The Chainsmokers are bookending the year with another digital experiment – this time selling “sound packs” (AKA samples) via the Beat Maker Go app. Bringing together samples from tracks including ‘Closer’, ‘Paris’ and ‘Roses’, it is the beat-making app’s first artist partnership. These samples live within Beat Maker Pro’s system of subscriptions and they can, along with a range of other samples, be accessed for $7.99 a week or $19.99 a month. There is also a freemium angle where, in exchange for sitting through some ads, they can be unlocked for free.

How the revenue share breaks down has not been made official but this is clearly a statement deal and something of a public experimentation.

Acts have made stems available in the past, notably Radiohead back in 2008 for a remix competition, but the focus then was more about fan engagement and encouraging creativity rather than driving revenue.

There are suggestions of in-app competitions where users can win concert tickets and merchandise, but what they have to do with the sound packs to be in with a chance was not made explicit at the time of going to press.

It is an interesting move by the act into the Beat Maker Pro world – and that is its blessing and curse. It will get in front of an audience well versed in creating new tracks from beats and samples; but that audience, by definition, is going to be small. Arguably this is less about hardcore fan engagement and more about building credibility within what can sometimes be a very sniffy subculture of beat makers.