Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Zinstrel publishes news, features and music discovery about AI music. This policy explains what information we collect when you read the site, create an account, submit music or subscribe to our newsletter. Questions? Reach us through our contact page.

Information We Collect

• Account details — your email address, password (stored only as an encrypted hash), display name and any profile information you choose to add, such as an artist name, bio, website or photo.
• Google sign-in — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile image from Google. We never receive your Google password.
• Submissions — the release details, links, artwork and notes you send us for coverage or radio play.
• Artist profiles and claims — the artist names, images, genres, bios and platform links you add, and the message you send when you ask to claim an artist that is already listed. Profiles you mark public appear in our Music directory.
• Reviews and public chat — the reviews you write about releases and the messages you post in Zinstrel chat, shown publicly with the name you post under.
• Saved items — the articles, releases, artists, links and contests you bookmark, visible only to you.
• Newsletter — your email address and subscription preference, which we pass to our newsletter provider (Substack). We also keep a record of when you subscribe or unsubscribe so we can keep the newsletter list accurate.
• Settings — small preferences such as whether you chose the light or dark version of the site.
• Usage data — pages viewed, approximate location derived from your IP address, device and browser type, and referring links, collected through analytics and advertising partners.

How We Use It

• To create and secure your account and show you your saved articles, releases and submissions.
• To publish and promote submissions you send us, and to contact you about them.
• To run public features you choose to take part in: the artist and producer directory, release reviews, artist claims and Zinstrel chat.
• To send the newsletter and service emails such as password resets.
• To remember your display preferences, such as light or dark mode.
• To understand what readers enjoy and to keep the site fast, safe and free of abuse.
• To show advertising that supports independent publishing.

We rely on your consent for the newsletter and non-essential cookies, on the performance of our agreement with you for account features, and on our legitimate interests in running and protecting the site for security and analytics.

What Other People Can See

Your account email is never shown publicly. Artist profiles are public only when you switch them on, and you can switch them off again at any time. Reviews and chat messages you post are public and carry the name you posted under. Your saved items, submissions in progress and newsletter preference stay private to you and the Zinstrel editorial team.

Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers that make the site work: our hosting and database provider, our email and newsletter provider, our advertising partner (Google), and embedded media players such as YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Twitch and our radio partner. Those embeds may set their own cookies when you play something. We may also disclose information if the law requires it or to protect our rights and readers.

Cookies and Similar Technology

We use a small number of essential cookies and local storage entries to keep you signed in, remember your light or dark theme choice, and remember when you have dismissed the newsletter prompt. Analytics and advertising partners may set additional cookies. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings; essential features may stop working if you block all of them. See our Cookie Policy for detail.

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live (including under the GDPR in the UK and Europe, and the CCPA/CPRA in California), you may ask us to access, correct, export or delete your personal information, object to certain processing, or withdraw consent. You can update your profile and newsletter preference from your account settings at any time, unsubscribe from any newsletter email, and ask us to delete your account entirely by contacting us. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Retention and Security

We keep account and submission information for as long as your account is active, and afterwards only as long as needed for legal, accounting or dispute purposes. Data is stored with encrypted connections and access controls that limit each account to its own records. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

Children

Zinstrel is not intended for children under 13 (or under 16 in the European Economic Area), and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

International Transfers

Our providers operate in the United States and other countries, so your information may be processed outside your home country under appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

Changes

If we update this policy we will change the date above and, for significant changes, tell you on the site or by email.