The Artist Economy

Privacy Policy — The Artist Economy

Last updated: July 2026

1. The Short Version

The Artist Economy collects the minimum data needed to run a newsletter: your email address, your subscription status, and how you interact with what gets published. That data is used to write a better publication and run the business behind it. It is never sold. Ever.

The longer version follows.

2. What Gets Collected

Email address — provided when you subscribe. This is the core of the relationship.

Payment information — if you subscribe to a paid tier, your payment details are collected and processed by Stripe through Substack’s payment infrastructure. The Artist Economy never sees or stores your full card number.

Engagement data — Substack’s platform records opens, clicks, and reading activity. This is standard newsletter infrastructure, and it informs what gets written.

Survey responses — if you answer a reader survey, those responses are stored and used for editorial and business decisions.

Email replies — if you reply to any email from this publication, that reply is read by Joel Gouveia directly and kept as ordinary correspondence.

3. How It Gets Used

Subscriber data is used to deliver the newsletter, process paid subscriptions, understand what readers value, decide what to publish next, and communicate about the publication — including new offerings like courses or cohort programs.

Aggregated, anonymized data — total subscriber counts, open rates, audience demographics from surveys — may be shared publicly or with potential sponsors. Individual subscriber data is never part of that.

4. What Never Happens

Your data is never sold to third parties. Your email address is never rented, traded, or handed to anyone for their own marketing. Your replies are never shared publicly without your permission. Sponsored content, when it exists, is clearly disclosed — and sponsors get audience statistics, not subscriber lists.

5. Who Else Touches the Data

Substack hosts this publication and holds subscriber data on its infrastructure. Its privacy policy governs that handling.

Stripe processes payments under its own privacy policy.

Standard analytics tools built into these platforms may set cookies. The Artist Economy does not run its own advertising trackers.

6. Your Choices

Unsubscribe anytime via the link in any email — it takes effect immediately for future sends.

Access or correct your information through your Substack account settings.

Delete your data by deleting your Substack account, or by replying to any email to request removal from this publication’s records. Requests are honored within a reasonable time, subject to records that must be kept for legal or accounting reasons.

7. Data Location

Substack and Stripe operate infrastructure in the United States, which means subscriber data is stored and processed there. By subscribing, you consent to that transfer.

8. Children

The Artist Economy is written for people working in or around the music business. It is not directed at children under 13, and no data is knowingly collected from them.

9. Changes

Material changes to this policy will be announced by email before they take effect. Continued subscription after notice constitutes acceptance.

10. Contact

Questions about your data: reply to any email from this publication. It comes straight to Joel Gouveia, and it will be answered.