| Growing up in County Cavan, Ireland, Shane Codd dreamed of performing at huge nightclubs on the Spanish island of Ibiza, the global epicenter of electronic music. He dropped out of college for a year to work on his skills, producing songs and performing at local clubs. But his songs got lost in the bottomless pit of the internet. That all changed one day last year when Codd was browsing through a selection of vocal samples in a service called Splice. Codd was in search of a hook to accompany his instrumental creation. The resulting song, "Get Out My Head," gained an immediate following on streaming services when Codd released it in May 2020 and sparked a bidding war among record labels. Codd signed with Polydor, part of Universal Music Group, which then rereleased "Got Out My Head" in September. The song has been in the top 10 in both Ireland and the U.K. for the last seven weeks. Codd has been interviewed on almost every major radio station in his home country, and is now an in-demand producer collaborating with a major U.K. pop star. And the 23-year-old did it all without leaving his bedroom in northeast Ireland. "It's pretty mad," Codd said, speaking in front of a wall with platinum and gold discs commemorating his success. The boyish-looking Codd is now the poster child for Splice, a New York-based technology company that creates tools and services for musicians. Use of Splice has boomed during the pandemic, as people stuck at home experimented with making their own tracks. 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 Goldman Sachs and Music, an investment firm led by music impresario Matt Pincus. Splice has now raised more than $150 million, and investors value the company at close to $500 million. The latest infusion of cash -- and the lofty valuation that comes with it -- establish Splice as one of the leaders in the booming market for music tools. We've written about the hot market for song catalogs. We've written about the feeding frenzy for new podcasts. Now, behold, the latest hot commodity in audio. Music software sales have eclipsed $800 million and should reach $1.8 billion by 2027, the firm said. "A third of the world tries to make music," Splice Chief Executive Officer Steve Martocci said in a recent interview. "Think about all the kids in the public school making music with a recorder." Martocci founded Splice in 2013 with Matt Aimonetti. The company charges its customers a monthly fee for access to a deep library of what's called royalty-free samples. A musician, like Codd, can access a snare drum beat, a guitar lick or a vocal hook recorded by someone else, and doesn't have to share any profits from his song with the creator of the sample. The person who provided the initial sample gets paid by Splice, earning a share of its subscription revenue (or maybe a cash guarantee). Prices start at $7.99 a month. As the internet has made it easier for people to release music without the help of a major music company, Splice has become a vital tool for thousands of amateurs who can't afford time in a studio. There are now some 4 million people who use Splice, accessing more than 400 million samples a month. Some pay for the ability to use 100 samples in a month. Others pay for access to far more. Martocci believes all of those numbers are about to soar, and plans to use his new money to create more tools and invest in education. "Splice gives you all the components you need to make music," said Pincus, who has invested in the company both from some of his personal fortune and a fund he operates in partnership with LionTree, a boutique investment bank. "Beginners have access to the same tools as the pros." As Splice has grown, it has also become popular among a generation of producers constantly on the move, and even major pop stars looking for a fresh sound. Justin Bieber used a Splice sample in his song "Running Over," while producers Sophie and Tainy have created what Splice dubs "sample packs" of beats and sounds.  Tainy Photo courtesy of Imagine It Media/NEON16 Tainy, who produced "I Like It" for Cardi B and J Balvin, taught himself to produce by listening to his favorite songs and experimenting. He's now one of the most successful producers in the world. He produced "Dákiti," a song by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez that has been one of the 10 most popular songs on Spotify and YouTube all year. He initially sent the melody to Cortez seven or eight years ago. Cortez passed on it. Tainy uploaded it to Splice, and last year Cortez heard the melody anew and decided to sing over it. Codd taught himself how to make music using YouTube videos. After seeing that the DJs Avicii and Martin Garrix use Fruity Loops studio software music to produce music, he got himself a copy and started fooling around. To share his passion, he created a playlist called "Trance Anthems 90s-00s" that has exploded along with his music, and it now has more than 85,000 likes. In between classic songs like "Better Off Alone" and "Heaven," he has added a newer song: his own. -- Lucas Shaw The best of Screentime (and other stuff) | 
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