Last updated: 11 October 2026
SimilarSounds (www.similarsounds.com) is a free house-music discovery website run by Andy Randell, an individual based in the United Kingdom. For this website, Andy Randell is the "controller" of your personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
Contact for anything privacy-related: management@similarsounds.com
Like every website, when your browser requests a page our server receives technical information: your IP address, the page or search requested, the time, and your browser/device type. This appears in server logs kept by our hosting provider, Render, for a short period.
When you type an artist or track, or paste a YouTube, SoundCloud, Beatport, Bandcamp or Deezer link, it is sent to our server so we can find the track and work out its key, tempo and energy. Our server looks the track up with Deezer, YouTube, SoundCloud or Bandcamp from our server (for Bandcamp we only read the page title) - your IP address is not passed to them for this step. We keep a temporary, anonymous cache of analysed tracks (the music data, not who searched) so repeat searches are faster. It is cleared whenever the server restarts.
Your saved set, your recent searches and your player choices are kept in your browser's local storage on your own device. We cannot see them. See our Cookie Policy for the full list and how to clear them.
Each device gets a few free searches. To count them, your browser stores a random device number (it isn't linked to you), and with each search we record that number, how many searches it has used and which tracks it searched in the last day (so repeating a search is free). We also record a one-way scrambled code made from your IP address - never the address itself - to limit free searches per network per day. These records are kept by Supabase in London and used only for counting free searches.
Visitor count. When you open the site, we also record that same random device number and the date, plus how many pages it opened that day, so we can see how many people visit. It isn't linked to your name, email or IP address, isn't shared with anyone, and only SimilarSounds can see the totals. We don't use Google Analytics or any other tracking service.
You can use SimilarSounds without an account. If you create one, we store your name (shown on the site when you're signed in; you can change it any time), your email address, a securely scrambled (hashed) version of your password - we never see or keep the password itself - and the set and recent searches you save, so they're available on any device you log in on. We also keep the dates you signed up and last logged in. Accounts are run for us by Supabase, with the data held in London. You can also sign in with Google: Google then shares only your name and email address with us (no password, contacts or other Google data). If you choose to turn on Face ID sign-in (a "passkey"), your phone or computer creates the passkey and keeps it, protected by your Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint or device PIN. We never receive your face, fingerprint or any biometric data - only a public key that lets us check it's you. You can turn it off in your account at any time. We use your email only to confirm your account and to send password-reset emails you ask for - never for marketing.
You can delete your account at any time from the account screen (Account → Delete my account); this permanently removes your name, email, password and saved data.
After you've played 60 previews we may ask you to rate SimilarSounds from 1 to 5 stars. If you choose a rating, we save only the number of stars, the date and time, the site language and how many previews you'd played. No name, email, IP address or other identifier is saved with it. Reviews are kept in a private store on GitHub (run by GitHub, Inc.) that only we can see, so we can improve the site.
If you use "Copy link" or "Share your set", the link contains the Deezer track numbers of those tracks. Anyone you send it to can see those tracks. It contains nothing else about you.
We do not ask for your name, email or any account details, and we do not knowingly collect special category data.
| Who | What they do for SimilarSounds | Their policy |
|---|---|---|
| Render | Hosts the website and server; receives the server logs described above. | Render privacy |
| Deezer | Provides track details, 30-second previews and the preview player. Cover art images load directly from Deezer's servers, which means Deezer receives your IP address when they display. | Deezer privacy & cookies |
| Supabase | Runs optional accounts: stores your name, email, hashed password and saved set (in London), and sends confirmation and password-reset emails. | Supabase privacy |
| GitHub | Stores the anonymous star reviews described above in a private repository. | GitHub privacy |
| Google Fonts | Supplies the fonts the site uses; your browser fetches them from Google, which receives your IP address. | Google privacy |
| YouTube (Google) | Video player, only if you paste a YouTube link and choose to load it. | Google privacy |
| SoundCloud | Track player, only if you paste a SoundCloud link and choose to load it. | SoundCloud privacy |
| Bandcamp | If you paste a Bandcamp link, our server reads that page's track title. Nothing from Bandcamp loads on our site. | Bandcamp privacy |
| Beatport | We only link to Beatport. Nothing from Beatport loads on our site; their policy applies once you visit them. | - |
Some of these companies are based outside the UK (for example in the United States or the EU). Where data goes abroad, it is covered by those companies' own safeguards, such as the UK's adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses.
Under UK GDPR you have the right to ask for access to your personal data, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to or restrict how we use it, and to withdraw consent at any time. If you have an account you can delete it yourself at any time; otherwise the main personal data is in short-lived server logs. Email us and we'll help with any request. We'll reply within one month.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the UK's data regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. We'd appreciate the chance to sort it out first.
SimilarSounds is not aimed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect information from them.
If we change how we handle information, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above.