provider sets. The dollar and pound floors are ours: processing an international card costs several times what a local one does, and below those amounts our fee would not cover it. We would rather set an honest minimum than take a fee that quietly loses money on every payment.

There is also a largest single tip: ₦500,000, $1,000 or £1,000. Above roughly a fifth of that we show you the amount again and ask you to confirm before charging anything. Both exist for the same reason: your tip goes straight to the artist's own bank account at the moment you pay, so a mistyped amount is money only they can return. We would rather catch it beforehand than ask them to. If you genuinely want to send more, get in touch and we'll help you do it.

For fans

A tip is a voluntary gift to support an artist. It is not a purchase, and it does not buy goods, services, exclusive content, a membership, equity, or any promise from the artist.

Tips are generally non-refundable, because the money reaches the artist at the moment of payment rather than being held by us. If something has genuinely gone wrong — a duplicate charge, a technical fault, a payment you did not authorise — email hipstarrmusic@gmail.com and we will investigate and put right what we can.

You must be at least 18 and use a payment method you are entitled to use.

For artists

By setting up a page, you confirm that:

• You are who you say you are, and you have the right to receive money under that name.
• The bank account you provide belongs to you and can receive your chosen payout currency.
• The photo, text and links on your page are yours to use and don't infringe anyone else's rights.
• You are responsible for any tax due on money you receive. Hipstarr does not withhold or report tax on your behalf.

Every artist page is reviewed by a person before it goes live. This protects artists from impersonation and fans from fraud. We may decline or remove a page — for impersonation, fraud, illegal activity, or content that would expose fans to harm — and we will tell you why.

Your payouts are made by the payment provider under their terms and on their settlement schedule. We do not control when funds clear into your bank account.

Fan visibility and messages

A supporter appears on an artist's public page only if they gave a display name and explicitly opted in. Private notes from fans are shown to the artist only. Artists must not publish a fan's private note, email address, or tip amount.

What we don't promise

Hipstarr is provided as it is. We work to keep it available and correct, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted service, and we depend on payment providers, banks and hosting we do not control.

We are not responsible for what an artist does or doesn't do after being tipped, or for a dispute between a fan and an artist — though if something has gone wrong, tell us and we'll help where we can.

To the extent the law allows, our liability to you is limited to the fees we received on the transaction in question. Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

Ending it

You can stop using Hipstarr whenever you like, and an artist can ask us to take their page down at any time by emailing us. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms. Completed payments stand — taking a page down doesn't reverse tips already made.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date below shows when they last changed, and we'll email artists about anything material. If you keep using Hipstarr after a change, that's acceptance of the updated terms.

Law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Hipstarr Media & Technologies — hipstarrmusic@gmail.com. See also our privacy policy and our questions page.