What makes Splice unique is that at the end of your payment, you own the software outright. While many people praise this, the idea of renting software forever and never truly owning it isn’t exactly a welcome thought either. Companies like Sounds Online have popularized subscription services with their EastWest Composer Cloud plan, and overall it seems to be like this may be the direction that the industry is heading.
In a nutshell, you pay a monthly fee for access to virtual instruments, plugins, and other software immediately. (Not to mention, the viruses, time wasted debugging broken software, and the general ethics of it all.)įortunately, Splice has popularized something that benefits both musicians and companies alike – rent-to-own plugins. Of course, the problem is that all of these purchases can add up quickly, which has led many musicians to resort to piracy – something that truly hurts companies looking to innovate and bring new products to the market. Gear acquisition syndrome is a real thing, and as producers, we constantly feel like we need the next plugin or instrument in order to finally get the sound that we’re looking for. If there’s one thing that we know about music production, it’s that it’s incredibly expensive.
