Frequently Asked Questions

CyprusSound is the home of Cyprus's independent music scene. It is a discovery platform listing live gigs, artists, venues, festivals and event promoters across the island, plus tools for fans to follow what they love and for music professionals to manage their presence.

Two main audiences: music fans who want to know what's on (locals and visitors alike), and the people putting on the shows (artists, venues, festivals and promoters) who want a single, well-maintained place where their work can be found.

Yes. Browsing gigs, following artists and venues, saving events, signing up as a fan, claiming an artist or venue profile, and listing your gigs are all free. We charge only for optional paid promotional features such as Spotlight placements.

Click Sign Up, enter your email and pick the role that fits you (fan, artist, venue, festival, promoter). We send a magic-link email. No passwords. Open the link and you're in.

Browse upcoming gigs, save the ones you want to remember, follow artists and venues so you don't miss their next show, check in at venues to earn XP and unlock missions, and (if you want) appear on the Cyprus genre leaderboards.

XP (experience points) is our way of recognising fans who actually go to shows and engage with the scene. You earn XP by checking in at gigs, following artists and venues, saving gigs, and completing missions. Higher XP per genre raises your level (Curious → Listener → Regular → Explorer → Architect) and can put you on the public leaderboards.

When you're at a venue during a listed gig, the check-in feature uses your device's location to confirm you're within ~200 metres of the venue, and only allows the check-in during a sensible window around the gig start time. You earn XP, a venue stamp for your passport, and progress on missions.

Yes. Open Dashboard → Settings and toggle the leaderboard opt-out. Your XP keeps accumulating but your name is removed from the public leaderboard pages.

Yes, by email. You can adjust which notifications you receive in Dashboard → Settings.

Sign up and choose your role (artist, venue, festival or promoter). The onboarding flow walks you through creating your profile. If a profile for your entity already exists, you can search and claim it during onboarding instead of creating a duplicate.

Some entities are already on CyprusSound because we add them to make sure the listings are useful from day one. If you're the rightful manager, you can claim the existing profile so it's linked to your account, so you can edit it, post gigs and (optionally) promote it. You'll be asked for evidence of authorisation; we review claims in a few days.

Yes, up to five entities per account. Add additional entities from your dashboard.

From your dashboard, open the entity you manage and use the Add Gig form. You can include a poster image, ticket link, price and short description. Gigs go live immediately.

Anything reasonably high-resolution. We automatically resize and convert to WebP, so a portrait poster around 1200×1600 pixels at JPEG/PNG/WebP is ideal. Maximum file size is 5 MB.

Yes. From your dashboard, find the gig under the relevant entity and use the edit or delete actions. Deleted gigs are soft-deleted: they disappear from public listings but we keep the record internally.

New profiles you create yourself are published immediately so you can start using your dashboard right away. Profiles you claim from existing CyprusSound entries are reviewed by an admin first, usually within a few days.

Only if it breaches our Terms of Service. For example, impersonation, infringement of someone else's rights, or clearly false information. We always try to contact you before taking action where the situation allows.

Spotlight is our self-serve promotional system. As a verified manager you can take a featured banner placement on key pages of CyprusSound (homepage, gigs page, category pages and others) for a chosen duration or impression count. The placement, units and price are shown clearly before you confirm.

By topping up your CyprusSound wallet through Stripe. Your wallet balance (Credits) is used to pay for the placements you choose. Card details are handled entirely by Stripe; we never see them.

No. Credits are non-refundable. Once topped up, they stay on your wallet and can be spent on any paid feature offered on the Platform. You confirm acceptance of this rule explicitly at checkout. This is allowed under EU law because Credits sit within the PSD2/EMD2 "limited network exclusion": they are not e-money, they can only be spent on CyprusSound's own services. See section 10 of our Terms for the full clause.

Any Credits that were reserved but haven't yet been spent on impressions or duration go back to your wallet balance, ready to spend on something else. Credits already spent on delivered impressions or duration are not recovered.

Credits you bought with money do not expire. Promotional or goodwill Credits we may grant you (for example, signup bonuses) follow the specific expiry shown when they're granted.

Yes. Stripe issues a receipt by email immediately after each top-up. If you need a formal invoice (with VAT details) for accounting, email info@backlight.media with your transaction reference and we'll provide one.

Email info@backlight.media from the address linked to your account. We delete personal data within 30 days, except where law requires us to keep something (for example, payment records for tax purposes). Any unspent wallet Credits at the moment of deletion are forfeited; spend them first if you want to use them.

Yes. Under GDPR you have the right to access and to portability. Email us and we will provide a copy of your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format within 30 days.

No, we do not currently sell your personal data to third parties. If we ever change this, we will tell you in advance and ask for consent where the law requires it.

Magic links remove an entire category of risk: no passwords to leak, reuse or forget. Each login uses a one-time link sent to the email you registered with. Keep that email account secure and your CyprusSound account is secure.

Email info@backlight.media with the URL of the content, a short description of the issue, and (if relevant) a link to your right being infringed. We assess each notice in good faith and act in a timely manner. This procedure is intended to comply with Article 16 of the EU Digital Services Act.

Email us with proof that you're the rightful manager (for example, a message from the official email of the entity, or evidence of ownership). We review and reverse incorrect claims as a priority.

Yes. Reply to the notification you received from us, or email info@backlight.media, explaining why you disagree. A different person on the team will review the decision wherever practical.