API Terms of Use

1. Agreement

These terms are an agreement between you and ChartVault (“ChartVault”, “we”). By requesting a key, or by using a key or data from the API, you accept them. If you use the API for an organisation, you accept them for that organisation and confirm you may do so. The website’s Privacy Policy also applies. A separate written agreement with us (for example a Data license) takes precedence over these terms where the two differ.

2. Your account and keys

• Give accurate information when you request a key, and keep your email address current: it is how we reach you.
• A key is issued to you for the project you described. Keep it confidential, use it only from systems you control, and don’t share it with another person or organisation. You are responsible for all use of your keys.
• One free key per person or organisation. Don’t open several accounts or request several keys to get round a limit.
• If you think a key has been exposed, roll or revoke it straight away from the developer page.
• We decide whether to issue a key, and which tier, at our discretion.

3. What you may do

Subject to these terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence, for as long as your key is active, to call the API within your tier’s limits and to use the data it returns:

• Free tier: for non-commercial purposes only — personal projects, academic and independent research, teaching, and journalism. Publishing results (an article, a paper, a chart, a non-commercial website or app) is allowed with credit.
• Developer, Business and other paid tiers: for commercial purposes as agreed with us in writing when the tier is assigned.
• Data license: as set out in the written license agreement.

“Commercial” means use in, or to support, a product or service that is sold, licensed, carries advertising, or is otherwise used to earn money, or use by or for a business in the course of its business.

4. Credit

Wherever the data, or anything derived from it, is shown to others, credit ChartVault visibly: “Chart data from ChartVault (chartvault.fm)”, linking to https://www.chartvault.fm where the medium allows. Don’t suggest that ChartVault endorses you or your product.

5. What you may not do

• Copy, store or redistribute the data in bulk, or rebuild a substantial part of the archive (for example by walking every chart week, song or artist), except to the extent your tier or a written agreement allows. Caching answers for a reasonable time to reduce your calls is fine.
• Sell, sublicense, or provide the data, or access to the API, to anyone else, or offer a service that substitutes for the ChartVault archive or API.
• Get round, or try to get round, rate limits, quotas, key checks or other controls, including by spreading calls across several keys or accounts.
• Scrape the archive’s web pages instead of using the API.
• Interfere with or disrupt the API or the website, probe it for weaknesses, or call it in a way meant to place an unreasonable load on it.
• Use the data to mislead, to infringe anyone’s rights, or in breach of any law.
• Present the data as coming from, or approved by, Billboard, Radio & Records or their owners.

6. AI and machine learning

Unless your tier is a Data license that expressly allows it, you may not use the data, or anything derived from it, to train, fine-tune, evaluate or benchmark a machine-learning model, to build embeddings or a retrieval index for an AI system, or to supply an AI assistant or agent with information at answer time. Asking a key for a project that does any of these needs a Data license; tell us about it when you request one.

7. The source publications

The archive transcribes national charts published by Billboard and Radio & Records. ChartVault is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by either publication or their owners. Chart names are their owners’ trademarks and are used only to identify the charts. We grant you only the rights we have; it is your responsibility to make sure your use doesn’t infringe anyone else’s rights, and to obtain any permission your use needs from them.

8. Limits, monitoring and suspension

• Each key has the limits of its tier, shown on the developer page and in every answer’s headers. Calls over a limit are refused.
• We record each key’s use (time, endpoint, address and result) to enforce limits, protect the service and support you, as described in the Privacy Policy.
• We may suspend a key immediately, automatically or by hand, if it appears to be shared, leaked or misused, if it keeps calling after being rate-limited, or if we reasonably believe these terms have been broken. We’ll tell the key’s owner by email.
• We may change limits, or the API itself, at any time. We’ll give reasonable notice of changes that reduce what an existing tier offers, except where needed to protect the service.

9. Expiry, renewal and ending

Keys expire after the term shown (normally 12 months) unless renewed; renewing is free for the Free tier and continues these terms as they stand at the time. You may revoke your own keys at any time. We may revoke a key or close an account if these terms are broken, if a key has expired and not been renewed for a long period, or if we stop offering the API, with notice where practical. When a key ends, stop using it; sections 4 to 7 and 11 to 13 continue to apply to data you obtained.

10. Fees

The Free tier is free. Other tiers are provided on the terms, including any fees, agreed with you in writing. We won’t charge for a key without your agreement.

11. No warranty

The archive is a transcription of historical publications and may contain errors or omissions. The API and the data are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, to the fullest extent the law allows. We don’t promise any level of uptime on the Free tier.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, ChartVault will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising from the API or these terms, and our total liability for any claim relating to them is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us for the API in the twelve months before the claim and one hundred US dollars. Some places don’t allow these limits, in which case they apply only as far as permitted.

13. Your responsibility

You are responsible for your applications and your use of the data, and you will defend and indemnify ChartVault against claims by others arising from your use of the API or the data in breach of these terms or of anyone’s rights.

14. Privacy

What we collect when you request a key and use the API, why, and for how long, is set out in the Privacy Policy. If your application handles personal information of its own, that is your responsibility.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version and date are shown at the top. For a material change we’ll email key holders at least 30 days before it applies, except where a change is needed sooner for legal or security reasons. Continuing to use a key after a change applies means you accept the new terms; if you don’t, revoke your keys.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms, or about a license: use the contact page.