Publishing songs with vocal samples in (Tracklib/Arcade/Kontakt)

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hey nauts.

For those of us who are playing around with this as a hobby (aka: popping a few tunes online now & then), what is a sensible approach to using vocal samples specifically that has you covered if you want to sling some tunes up on Youtube / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Spotify or whatever?

My knowledge of this area is a bit hazy, but I have heard that people have been hauled up for using Splice vocals. Personally I don’t use Splice myself anymore, and the options that interest me are the likes of Tracklib, Output Arcade & playable Kontakt vocal libraries. Although these are all quite different libraries, I see quite a few similarities in how you could end up with the same sample as someone else.

Tracklib offers an interface where you can take a sample and put it in the context of a beat, download it and then use it in your song. Arcade is a bit closer to classic loop packs, but it offers a modifier key functionality that is designed to let you “play” the loops and you can layer your own samples in and modify the presets which (to me at least) can take you a long way towards coming up with something that’s your own. And then of course, you have Kontakt libraries that again, technically are playable instruments - which I suppose make them more like a VST than a sample library; but the limited pallette of sound in them make it more likely that you might run into a similar creation from someone else. (Though I guess here, you bought the library - so you can do what you want with it?)

Does Tracklib have the upper hand in this one? From dabbling with it, you pay the monthly sub and then you pay again to license the song if you want to release it - plus you commit to sharing royalties; though the whole thing is handled for you on the Tracklib side (someting like $50-ish for most tracks?)

I’m not against fair compensation for artists, that said if anything I did would make me $50 back that would probably be a miracle :joy: So I guess I’m wondering for those of you who are at the tinkering end of things, do you just not release stuff with vocals in? And if you do - is any of the options out there less likely to get you in hot water if you want to share some stuff online just for fun?

#2

Call me old-fashioned (or just old if you prefer), but all of these questions become a moot point if artists would just dare to compose and perform their own material.

No one can copyright your humanity.

I’m not dumping on sample-based music, by the way, I’m just saying… Such is the plight, when you choose to use samples and prefab loops as the foundation of your music.

We’ve lost the community aspect of being in a band; the sum of which is often greater than its parts. It’s good to need each other. If you can’t sing or play an instrument, there’s someone out there who can, and they’re probably dying to be a part of something.

Cheers!

#3

All material on splice is free to use, the reason some samples are getting flagged is that some not very nice producers are putting samples on a generic beat and claiming ownership. You can get a licence from splice if you need it for a copyright strike.

There are other threads on clearing samples on here, rule of thumb is that unless your song becomes a hit you are probably fine.

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#4

This is exactly the case. Any time there is a pack release, someone will go in and be the first to upload tracks using all the samples to claim the contentID on youtube. But as long as you have the license, you can upload it and make money from it. And all those sample packs and services will provide you the license. Just make sure you read it as sometimes, they do not allow it to be used on streaming services or specific streaming services.

#5

This sounds like common sense. Thanks for the tip!

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