Splice Introduces Generative AI Tools that Justly Reward Sample Creators]

Sample platform Splice has announced the launch of three generative AI tools that allow users to “reshape and reimagine” sounds from its millions-strong library while ensuring that the creators of those sounds are compensated fairly.

The new Variations tool can be used to create new versions of any Splice sample while preserving the identity of the original sound. Variations will create five uniquely different versions of a chosen sound, allowing you to specify a key and tempo for the output and dial in a specific level of complexity.

Any sample edited with Variations remains fully traceable to its source, and Splice will compensate the creator of a sound equally based on the use of its AI-generated variations. For the user, variations are royalty-free and covered by the same license as the original sample.

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Variations is available now in the Splice Sounds plugin, which launched in beta earlier this month. Splice Sounds allows the user to browse the company’s library of sounds directly from the DAW, audition samples in sync with their project and drop them straight into a session.

Craft is a new feature in Splice’s INSTRUMENT plugin that transforms samples into “fully playable” instruments. INSTRUMENT is a cloud-connected virtual instrument platform that gives users access to a library of multi-sampled presets, many of which are based on sounds from British sample library developer Spitfire Audio’s extensive catalogue. (Last year, Splice acquired Spitfire Audio in a rumoured $50m deal.)

Splice’s third AI tool, Magic Fit, is scheduled for launch this summer. The company says that it can musically adapt any Splice sound to match up with any harmonic and rhythmic context, but no further details have been provided.

Splice’s Variations feature (Image credit: Splice)

“Producers have always used samples as a foundation for new ideas; these tools extend that tradition, enabling sounds to be reshaped and reimagined,” said Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava in a statement.

“Grounded in deep, long-standing relationships with producers and sound creators, they reflect real creative workflows and reinforce the value of original work.”

Srivastava has previously expressed a reluctance to incorporate generative AI into the company’s platform, telling MusicRadar in 2024: “I think there is power in these [AI] tools. But, I don’t think the power in these tools is, ‘oh, we can generate a sample’. I think there’s power in the human-generated samples that our users really appreciate.”

“I do think that generative AI can be used to build better tools. We spend a lot of time with artists, learning about how they would want to use generative AI in their creative process. They’ve got some really powerful ideas.

“Are we working on it? Absolutely, absolutely, we’re working on it. We’re not going to use it to ‘generate’ a library of samples. We’re going to use it to build better tools.”

Back in January, Splice announced a partnership with Universal Music Group on the development of AI-powered virtual instruments and tools that allow UMG artists to bring their own sounds into Splice’s AI workflows. UMG stated that artists on its roster will play a “crucial role” in the product development process.