March 2019
Splice aims to pave the way for artists to realize their full creative potential and share in the joy of making music. With Splice Sounds, we’re creating an ecosystem that’s inclusive to our users and keeps them in their creative flow, all while providing valuable opportunities for sound providers to flourish. High quality, original creative content is at the heart of that ecosystem. The principles outlined below will help you understand just what we’re looking for in content for Splice Sounds. Content that fully meets these guidelines and offers unique value to our users will be prioritized when considered for release.
As new musical trends and technologies surface, these guidelines will most likely evolve and expand as well. In order for Splice to become the best platform in the world for music creation, everyone in the ecosystem needs to benefit. We’d love for you to come on this journey with us and share your own creativity with the world.
Oh, and one last thing about content…
Whenever you see the term content in our principles, please consider that it includes all of the following:
- Audio samples, loops, presets, and other supported content that can be licensed to and downloaded by our users
- Text branding: titles, descriptive copy, and filenames associated with that content
- Visual branding: product artwork, promotional images, and video material
1. Content is original.
All content submitted to Splice Sounds becomes royalty-free for our subscribers, which means that it cannot be previously licensed in any way.
- Copyrighted content of any kind, or content from previously-released sound packs, is strictly prohibited
- The source material for all content should be able to be established (ex. project files, session agreements, etc.)
- Content must comply with all agreements (EULAs and otherwise) for hardware and software used in its creation
- Content must be new to Splice, i.e. not repackaged content from a previous pack you have already distributed on Splice
2. Content is fully supported on the platform.
We’re always looking to optimize the experience for our users to keep them in their creative flow, whether they’re browsing the catalog, searching for something specific, or dragging sounds into a project. Therefore, all content needs to meet our established technical guidelines regarding file formatting, file naming, folder structure, etc. in order to best integrate into our library.
3. Content is descriptive and accurate.
As the world’s leading sample library, Splice Sounds supports language that’s fittingly inclusive and descriptive, demonstrating expertise from a musicological perspective. Content should represent its source material, genre, and region in an authentic and genuine way. Content shouldn’t be:
- Non-descriptive in a way that demonstrates little knowledge of – or expertise with respect to – musicology
- Examples of language that we feel is non-descriptive include “urban” and “world”
- Inaccurate in its description or portrayal of a genre, region, or subject area
- Intentionally preying on a misrepresentation or an existing brand – products should be what they say they are
- For example, posing as “a legit pack from Drake” or boasting “live Wurlitzer keyboard loops” that were actually generated using a virtual instrument
4. Content is inclusive and respectful.
We’re committed to maintaining a platform that’s inclusive and respectful to musicians of all kinds, ages, and backgrounds. Therefore, content must meet our quality principles to be published in the catalog. We reserve the right to edit, remove, not publish, or otherwise limit the visibility of submitted content on Splice Sounds that falls into one or more of the following categories:
- Violence
- Nudity
- Profanity
- Promotion of illegal behavior
- Cultural insensitivity (language such as “ethnic,” “oriental,” or “tribal”)
- Discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, or sexual preference
5. Content best serves our users.
Below are some themes we like to live by when creating and looking at Sounds content:
- Original in concept
- Aesthetically pleasing (in particular, artwork and copy)
- Engaging
- Adds value
- Ignites inspiration
- Keeps users in their creative flow
- Versatile
- Accessible
In general, we reserve the right to reject providers’ releases, limit the number of releases by a provider in a given time, or remove content from our platform based on the above quality guidelines.
Our objective is to provide the most comprehensive high quality catalog to our users, and we’re here to work with you to help you create your best content.
See the latest news from Splice on product updates and system improvements:
March 1, 2019
