Culture

Slip.stream wants to be the royalty-free soundtrack to creators’ content

The subscription-based service offers tens of thousands of songs and FX already licensed for use by anyone.

Alistair Berg/Photodisc/Getty Images

One of the hardest parts of livestreaming or vlogging for content creators can be all that dead air due to the inability to legally (or, at least affordably) license music during sessions, but a new subscription-based service is aiming to make things a little easier for all involved. Created by Fuse TV founder, Dave Carson, alongside Jingle Punks alum, Dan Demole, and Jesse Korwin, Slip.stream is offering thousands of royalty-free songs, stems, playlists, and FX sounds for content creators to use almost entirely however they want in livestreams, online broadcasts, and podcasting.

Currently in its Beta release, Slip.stream looks like it could become the Spotify of background music, with over 50,000 full songs and 40,000 sound FX to peruse and utilize for one’s own content. What’s more, creators are free to monetize their own work while still employing any tracks streamed or downloaded from the service.

Removing friction — “Slip.stream is removing the friction around music rights and allowing creators to include music they love in their videos and streams and musicians ownership of their creations, along with the opportunity to gain new fans and revenue streams,” reads the site’s official press release.

While there is some fine print involved, it still seems like a pretty decent way to enhance your online streaming work while also not needing to worry about licensing red tape. While not confirmed, we also assume musicians licensing their work are getting compensated at least slightly better than they are with Spotify.

Curious content creators can try out over 1,000 files in the service’s catalog for free, with premium subscriptions available at $12.99/month or $95.99 annually.

Working on creating a similar service for musicians — Slip.stream sounds pretty nifty for anyone looking for convenient, cheap ways to spruce up their streaming and podcast content, but the people behind the service are forgetting the other side of the creative aisle. Within the site’s FAQ page, the creators explain that they’re “close to launching a Music Creators site” for people to upload their own music for usage. While no ETA is given, those interested can still request an early invite to the site.

Thankfully, the FAQs also mention that subscribers don’t need to fear being required to take down any uploads if they ever decide to cancel their accounts with Slip.stream. “All the content you create and uploaded to your channels and platforms are covered by the License Agreement,” the site notes, adding that you just won’t be able to upload any new music via the service.