Music creation platform Splice and SoundCloud have joined forces to launch a new emerging artist program called, Nova, open to unsigned Splice and SoundCloud creators, MBW reports. The partnership starts with a series of contests across the Splice and SoundCloud communities with the winners of the first Nova Contest getting the production of their own Splice Sounds pack. Splice is set to release twelve Nova Artist Packs, collections of signature sounds, loops, and samples, starting January 2022.

Splice is a cloud-based music creation platform that sells downloadable collections of vocal hooks, drum sounds, instrumental riffs and other sounds creators can use to build songs, Billboard reports. Splice subscriptions start at $9.99 a month and let users access over 2 million riffs, beats and sounds, all royalty-free, so creators who use them, own their work. It's growing big - in 2019 the platform had 250,000 subscribers. Two years later, that number had more than doubled, and during the pandemic daily downloads increased almost 50% amid “a pretty extreme explosion in new users”. In February, Splice raised $55 million in series D funding led by Goldman Sachs, on a valuation of close to $500 million, and the company is approaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

The use of Splice, a highly rated app for mobile video editing, has boomed during the pandemic, as people stuck at home experimented with making their own tracks, Bloomberg reports. The company specializes in royalty-free samples, which allow people to use drum sounds or flutes from a large library for a monthly fee. The company has just raised an additional $55 million from investors, raising the value of the company at close to $500 million.

Complex did a great job of highlighting seven companies and apps that are empowering both musicians and fans to create and connect in time of quarantine. So, what does everybody need? Qello - founded in 2010, grown into an impressive hub of live music since. Stationhead - a social radio, and music streaming app. Splice - offers well organized, diverse sample libraries. Songfluencer - works directly with artists and labels to disseminate music to influencers on Instagram and TikTok. LÜM - allows fans to find artists early, listen to them on the app, provide direct support through virtual gifting, and be acknowledged for their finds. Resonate streaming service launched in 2015, seeks to put artists and human curation back at the forefront of music. Tracklib - offers pre-cleared samples at a wide-range of prices.