At a glance
| Skin Motion | TraceSound | |
|---|---|---|
| Scanning | The Skin Motion app for iOS or Android | Any phone’s web browser — no app to install |
| What it costs | $39.99 to activate, then $14.99 every year to keep it activated | One payment per glyph, priced by length — no yearly fee |
| If payments stop | Activation is tied to the yearly fee | Nothing to stop — a kept glyph has no renewal |
| Your own copy of the audio | Not described in its FAQ | Download the audio and artwork any time |
| What pays for playback long-term | Annual fees | The Forever Fund: a share of our profits, set aside in a bank reserve |
| Physical keepsakes | Tattoos | Tattoos, plus acrylic blocks and oak boards made by TraceSound from the same glyph |
| Internet needed to play | Cloud playback | Yes — a scan fetches the recording |
| Track record | Operating since 2017 | New — which is why every promise here is in writing |
Skin Motion details are taken from its public FAQ as of September 2026; check skinmotion.com for its current terms. Skin Motion is a trademark of its owner, and TraceSound is not affiliated with it.
Why the yearly fee matters
A tattoo is permanent. A subscription is not. When playback depends on a fee paid every year to one company, the voice in your skin plays only for as long as you keep paying — and for as long as that company keeps going.
TraceSound was built around the opposite idea. You pay once, and a share of our profits goes into the Forever Fund, which pays for keeping your recording online. And because you can download the audio whenever you like, the voice never exists only on our servers.
More than a tattoo
The glyph you tattoo is the same glyph TraceSound prints on acrylic and engraves in oak. You can keep both: the voice on your skin, and the same voice on a desk or a shelf where the whole family can scan it. See the keepsakes.
Getting a TraceSound tattoo
- Make your glyph from the recording, and scan it on screen before you pay anything.
- Keep it, and download the artwork from My Glyphs.
- Print it at the size you plan, test the scan where it will go, and take it to your artist.
The full walk-through: how to get a soundwave tattoo that actually plays.
Questions
Can TraceSound play my existing Skin Motion tattoo?
No. Each company’s tattoos are drawn for its own scanner, so a Skin Motion soundwave cannot be read by TraceSound. If you still have the original recording, you can make a TraceSound glyph from it — as a new tattoo, or as a keepsake that sits beside the one you have.
Is a TraceSound tattoo really free after the first payment?
Yes. You pay once when you keep the glyph. There is no activation renewal, no subscription, and nothing that stops working if a card expires.
What if TraceSound shuts down one day?
Every owner gets at least 3 months' notice and a copy of each recording, and the recordings pass — with the Forever Fund — to a successor or an archive. You can also download your audio at any time, so the voice is never only on our servers.
Does it work on a curved part of the body?
Glyphs read best on flatter areas, viewed straight on. Before tattooing, print your glyph at the exact size you plan, hold it where it will go, and scan it.