Why Downlink exists

Releasing a free download always comes down to the same thing: a link where the fan supports the track, then gets the file. The services that do this are hosted elsewhere, store the file elsewhere, and set the rules. Downlink does the same job from my own server.

No account for the fan

A fan landing on a gate creates nothing. They give a single SoundCloud OAuth consent, and the support actions (follow, like, repost) run from there. Instagram and TikTok links stay honor links: no platform lets you verify those actions without asking for far more than a download is worth.

Comments are the exception. SoundCloud forbids posting them through its API, so the fan writes it by hand, and Downlink reads the track comments back to check that one of them is theirs.

The files stay here

A six minute WAV weighs more than most storage quotas tolerate. Files live on a self-hosted MinIO, uploads and downloads go through short-lived signed URLs, and nothing but the gate hands out access to the file.

What comes next

That is what this blog is for: what gets written here, and the versions as they ship.