Collingswood Sound Music LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company doing business as Collingswood Sound Music, Haddonfield Sound Music, Merchantville Sound Music, and Sound Music NJ (collectively, "Sound Music")

Effective Date: 06/26/2026

Version: 3.0

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Please read this Waiver carefully. By signing or checking an acknowledgment box (either directly or by consenting to a Sound Music employee checking an acknowledgment box on your behalf), you (the Account Holder) and the Student (if 18 or older) are giving up certain rights to sue Sound Music for ordinary negligence–related harms that may arise in connection with music instruction. If you are signing as the parent or legal guardian of a minor Student, you are signing both on your own behalf and on behalf of the Student to the extent permitted under New Jersey law.

Signing this Waiver is part of enrollment. If you have concerns about any part of it, contact the office and we'll talk through it. For Sound Music–sponsored events with elevated risk (recitals, ensemble performances, off-site activities), a separate Event Liability Waiver may also be required.

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1. Acknowledgment of the Activity

You acknowledge that music instruction at Sound Music involves the use of:

• Musical instruments, including amplified instruments (electric guitar, electric bass, drums, vocals through a PA, group classes with backing tracks).
• Electrical equipment, including amplifiers, PA systems, cables, pedals, and recording gear.
• Hardware that can fall, tip, or snag - including cymbal stands, music stands, microphone stands, piano benches, drum kits, and small accessories.
• Sheet music and books, stored on shelves or carried between rooms.
• Studio premises with stairs (Haddonfield), parking lots, hallways, and lobbies that students share with other students and families.

Music instruction takes place primarily in private lesson rooms during scheduled times. Some activities (recitals, group classes, ensemble rehearsals) occur in larger shared spaces or off-site.

2. Assumption of Risk

You acknowledge that participation in music instruction carries the following inherent risks:

• Physical injury from tripping over a cable, dropping an instrument, falling from a piano bench, slipping on a wet floor, or contact with another student in a shared space.
• Hearing strain or hearing loss from sustained exposure to amplified instruments.
• Repetitive use injury from sustained playing (hand, wrist, neck, back) or sustained vocal use, comparable to risks in any sustained physical activity.
• Aggravation of a pre-existing condition, including hand, wrist, back, vocal, hearing, breathing, or sensory conditions.
• Slip-and-fall and other premises risks in the parking lot, on stairs, or in shared areas, particularly in winter conditions or during construction or maintenance.
• Travel risks to and from the studio, which are not within Sound Music's control.
• Public health risks, including communicable diseases.

You voluntarily assume these risks. You acknowledge that Sound Music has not pressured you into enrolling and that you are free to discontinue at any time consistent with the Student Policies.

3. Hearing Protection

For lessons involving amplified instruments, drums, or sustained group classes, Sound Music recommends the use of hearing protection (e.g., musician-grade earplugs). You assume the risk of declining hearing protection use.

4. Health Disclosures and Medical Disclaimer

4.1 Disclosure

You should disclose to the office, at sign-up or as soon as practicable, any of the following:

• A medical condition that could be affected by music instruction (e.g., vocal nodules, prior or current vocal injury, hearing loss, hand/wrist/back injury, asthma, seizure disorder, sensory disorder).
• A medication regimen that could affect lesson performance (e.g., sedating medications taken before lesson time).
• An allergy or sensitivity relevant to the studio environment (cleaning products, scents, dust).
• An accessibility need (mobility, sensory, communication).

Sound Music will use that information to place the Student with an appropriate teacher and make reasonable adjustments.

4.2 Scope of Music Instruction

Sound Music teachers are music educators, not medical, therapeutic, audiological, or speech-language professionals. They do not diagnose, treat, or prescribe. They will not represent themselves to you in any other role.

4.3 Allocation

You acknowledge that Sound Music is not responsible for medical conditions that arise during or after instruction, including the development or aggravation of a vocal, hearing, hand/wrist, back, breathing, or other condition, except to the extent caused by Sound Music's gross negligence or willful misconduct. Conditions that develop in the course of any sustained physical activity (whether music instruction, sports, or daily life) are part of the activity, not a failure of supervision.

5. Limited Release of Sound Music

In exchange for the opportunity to participate in music instruction at Sound Music, you (on behalf of yourself and, where signing for a minor Student, on behalf of the minor Student to the extent permitted by law) release Sound Music, its owners, employees, contractors, and agents from claims for ordinary negligence in connection with the activities described in §1, including but not limited to:

• Premises-related injuries (slip-and-fall, tripping over a cable, falling from a piano bench, etc.) occurring in the lesson room, hallway, lobby, on Sound Music–maintained parking facilities, or at a Sound Music–sponsored event.
• Equipment-related injuries (an amplifier, cymbal stand, music stand, or similar item tipping or falling, except where the equipment was known to Sound Music to be defective and not addressed).
• Hearing strain from amplified instruments where reasonable studio volume practices were observed.
• Repetitive-use strain or injury arising from sustained playing or sustained vocal use.

This release does not extend to:

• Sound Music's gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.
• Intentional acts by Sound Music or its employees.
• Violations of statute that cannot be waived by contract (e.g., New Jersey LAD claims, workers' compensation rights, certain consumer protection statutes).
• Claims for which a release would be unenforceable under New Jersey law, including claims that public policy specifically prohibits releasing. In particular, this Waiver does not attempt to waive a minor Student's right to sue for injuries caused by Sound Music's negligence, which under Hojnowski v. Vans Skate Park, 187 N.J. 323 (2006), a parent generally cannot waive prospectively on a minor's behalf.

The intent of this release is to be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by New Jersey law; nothing in this Waiver should be read to attempt a waiver that New Jersey law does not allow.

6. Indemnification by the Account Holder

The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Sound Music from third-party claims, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees arising from:

• Acts or omissions of the Student or of any guest brought by the Account Holder, the Student, or the person dropping off or picking up the Student (e.g., a friend, a sibling, a grandparent, a play-date guest), including damage to property and injury to others.

This indemnification is subject to the New Jersey statutory cap on parental liability for property damage by a minor (N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-15, currently $5,000 per incident) and to fault-based requirements where applicable. It does not require an Account Holder to indemnify Sound Music for Sound Music's own gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.

7. Personal Property

Sound Music is not responsible for theft, loss, or damage to instruments, cases, electronics, clothing, or other personal property brought to or left at the studio, except where caused by Sound Music's gross negligence or willful misconduct. The Account Holder is encouraged to maintain personal property insurance (homeowners, renters, or musical instrument coverage) for any valuable item brought to the studio.

8. Limitation of Liability (Non–Personal-Injury Claims)

For any claim that is not a personal injury claim - for example, a billing dispute, a contract claim, a property-damage claim against Sound Music, or a claim for emotional distress not accompanied by physical injury - Sound Music's total liability is capped at the lesson fees paid by the Account Holder in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

This limitation does not apply to claims that cannot be capped under applicable law.

9. Audio and Video Surveillance Consent

You acknowledge that Sound Music maintains security cameras in lesson rooms, hallways, and common areas at each studio, and that these cameras record both video and audio. You consent to audio and video recording while on Sound Music premises during operating hours. Notice is posted at each studio entrance. Use of footage is governed by the Sound Music Student Policies and Privacy Policy.

10. Off-Site Events and Performances

Sound Music's recitals are typically held off-site. The terms of this Waiver apply to Sound Music–sponsored off-site events; the venue's own rules and conditions also apply. Where an event presents elevated risk (a larger venue, a live amplified ensemble), Sound Music may require a separate Event Liability Waiver.

11. Communicable Disease

By participating in lessons, you acknowledge the inherent risk of exposure to communicable disease in any shared indoor environment. Sound Music will follow applicable public health orders and reasonable studio practices. Sound Music is not responsible for communicable disease transmission absent its gross negligence or willful misconduct.

12. Acknowledgment on Behalf of a Minor

If you are signing, checking an acknowledgment box, or consenting to a Sound Music employee checking an acknowledgment box on your behalf, as a parent or legal guardian on behalf of a minor Student, you represent that:

• You are the parent or legal guardian of the Student.
• You have the legal authority to make decisions about the Student's participation in music instruction.
• You understand that, under New Jersey law, certain rights of a minor cannot be waived by a parent, and that this Waiver does not purport to waive any right that cannot be waived in that way.
• You assume the obligations of the Account Holder in §6 (Indemnification) on your own behalf.

You may revoke this Waiver at any time by written notice to the office; revocation applies prospectively and does not undo any release or indemnification with respect to events occurring before revocation.

13. Pre-Suit Notice, Governing Law, Venue, Small Claims

(a) Pre-suit notice. Before filing any lawsuit relating to this Waiver, the filing party will provide the other party with thirty (30) days' written notice describing the claim, and the parties will negotiate in good faith during that period. Pre-suit notice is not required for injunctive relief to prevent immediate, irreparable harm, mandatory reporting obligations, or any matter where the applicable statute of limitations is about to expire.

(b) Governing law and venue. This Waiver is governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Camden County, New Jersey, and the parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

(c) Small claims. Nothing in this Section prevents either party from bringing an eligible claim in small claims court; however, the pre-suit notice and good-faith negotiation requirements shall still apply unless emergency relief is required.

14. Severability

If any provision of this Waiver is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. A court of competent jurisdiction is authorized to modify any unenforceable provision to the minimum extent necessary to render it enforceable.

15. Entire Agreement

This Waiver, together with the Student Policies, Privacy Policy, and (if signed) the Photo and Media Release and the Event Liability Waiver, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Sound Music regarding the subject matter of this Waiver. If something in this Waiver conflicts with something in the Student Policies on the same subject, this Waiver controls.

This Waiver may be signed electronically - including by checkbox acknowledgment in the My Music Staff sign-up form - and is deemed an original under the New Jersey Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (N.J.S.A. 12A:12-1 et seq.) and the federal E-SIGN Act.

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Acknowledgment and Signature

By signing, checking an acknowledgment box, or consenting to a Sound Music employee checking an acknowledgment box on my behalf, I acknowledge that I have read this Liability Waiver and Assumption of Risk, understand its contents, have had the opportunity to ask questions, and agree to its terms.