How can I allow people to listen to audio clips but can restrict them from downloading them?

Question

I am looking to build a service which will allow users to listen to snippets or total audio clip, but downloading them might be chargeable. So I want to restrict users from downloading my audioclips but should be able to listen them. Is this possible using some storage service or any other service/software?

Answer 1

The most common way to do this is to provide your own player software to play your clips, using some streaming protocol. The player can be either web-based (e.g. soundcloud) or based around a desktop player or app (e.g. spotify). This question explains a little about soundcloud : How does soundcloud audio streaming work?.