# SoundSP: A decentralized storage protocol Files distributed through the SoundProtocol protocol must be highly available, independently verifiable, and decentralized. These principles are key to ensuring democratic participation and accessibility for all users of the SoundProtocol. Artists sharing their tracks and metadata, fans retrieving content, and node operators will all share longer-form information via this protocol, while references to files in this protocol will reside in the SoundProtocol content ledger. Additionally, the storage protocol must provide an equivalent user experience to existing centralized solutions and scale effectively as network demand increases. To that end, we propose SonSP: a decentralized storage solution for the SoundProtocol network built on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). IPFS enables modular object-level encryption, global distribution capability, secure content addressing, and object immutability. In order to ensure high availability for files stored through the SoundProtocol, SoundSP provides a staking-based incentive structure for users to host network content. File references and associated metadata stored in the SoundProtocol content ledger will be IPLD links. As the decentralized storage market matures, the SoundProtocol protocol may be extended to include other storage solutions such as FileCoin, Sia, or Swarm. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://soundprotocol.gitbook.io/soundprotocol/content-node/soundsp-a-decentralized-storage-protocol.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.