Is eMusic selling customer data? No.

There has been speculation ("EPIC asks: which digital music service is selling your data?") on Boing Boing that eMusic.com (the best music subscription site ever) might be selling its customer data. As a long-time eMusic.com customer, I was perturbed and sent and email saying as much to eMusic (see below). They responded saying that they have not and will not ever sell customer data (see below).

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My email to eMusic:

I have been a long-time eMusic.com subscriber and absolutely love this service.

However, I am disappointed to see that your privacy policy allows sharing of my personal information with other third parties.

This email serves as notice that I choose to opt-out of all sharing of my personal information with third-parties. I authorize ONLY the use of my information for the maintenance of my account and improving the eMusic.com service. You are not authorized to transmit my information to any entity that is not eMusic.com, for free or for a fee.

If this is a problem, I would be (unfortunately) happy to cancel my subscription. Note, if I find out or infer that you are not complying with my wishes at a time after the receipt of this email (with a reasonable amount of time for changing my preferences in your system), I will seek assistance from my own legal counsel.

thank you for your time, Joe

Their response:

Hello:

Thank you for contacting eMusic Customer Support. We are sorry to hear of your frustration. Your privacy preferences have been recorded.

Please be assured that eMusic has never rented or sold its membership list to any third-party organization. eMusic has no plans to do so in the future.

Also please note that your e-mail address and account information are kept secure on our servers.

We understand your concerns regarding your account information and apologize for any frustrations you have encountered.

Regards,

Bryan
eMusic Customer Support Team