"Free, on-demand, and publicly available audio clips
and samples encourage experimentation and creation, and makes for better audio
within any kind of project," says Soundsnap creator Tasos Frantzolas.
The site launched with 30,000 free sounds, ranging from high
quality music loops and samples to sound effects that include animals,
industrial, nature, sports, human and science fiction.
Visitors can search for sounds by keyword, category,
user/creator, or tags, which are user-generated keywords used to place sounds
into categories. Soundsnap allows only original samples and sounds, that have
been recorded or created by contributors that have accepted Soundsnap's license
agreement, to be shared. This helps ensure that previously copyrighted material
is not downloaded, distributed and used illegally. Contributors to Soundsnap
retain all ownership rights to submissions while granting SoundSnap a
worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable sublicense.