The Forever Fund
A share of our profits is moved into a dedicated bank reserve: the Forever Fund. It is not spent on advertising, salaries or growth. It is kept for one thing only — what keeps recordings playing: storage, serving, backups and the security that protects them.
The principle is simple: the more voices we keep, the larger the reserve that keeps them. Your glyph is paid for once, and the money that keeps it playing is already set aside.
Your own copy, always
A promise is stronger when you do not have to rely on it. From My Glyphs you can download, at any time and as often as you like:
- The audio — the exact recording a scan plays, as a standard Ogg Opus file any modern device can open.
- The glyph artwork — a full-resolution SVG you can print, engrave or hand to a tattoo artist.
Keep a copy somewhere of your own. Even in the worst case, the voice is never ours to lose.
If TraceSound ever stops
We hope it never comes to this. If it did, this is what we commit to, in this order:
- At least 3 months' notice, by email to every glyph owner and on this site, before any glyph stops playing.
- Every recording returned to its owner — a download link to each of your recordings, sent to the address on your account.
- A hand-over, not a shutdown. The recordings and the Forever Fund pass to a successor service that commits to keep existing glyphs playing, or to a public archive. The fund goes with the voices it was set aside for.
What “forever” does not cover
A promise you can trust is one that is honest about its edges:
- You are always in control. If you delete a recording or close your account, its glyphs stop playing — permanently, because we delete the audio rather than hide it.
- Previews are not kept. A glyph nobody has paid for plays for 24 hours, so you can hear it first, and is then removed.
- A scan needs a connection. The glyph carries a private key, not the audio itself. Your downloaded copy plays offline.
- The object has to stay readable. Glyphs are designed to survive real wear, but a print that is torn away or a tattoo that has blurred past recognition cannot be read by any camera.
Questions people ask us
What happens to my glyph if TraceSound shuts down?
We would email every owner at least 3 months before anything stopped, with a download link for each of their recordings. The recordings and the Forever Fund would pass to a successor service committed to keep glyphs playing, or to a public archive. Either way, you would never be left with a silent glyph and nothing else.
Is there really no yearly fee?
None. You pay once when you keep a glyph, and that payment is the last one it ever needs. Credits you have not spent do not expire either.
Why should I believe this lasts?
Because keeping a voice is cheap once it is paid for. A minute of TraceSound audio is about 240 KB — a million of them fit on a single hard drive. The Forever Fund exists so that even that small cost is covered by money already set aside, not by whoever buys next.
Can a glyph stop playing?
Only if its owner deletes the recording or closes the account — both are permanent, and nobody else can do either. An unpaid preview plays for 24 hours and is then removed; a kept glyph has no expiry date.
Do I need the internet to scan a glyph?
Yes. The shape carries a private key, and the phone uses it to fetch the recording, so a scan needs a connection. That is also why your downloadable copy matters: it plays anywhere, offline, for good.
The full legal wording lives in our Terms of Service. Where the two ever seem to differ, the promise on this page is the one we hold ourselves to.