A shout-out on social media from Justin Bieber has brought some additional shine to Splice Sounds, the popular platform for rights-cleared sounds and beats.
The track “Running Over,” from Bieber’s album “Changes” and featuring Lil Dicky, was produced by The Audibles and is based on a loop created by British artist Laxcity and uploaded to Splice. When Laxcity tweeted his admiration for the album, Bieber replied, “Thanks… you are now a part of it.”
Similarly, the origin of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” can also be traced to an online marketplace. Its melodic core comes courtesy of a Nine Inch Nails sample used by Dutch student Kiowa Roukema, who goes by YoungKio professionally, around which he built a beat and uploaded the new work to digital music marketplace BeatStars. For Lil Nas X to create his 2019 smash only cost the artist $50, as Variety reported in January.
Splice, which recently announced that it has paid out more than $25 million to musicians in its artist-to-artist marketplace, is over the moon at the recognition and its significance as for the online sampling community.
In a statement, the company said: “Samples are snippets of inspiration. This sound (and millions of others) are available to anyone, from bedroom beatmakers to top 40 hitmakers. This particular loop happened to inspire Justin Bieber along with other creators, and the internet noticed. Laxcity made an amazing sample, and we’re glad he’s getting well-deserved recognition.”
Speaking to Variety last week, Splice CEO Steve Martocci, whose roots are in programming and open source software, elaborated on how the platform provides the forum for “a different form of collaboration.” Said Martocci: “It’s about opening up the ecosystem. And what’s cool about Splice Sounds is every time you’re using it, you’re putting money into the pockets of the musicians who made those sounds. And to get compensated like this actually can transform peoples’ lives.”