Is Using Splice Cheating or Just Collaborating?

Black headphones resting on piano keys

There is a loud idea online that using Splice loops is cheating. If you build a song from loops, you are not really making music. I do not buy that.

I use Splice a lot. I still write the lyrics, arrange the parts, produce, mix, and master. The loop is a spark. The song is the decisions I make.

A loop is a collaborator, not a shortcut

I love collaboration. Splice feels like a collaboration with people I have never met. Someone else’s drum pattern or guitar phrase can push me into a melody I would not have found on my own.

If you take the cheating argument to the extreme, you have to build every sample, every instrument, and every plugin yourself. That is not music making. That is a completely different craft.

Splice does not write the song. I do.

Why I reach for Splice

Momentum matters. When I can drop in a loop and feel the vibe, I can write a topline fast and chase the idea while it is still hot.

Some creators are simply better than me at certain things, like modern drum programming. Using their loops is smart, not lazy. It lets me focus on lyrics, arrangement, and the emotional arc of the song.

Originality lives in the choices

Pop music has recycled chord progressions forever, and we still get brand new songs. Loops are similar. The same starting point can lead to a hundred different outcomes.

If a loop feels too recognizable, I can skip it or flip it. And when I want to do everything myself, I do. My song Setbacks has all live instrumentation and no loops at all. Both approaches are valid.

Make the music you want to hear

If you do not want to use Splice, cool. If you do, also cool. Music is not a contest of technical purity. It is art, and it should be fun.

If Splice helps you create, you are still creating. Use the tools that make you finish songs you are proud of.

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