Celebrating 10 years of Sample Tools by CR2: A Chat with Founder & Director Mark Brown

Welcome to an exclusive interview celebrating a remarkable milestone in the music production industry. We are thrilled to have with us Mark Brown, the driving force behind Sample Tools by Cr2, as the company marks its 10-year anniversary. Since its inception in 2014, Sample Tools by Cr2 has revolutionised the music production landscape, offering high-quality sample packs and educational resources that have become essential tools for producers worldwide.

In this interview, we will explore the journey of Sample Tools by Cr2, delving into the initial vision, significant milestones, and the innovative strides that have shaped its success over the past decade. Mark Brown will share his insights on the evolution of the company, the influence of industry trends, and the future of the music production industry. Join us as we celebrate a decade of creativity, innovation, and excellence with Sample Tools by Cr2.

Yeah, absolutely. I think Sample Tools really was a natural progression and expansion of Cr2 Records as a label. We were hugely successful on Beatport, and just by chance, actually, I discovered their Beatport Sounds section and brainstormed for a couple of months to see if there was an opportunity for us to launch our own sample pack division based on the products that I was seeing on there. We did a lot of research about what was missing from the market and what could be done better. And I think with the combination of the Cr2 Records brand and the quality of sounds from our first set of packs, we managed to make a huge impact very early. One thing we did was add tutorial videos into the packs, which our competitors weren't doing at the time. So adding an extra element of learning, really set us apart from our competitors in the marketplace, and people that were already established.

As far as how the vision has evolved, I think we've obviously expanded into many different genres outside of Dance and Electronic Music, which I believe has always kept the brand as relevant as possible while still maintaining the highest quality of sounds. This really kind of set us apart from most other sample packs in the marketplace. Not flooding the market with too many products, being really focused, and making sure that we are covering all of the new trends that are currently working across most music genres.

I think were at a crossroads, really, with the label being ten years old, and I was always looking at how we could expand the brand. Having a touring element and a live side of Cr2 Records was put in front of me many times. I'd always been quite hesitant to do that just because to compete with some of the already established brands in the market at the time was a challenge. They were all sort of coming into the market and I just thought it would be an enormous uphill task to try and compete with those established brands.

So I felt that, having a music production side to Cr2 on the educational side, where producers could make music using sounds, was a really good option for us. And I'm really happy that I took that decision ten years ago.

I think initially the most significant milestone or achievement was really cementing the brand on Beatport Sounds, which at the time, ten years ago, was probably the most important retailer globally for production kits and sounds outside of maybe a couple other companies. Establishing Sample Tools by Cr2 as one of the market leaders within the first twelve to 18 months was a huge achievement. Since then a big achievement has been expanding our reach with Sample Tools by Cr2 by engaging in partnerships with other companies. Our partnership with Splice has been a significant milestone for us in that respect.

We released our first batch of sample packs on Splice back in 2017, and they've been a valuable member of our retail community ever since. The partnership has been hugely influential to us, with obviously them having a really strong fan base especially in the North American market. It's been great to work with them on the expansion of Sample Tools by Cr2 and the growth of the catalogue with lots of exclusive content available to them, which I think really helped cement Sample Tools by Cr2 as a top 15 label and brand on their platform.

I think we use the main label to really look at the market and what's working. A great example of that is, an artist like Purple Disco Machine. He was obviously having enormous success in the recording industry over the last five years. We used what was going on with him as an artist and managed to bring that across and create a production kit from him, which has been our most successful artist pack to date. We did the same with Solardo, who’s packs are available on Splice as well! And the other way around, I suppose we always look at Sample Tools by Cr2 potentially as a breeding ground for producers that can make music. A great example of that is obviously the synergy between Matt Sassari, producing artist packs through Sample Tools by Cr2 while also creating global hit records. So you can see that for particular artist we've created a self-feeding ecosystem that works in both areas of the businesses.

Yeah, for sure! Our first pack, ‘EDM Festival Kicks and Drops’, is a great example of a release that I'm proud of. As far as products have evolved, well, we’ve tapped into a plethora of new genres over the years, and we’re doing Ableton kits, which we weren't doing before. Having a mastering service has also been a good evolution of the brand.

We launched Sample Tools by Cr2 as a brand with our first product ‘EDM Festival Kicks & Drops’. I think just having the pack just go straight to number one it was received enormously well by the production community. And I think at a time where, you know, the terminology, EDM meant so much on a global scale, especially in a new market like America, which is quite ironic, really, because, you know, America kind of created House Music and almost skipped a generation and then sort of came back to it. But this terminology, EDM, Electronic Dance Music was created out of it. So I think, yeah, the first release, it was received incredibly well, and it set the bar for what was to come for Sample Tools by Cr2.

Well, I think ‘EDM Festival Kicks & Drops’ is definitely up there, as being the first pack it is a special one. Also, our first artist pack, the Purple Disco Machine pack was something new that we did and it has been our best selling pack since. That was an incredible milestone and an incredible product for us.

Being open-minded and listening to new ideas and suggestions. From being open to ideas, suggestions and trends from the outside as well as ideas from within the team, it's all about evolution for me. I think if we would just stay in one lane and be kind of like, narrow-minded, we never would have moved the company to where it is now. I think things always happen organically. I like to say organically because they happen in stages. I don't think we would have been ready ten years ago to release an artist pack like Purple Disco Machine. So it took us probably six years to get to that stage where we understood the market and how we could best serve it and get the best out of that particular release.

I think the enormous attention on Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings a lot of different opportunities and opinions to the production side of the industry. I think AI can be used in a really positive way as long as there's still a huge human element to the production side. So, for example, when producers are creating tracks, but then using AI to try different influences or ideas, but not to create something from start, I think that's where it can be really beneficial to the future of the industry, as well as to the music creation side of things.

I think as a new producer, you really have to have a clear vision about what you want to achieve. I think it's really important that you have your own identity and your own sound. I think it's important to take influences from other people, but not to copy or emulate them entirely. A really good attitude and the ability to move quickly and understand all different areas of the business is important. Don't just have tunnel vision and say, I'm not going to do social media or I'm only going to do it this way. I think you have to embrace all different areas of technology, especially in the social media world now to become a successful artist or producer.

Have a clear strategy about what you want to achieve and don't be afraid and don't stop producing. If people say no, never give up, always believe in what you do because you have to take yourself on a journey. I think people are too quick to stop doing production just because they don't get a call back from a label. It takes years sometimes to establish yourself. Yes, there are, you know, the occasional cases where people get lucky, maybe via a viral moment, but in the end it's about having consistency and having the ability to listen and learn and watch what's happening around you. However, having as much of an original identity and sound as you can, is one of the most important things.

Check out the UK Garage & Vocals sample pack by clicking the link below and celebrate 10 years of sound innovation with one of the top sample makers in the game today.