Magnatune Privacy Policy

This page explains what Magnatune collects when you listen, buy, become a member or use Magnatune through an AI assistant, and what we do with it. In short: we collect what we need to run the service, we never sell it, and there are no advertising or tracking scripts on magnatune.com.

Listening without an account

• Server logs: like every web server, ours records each request (IP address, browser, page or file, time). We keep these logs for about three months, to keep the site running, stop abuse and count visits (an anonymous summary, made on our own server).
• Play counts: when you play a song in our web player or apps, we log the time, the song and an anonymous session number that changes every 12 hours. We keep these for 90 days, and use them to count plays and to work out recommendations ("people who play this also play").
• Settings on your device: the web player saves your favorites, playlists and preferences in your browser (local storage). They stay on your device unless you are a member.

Members

• Your account: your username, password, email address and name, your membership plan and its dates, and the albums you download.
• Payments are handled by Stripe (memberships) and PayPal (album purchases). They send us the payment's status, amount and an identifier; we never see or store your card number.
• Your library: favorites, playlists, recently played songs and player settings are saved on our server so they follow you between the web player and our apps. Member plays are logged under your member number rather than an anonymous session.
• Your YouTube channel (only if you give it to us): we pass it to our distributor, The Orchard, so YouTube's Content ID doesn't claim your videos.
• Email: we send account emails (welcome, receipts, renewal reminders, payment problems). We don't share your address with anyone else.

Buying an album

When you buy an album we keep the purchase (album, date, amount, the email address you paid with) so we can pay the musician and resend your download key if you lose it.

Contacting a musician

The contact form sends your message and email address to the musician, after you confirm your address. The form is protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks that you're a person.

AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT and others)

• Anyone can connect an AI assistant to Magnatune at magnatune.com/mcp without an account: it can search the catalog and get free previews. We log which tool was used, when, and the assistant's software name, to keep the service working; we don't receive your conversation, only the request the assistant makes (for example "find calm cello music").
• Members can connect with sign-in (magnatune.com/mcp/account). You sign in on our own page and choose to allow the assistant. It can then see your membership status, library, downloads and recommendations, add favorites and playlists, set your YouTube channel and get links to download clean songs. It never sees your password or payment details. The access it gets is stored on our server only in scrambled (hashed) form; it lasts an hour at a time and renews for up to 180 days, stops working if your membership ends, and you can end it by removing Magnatune from the assistant.
• What the assistant does with the results is governed by its own privacy policy (for example Anthropic's for Claude, OpenAI's for ChatGPT).

Cookies

We use only the cookies the site needs: a signed sign-in cookie for members (and a small one that tells the player you're signed in). No advertising or analytics cookies.

Sharing

We don't sell or rent personal information. We share it only as described above (payment processors, The Orchard for YouTube channels, the musician you write to), or if the law requires it.

Your choices

You can see and change your membership at magnatune.com/member/account. To get a copy of your data, correct it, or have your account and data deleted, email john@magnatune.com. Magnatune is run by John Buckman; that's also the address for any privacy question.

Last updated 20 October 2026.