soundcloud - download explicitly allowed tracks only

[mitsukuri]

Is it possible to download only those tracks from Soundcloud that are explicitly marked as downloadable by author? I see there is a --match-filter option, tried --match-filter "download", which didn't work (unsurprisingly so). If it's impossible right now, it would be a nice addition for those respecting authors' decisions. There are enough profiles where a fraction of tracks are allowed for download - it's no good combing them manually when such a brilliant tool exists.

[yan12125]

Can you give some concrete examples?

[mitsukuri]

Sure!
https://soundcloud.com/shimmering-moods-records
https://soundcloud.com/nitenichiryu

[dstftw]

One of the main purposes of youtube-dl is to be able to download from places that does not provide you with explicit ability to do so thus this option will be useless for most of the extractors.
Moreover if you really want to respect author's decision then also respect a way author expects you to download, i.e. using a website.

[yan12125]

Hmm actually it's possible:

$ youtube-dl -v -f download https://soundcloud.com/shimmering-moods-records --ignore-errors

[mitsukuri]

dstftw, I guess I've triggered some emotions with the phrase "respect author's decision". Sorry about that, I should have be cautious saying that out loud here. Mind you, I'm not against the ability to download anything without someone's explicit permission.
Now, to the strawman about the way authors expecting their tracks to be downloaded. I got my own soundcloud profile, and yes, I upload my own tracks there. When I mark my tracks as downloadable, there's nothing in the UI, nor is there in my mind as to how exactly my listeners would download them. I don't care if they download them from the site or by some h4Xx0r means, including binary telepathy. I just want them to be freely available. Sure, even those tracks I don't mark as such can be downloaded and I don't mind that either. That 'download' button is just about 'fair play' for those who care, akin to opensource licenses.

[mitsukuri]

yan12125, wow, that seems to work, thank you! Care to explain how? Doesn't look obvious :)

[yan12125]

The downloadable link has the format ID download. -f download tries to choose this format. If not found an error is raised. --ignore-erros can ignore all errors. The overall effect is just what you want.

[mitsukuri]

Thank you even more! I would like to add this to the readme.md. Any thoughts as to which section this should go to, or if this is a good idea at all?

[yan12125]

There's an FAQ section, while I guess it's not so common to be in FAQ.

[mitsukuri]

That's what I thought too. Maybe adding it to FORMAT SELECTION section as a remark somewhere at the bottom would do?

[yan12125]

Such a usage is site-specific. Format selection should contain generic information only.

[mitsukuri]

How about adding a SITE SPECIFIC section between VIDEO SELECTION and FAQ? I guess it might grow in the future as many sites are not without their quirks.

[yan12125]

I guess it might grow in the future as many sites are not without their quirks.

That's my concern. README.md is already too long. github search should be enough.