Splice — valued in 2021 at nearly USD $500 million after securing $55 million in funding – has acquired UK-based “high-end” virtual instrument library Spitfire Audio.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but according to the Financial Times, which cited a person familiar with the matter, the deal is worth about USD $50 million.
The acquisition marks Splice’s entry into the plugin sector, which it notes is valued at $640 million, and aligns with its existing subscription and rent-to-own businesses.
The move positions Splice to capitalize on the growing music creation market, forecast (by Midia Research) to nearly double to $14 billion by 2031.
Founded in 2013, New York-based Splice generates more than $100 million in annual revenue with about 600,000 paying subscribers, sources told the FT.
The company was valued at nearly $500 million in a 2021 funding round led by Goldman Sachs and entrepreneur Matt Pincus’s investment firm MUSIC.
Spitfire Audio, established in 2007, provides sampled virtual instruments — including recordings by Hans Zimmer, Olafur Arnalds, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Abbey Road Studios — to professional composers and producers.
“The teams at Spitfire Audio and Splice have deep respect for composers, musicians and producers and are committed to celebrating and supporting their work”, said Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice.
“With Spitfire’s expressive instruments and Splice’s AI-powered platform, we’re just beginning to explore what’s possible.”
Kakul Srivastava, Splice
“We’re both sound-first, creator-led companies who believe great software and technology can supercharge the creative experience. Our shared vision is to develop tools that expand — not replace — human creativity,” Srivastava added.
“With Spitfire’s expressive instruments and Splice’s AI-powered platform, we’re just beginning to explore what’s possible.”
“We’ve always focused on inspiring people to create extraordinary music. With Splice, we can now bring that inspiration to a whole new generation of artists, producers, and storytellers.”
Paul Thomson, Spitfire Audio
Paul Thomson, Co-Founder of Spitfire Audio, added: “We’ve always focused on inspiring people to create extraordinary music. With Splice, we can now bring that inspiration to a whole new generation of artists, producers, and storytellers.”
Following the acquisition, both Splice and Spitfire Audio will continue to operate independently, with Olivier Robert-Murphy remaining as CEO of Spitfire Audio, reporting to Srivastava.
Thomson will continue to oversee Spitfire Audio’s creative direction.
“Splice has already built an incredible business,” said Robert-Murphy. “Joining forces means Spitfire Audio’s sounds will find new homes in studios around the world—whether that’s a bedroom producer or a blockbuster composer.”
The acquisition comes as Splice has been expanding its AI capabilities, with about 40% of its users embracing the platform’s AI tools, the company said. In 2024, Splice hit nearly 350 million downloads of its sound samples across all genres last year, without disclosing whether the figure marked a growth or decline from 2023.
Speaking with Thomson in a one-on-one at London’s AIR Studios, Srivastava said Splice has been building new AI components “that are ethical, artist-first, where artists are fairly compensated for their work. So bringing together some of that technology together, I think, will be really really important.”
Thomas acknowledged concerns around the use of AI in the music creation community. “There’s a lot of fear, understandably, around AI in the music creation community.”
“As musicians and composers, we’ve always used technology. We’ve always adopted new plug-ins, or new ways of doing things… It’s just a tool to help you be more creative, and I think that’s where we should be focusing on,” Thomas added.
Last month, Splice unveiled a feature for its mobile app that allows users to record vocals over instrumentals created within the app. The Splice Mic feature uses Splice’s Create AI engine, launched in June 2024, to analyze recordings and identify sounds that match the harmony.
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