Privacy Policy

Music Forte is a locally and family-owned music store in Levittown, Pennsylvania, offering lessons, instrument sales, rentals, and repairs. We respect your privacy and keep this policy short and plain. In simple terms: we do not sell your information to anyone, we only send marketing you have asked for, and you can opt out at any time. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have.

Information We Collect

We collect only the information we need to serve you. Depending on how you interact with us, that may include:

• Contact details you give us, such as your name, email address, phone number, and mailing address.
• Lesson, rental, sales, and repair information needed to schedule lessons, manage instrument rentals, complete purchases, or service your instrument.
• Payment information needed to process a transaction. Card payments are handled by our payment processors; we do not store full card numbers on our website.
• Messages you send us by email, phone, our contact form, or in the store.
• Newsletter sign-ups when you choose to join our mailing list.
• Basic website information such as your browser type and pages visited, which helps us keep the site working and secure.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and manage lessons, sales, rentals, and repairs.
• Process payments and keep records of your account and transactions.
• Respond to your questions and requests.
• Send opt-in marketing, promotions, and store updates to people who have asked to receive them.
• Maintain the security of our website and protect against fraud or misuse.
• Meet our legal and tax obligations.

We Do Not Sell Your Data

Music Forte does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third parties. We do not share your information for anyone else's marketing. We share information only with trusted service providers who help us run our business, and only as needed to perform their work for us. These include, for example, our payment processors, our email and newsletter platform, and our website host. They are permitted to use your information only to provide their service to us, not for their own purposes.

We may also disclose information if required by law, such as in response to a valid legal request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Music Forte, our customers, or others.

Marketing & Your Choice to Opt Out

Any marketing emails, promotions, or newsletters we send are opt-in only. That means we add you to our marketing list only when you ask to join, such as by signing up on our website or in the store. You can stop receiving these messages at any time.

Text Messaging (SMS)

With your permission, Music Forte sends text messages (SMS) to keep you informed about your lessons and instrument rental, such as schedule confirmations and changes, attendance reminders, instructor updates, rental due-date and return reminders, repair updates, and payment receipts. We may also send promotions and store news to customers who separately opt in to receive them.

How you opt in. You join our text program only when you ask to, by providing your mobile number and agreeing to our consent language, either on a written enrollment or rental form in the store or by completing our text message consent form. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message frequency varies based on your activity with us, and message and data rates may apply.

How you opt out or get help. You can reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe at any time, or HELP for assistance. You may also email info@musicforte.org or call (215) 946-9295 to be removed.

Cookies, Analytics & Advertising

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help the site function, remember your preferences, and understand how the site is used so we can improve it. When you first visit, a cookie banner asks whether you accept analytics and advertising cookies. If you decline, those tools stay off. You can also control or disable cookies through your browser settings; to change a choice you already made in the banner, clear this site's data in your browser and the banner will appear again. Some parts of the site may not work as well if cookies are turned off. Our site also uses spam-protection tools on forms to keep out automated abuse.

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors find and use our site, such as which pages are viewed and how long people stay. Google Analytics sets cookies and collects information like your approximate location, device and browser type, and the pages you visit. Google processes this information on our behalf to produce aggregate reports about site activity. We do not sell this data.

If you accept cookies, our Google Analytics setup also uses Google signals and related advertising features. This gives us aggregated demographic and interest reports about our visitors, and lets us show ads for Music Forte to people who have visited our site before (often called “remarketing”). We may also share contact details you choose to give us, such as an email address entered in one of our forms, with Google in a privacy-protected (“hashed”) form to improve our ad measurement and audiences. Google cannot read the original details from the hashed data, and we never share it for anyone else's marketing.

If you accept cookies, our site also uses the Meta Pixel, a service of Meta (Facebook and Instagram). It helps us measure how well our ads work and show ads for Music Forte to people who have visited our site before on Facebook and Instagram. You can manage the ads you see in your Meta ad preferences.

Your choices: decline cookies in our banner, install Google's opt-out browser add-on, adjust your Google ads settings, or block or delete cookies in your browser. To learn how Google handles data, see Google's Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to keep your information safe and limit access to those who need it to do their jobs.

Keeping & Deleting Information

We keep your information only as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law, such as for tax and accounting records. You may ask us to review, correct, or delete your personal information by contacting us at the email below. We will respond to reasonable requests, subject to any records we are legally required to keep.

Children's Privacy

Music Forte serves students and families of all ages. When a lesson, rental, or purchase involves a minor, we work with the parent or guardian who arranges and pays for it. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children online for marketing purposes. If you believe a child's information has been provided to us and should be removed, please contact us and we will address it.

Compliance With Applicable Laws

Music Forte complies with all applicable federal laws, the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the ordinances of our local township and municipality that govern how we operate our business and handle customer information. If there is ever a conflict, we follow the law that gives you the greater protection.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated version on this page and change the effective date above. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy, your information, or want to opt out of marketing, please reach out: