Vine is building upon its success in disseminating viral music video clips by adding more audio-based features to its service. Following the introduction of the Snap to Beat tool in August, new changes will see Vine transform into an open-source audio library that allows users to select music from other clips to use for themselves.
One of Vine’s greatest strengths is its ability to create new visual trends that are built on remixes and collaborations. From popular new dance moves set to contemporary pop music to lip-sync video loops, Vine’s music section is home to viral remakes.
The new audio remix button makes it even easier to reinterpret a piece of trending music. All you have to do is tap the three-dot button below a Vine, which brings up the “Make an audio remix” option. The selected audio track will then pre-load in the app’s camera section, ready for you to upload your own take on it. All remixes will link back to their source to ensure the original creators receive their due credit.
This latter feature also ties into the new Discovery tool, which lets you see a feed full of audio-centric remixes of a selected video – ensuring you know which video loops are inspiring others. In order to access this feature, simply tap the music note under the video (as you would to discover its audio source) and then tap the arrow pointing to the right. Aside from these new audio feeds, users will also be able to search song metadata via the Vine Explore tab. Consequently, you can now search for Vines that use a specific audio clip as their backing track.
The audio remix tool is currently only available on iOS, but the discovery tools are available to Android and iOS users.
Vine’s blog post on the updates (entitled “Remix, Collaborate, and Listen,” a pun that alludes to the infamous Vanilla Ice hit “Ice, Ice Baby,” which illegally sampled the Queen and David Bowie duet “Under Pressure” decades ago) indicates that the tools are aimed at new users. The concern of late for the video-looping app has been attracting new creators. An increasing number of Vine users have been relegated to mere onlookers as the app’s top creators have claimed a monopoly over loops. The recently launched Music on Vine initiative is attempting to liberating audio to target the masses.
