Monthly Lockouts
A lockout is an exclusive monthly rental of a private music studio. One member per studio, recurring billing, 24/7 physical access via door code, open-ended until cancelled. This is the core Metrognome product.
Eligibility
A member must have a completed account with a full legal name (first and last, at least 2 characters each) and a valid phone number. They must be in approved standing — all members are approved by default, but staff can revoke approval, which immediately revokes all physical access codes.
A studio can only have one active lockout at a time. A member cannot hold two lockouts on the same studio.
What Starts a Lockout
A lockout begins when a member completes checkout for a studio, or when staff approves a waitlist submission. Lockouts are created and all side effects run optimistically before payment completes — the member gets access immediately regardless of payment method. For ACH, this means access is granted while the bank transfer processes over 2-3 days.
The first invoice may include credits from a waitlist deposit (see Waitlist), a referral discount (see Referrals), a promotion code or coupon discount, or a Stripe customer balance credit. Insurance may be added as a recurring line item (see Insurance).
The monthly price is determined by studio dimensions and payment method type — card and ACH have different fee structures and rounding rules (see Pricing). Staff can override the calculated price with custom amounts.
Upon creation, the studio is marked unavailable, the member receives a door code (see Physical Access), a welcome email is sent (with the access code), and the community manager is notified. For future-dated lockouts, the welcome email is sent at checkout without the access code — the code is sent later in a separate "studio ready" email at activation.
Billing
Anchor
Every lockout has a billing anchor — the day of the month when recurring charges occur. If no anchor is specified, billing starts on the checkout date. A future anchor delays the first charge, with optional proration for the partial first period. A past anchor (backdate) sets the start date in the past and the next full charge on the anchor day. Proration for the elapsed period is optional — without it, the start is backdated with no immediate charge. Backdating is limited to one month.
Future-Dated
When the billing anchor is in the future, the lockout exists but is not yet active. The member does not have physical access. When the first billing period begins and the invoice finalizes, the lockout activates — door codes are provisioned and a "studio ready" email is sent.
Renewal
Lockouts renew automatically each month. Each successful charge creates a payment record and a transaction. No action is required from the member or staff. The reservation persists with the same ID for the entire tenancy — one reservation, one continuous record from start to finish.
Failed Payments
When a payment fails but Stripe will retry, the payment is marked as retrying. If all retries are exhausted, it is marked as failed. Physical access is not revoked on payment failure alone — revocation only happens when Stripe's dunning process ends and the subscription is actually deleted.
What Can Change
Studio
A lockout can be moved from one studio to another. The price adjusts to the new studio's dimensions and rate. Door codes for the old studio are revoked and new ones provisioned. Both studios' availability is updated.
Moves can take effect immediately with a proration charge, or on the next billing cycle with no proration. Cross-location moves update the payout destination to the new location's connected account. A proration preview is available before committing.
Price
The monthly price can be changed to a custom amount, reverted to the studio's calculated rate, or recalculated from current rates. Price changes follow the same immediate-or-next-cycle timing as studio moves.
Billing Anchor
The billing day of month can be shifted. A bridge period aligns the cycle to the new day without charging during the gap.
Insurance and Discounts
Insurance can be added, removed, or changed. Promotion codes and referral credits can be applied or removed. These changes are part of the same update mechanism as studio moves and price changes.
How It Ends
A lockout can be cancelled in two ways:
Scheduled: the lockout is marked to end at the current billing period's close. The member retains access until then. This can be reversed — the cancellation is cleared and the lockout continues.
Immediate: the lockout ends now and cannot be reversed.
When a lockout ends by either path: the studio becomes available, all door codes are revoked, the member is removed from the building security group if they have no other active lockouts at the same location (see Physical Access), and their referral promotion code is deactivated (see Referrals).
Revenue Split
Metrognome operates as a Stripe platform. Each location has its own connected account. When a lockout charge succeeds, Metrognome deducts the platform billing fee and transfers the remainder to the location. Credits applied to an invoice (customer balance, waitlist deposits) are transferred separately.
Migration
Legacy tenants migrating from the previous management system follow a guided path with pre-specified billing terms. Tenants with pending invitations are blocked from self-signup until the invitation is sent. See Migrations.