INTRODUCTION
If you are in need of inspiration to make your next musical masterpiece and you are looking for something to get your creative juices flowing, or you are just looking for that fresh new sound, samples and loops can be a very useful tool.
Some prefer to create their own sounds, but ultimately some of the best producers use commercial sample packs because it saves them time and gives them the necessary inspiration to come up with something new & fresh all the time.
If you started to Google search websites, you probably know that there are hundreds of places where you can find samples and loops of all sorts, free or not.
The question is, what sites are the best one-stop shops to give you the best content for your genre, in a user-friendly way, with curated and quality royalty-free sounds ?
If you are at this stage, read on, because in this article we are presenting three music samples and loops sites that you may want to have a look at.
Each of these sites have their own distinctive features, ranging from the most simple and easy to use, to the more elaborate sites that provide a multitude of tools.
We will give an overview of:
- Sample Focus
- Splice
- Output Arcade
Each from a standpoint of content, pricing and royalties.
All three can be very powerful tools for producers, songwriters and beat makers. Sample Focus is perhaps the ‘easiest way to find the perfect audio sample’ as their website says.
On the other side, Splice and Output Arcade offer much more than their massive libraries of royalty free samples.
I hope this post helps you determine whether Sample Focus, Splice or Output arcade is right for you. Enjoy!
SAMPLE FOCUS
Content:
Sample Focus is a searchable database of samples that is well categorized for browsing, with the help of tags, collections, categories etc. guiding any search of the content. This is a curated collection with modern sounds, and efforts have been made to tag it from the start.
The tagging system allows sounds to be cataloged by category, timbre, character, mood, and instrument. It is possible to filter samples by tempo range and musical key. Additionally, upon clicking on a sample you will see recommendations for similar sounds.
Pricing:
You can use it as a free platform: Actually, all users get 5 free credits of download per week. Every Monday your account will be topped up to 5 download credits.
However, in order to grow its community, Sample Focus incentivizes uploading by using a system of download credits. Users can earn more credits by uploading. Currently you earn 4 download credits for every upload that is approved. Also, when you refer a new user to Sample Focus using the invite link, you will both earn 30 credits.
And there is the paid plan that ranges from $ 5.99 to $ 16.99 a month with an increasing amount of credits. (see image)
Royalties:
Sample Focus states that ‘You may remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. All sounds on Sample Focus are licensed under our Standard License.’ This means that all sounds are royalty free and no attribution is required.
However there is an important point to make here, and this goes for ALL samples and loops libraries on the Net. Any producer will tell you to never include a sound ‘as-is’ in your work. The best practice is to manipulate, process the sounds in a way that it becomes significantly different from the original. In other words, so that any listener would not be able to recognize your sound from another musical piece heard elsewhere. Especially nowadays when everyone is picking from the same sources.
We will talk more about this later on, when we go over Splice royalties and a situation involving a very famous artist.
SPLICE
Content:
Splice Sounds, which bills itself as an artist-to-artist sample service, aims to throw the entire business model out the window with a low-cost subscription pricing.
Judging by the amount of articles and videos talking about this site, it seems it has become a new epicenter, specifically for the electronic artists and beatmakers. It offers a huge selection of royalty free sample libraries. It is cloud-based and paired with a desktop app.
Enter the world of Splice and you'll find several million samples, loops, and presets to sift through and get inspired by. You'll find collections of 808 samples, ambient sound effects, and loop grooves. Some of this material is exclusive to Splice, and the rest of it is also available as part of standalone sample libraries you have to purchase individually if you're not a Splice subscriber. You can browse the sample libraries by what's featured, by what's popular this week, by genre, and by instrument; and you can hear unlimited previews. The sample packs are curated by Splice and feature well known artists
Ease of use
Anything you want, you can download using a small helper app that you must install first. From there, you can drag and drop samples into your digital audio workstation as WAV files.
Special features:
Splice is perhaps best known for Studio, its free cloud-based backup and collaborative music recording platform and its associated online community. Splice said it pays out millions in royalties every year to music producers that have distributed sample content through Splice Sounds.
Also there are a multitude of high quality plug-ins, either free, for sale or as rent-to-own, where you pay a monthly fee until you own the plug-in.
Pricing:
Splice offers 3 monthly plans ranging from the base 100 credit plan for $ 9.99 to the 500 credit plan for $29.99. If you stop paying, you get to keep everything you've downloaded. There is a 14-day free trial. (See image)
Royalties:
As for Sample Focus, everything available on Splice is 100 percent royalty-free with no usage restrictions.
However, to illustrate my point made earlier about altering the sounds that you download, even if they are royalty-free: In 2020 Justin Bieber dropped his album, Changes, and it took less than 24 hours before the pop star was accused of stealing the melody used in one of its songs. Artist Asher Monroe pointed out that the hook in his 2019 song “Synergy” is the same as the one in Bieber’s “Running Over.” However, it turned out no one stole anything because the melody isn’t by either artist. It’s a royalty-free sample by producer Laxcity that was purchased from online sounds marketplace Splice.com.
Expand Your Sound with Splice. Try it for free now!
ARCADE by OUTPUT
Content :
Output Arcade is another platform that has gained popularity over the years because of its diverse nature and its multi-genre application. It labels itself as ‘A new kind of synthesizer’ .
Arcade has new content delivered on a regular basis and tools to transform it all , so it sounds original. It has around 40+ product lines.
With an ever-expanding library of curated loops, it was one of those pieces of software that made creators sound great with the minimum amount of effort. The latest version Arcade 2.0 went beyond loop packs and turned itself into a playable instrument with Note Kits. You can play, perform, and manipulate loops instantly. It even works with your own loops.
Everything is locked into your session’s key and tempo. Download new content and play instantly all within the same plugin.
Essentially , Arcade is a loop based instrument with a vast library that allows you to import and use your own sounds.It allows the user to modify and change loops based on what he is looking for.
Pricing:
For 10 $ a month, you get unlimited access to 40+ Product Lines, 3,000+ Kits, 50,000+ Loops, plus new content every day. There is a 30-day free trial.
Royalties:
All samples are royalty free. Arcade states that you are free to use them as much as you want. The only thing you can’t do is resell the samples as part of a loop or sample pack of any kind.
CONCLUSION
Given the low cost of entry and the quality sounds you can find, if you're producing contemporary electronic, hip-hop, or pop music and want a fresh source of inspiring audio material, you won't go wrong if you give these platforms a whirl.
Ready to try them out?
Expand Your Sound with Splice. Try it for free now!
Disclaimer: I get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post, but at NO additional cost to you. I must also add that I only recommend products or services in which I believe, that I already use or would use, and which I feel can bring value to the readers.
Hope you enjoyed this article, and see you soon !
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