WAVS' Founder and CEO on Building a Sound Resource for Creators - An Interview with Dan Mizrahi

Regardless of the kind of music you produce, the tools you use, or your skill level, samples are a pivotal component of modern music composition. Dan Mizrahi, the founder and CEO of WAVS, is well aware of this. Since launching WAVS in 2021, Dan and the rest of the team have committed to changing the way users search for, browse, and earn money for samples.

In recent years, the arrival of sample subscription services has made it possible to browse near-endless catalogues of audio samples. But WAVS has set out to make it even easier and more inspiring than ever, all while making it fairer for creators, too. We’re lucky enough to sit down with Dan for an exclusive interview, in which we discuss WAVS’ conception, putting creators first, the company’s refreshing approach to sample royalties, and much more.

Please could you introduce yourself and what you do?

I'm Dan. I’m the founder and CEO of WAVS, which is a subscription-based sample marketplace. I also produce music under the alias Mantra.

How did you get started in music production, and at what point did music start to become a viable career option?

Unfortunately, I never learned to play an instrument. I like to say that the mouse is my instrument, and I guess that goes for a lot of producers these days. I started making and licensing beats around 2010, which I initially sold to artists online.

Eventually, I started producing for major artists like Rihanna, Future, and Dua Lipa. I signed a deal with Warner Chapel a couple of years ago, so I'm still very much involved and working in that world. As well as my production work, I make sample packs. In 2018, my friend, MDL, and I uploaded a sample pack to Splice. This was my first real exposure to the sample subscription industry, and was the beginning of my journey to launching WAVS.

What inspired you to create a sound resource like WAVS?

I felt like there was a gap in the sample-subscription space. I thought it was crazy that there weren't any platforms out there that allowed sample creators to retain credit and royalties for their craft. At that time, I was also getting bombarded with emails from loop makers trying to get their loops used in tracks. I’m talking 10 or 20 emails a day from all different loop makers. I remember thinking “this is crazy!”, it was kind of the catalyst for WAVS.

Cloud storage solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive aren’t the most efficient way to browse and sort samples. There’s no filtering or metadata or anything. It was clear that loop makers needed a hub, a place where producers can filter through samples efficiently, and also share credit and handle royalty splits. The vision was always to empower sample makers and creators, and that’s still very much WAVS’ focus now. To this day, every decision we make has to empower the creator.

WAVS is a relatively new name in the sample subscription market. What unique functions and features does WAVS offer creators that they perhaps wouldn’t find at other sample subscription services?

There are a lot of cool things we're working on to further empower creators. On the user-facing side, we just launched the WAVS VST plugin that allows users to browse, preview, and download our samples within their DAW. The plugin offers full DAW integration and also features an AI Similar Sample Finder. This means users can drag and drop any audio file from the DAW’s timeline or browser, then we populate similar-sounding samples that match the vibe, texture, and sonic character.

We actually use zplane’s ELASTIQUE PRO algorithm to handle real-time pitch shifting in the plugin, and we’ve been super happy with that. It allows users to audition key and tempo-synced samples within the context of their project, right in their DAW. I should mention that I already used and loved the zplane ELASTIQUE PITCH plugin before we decided to use the same technology in the WAVS plugin. I’m just blown away by how fast it is, and how you can apply pitch-shifting with no reduction in quality. I don’t know how you do it, but it’s incredible.

Would it be fair to say that the type and quality of samples found on WAVS differ from some of the alternatives out there?

Definitely. I like to think of WAVS as a great place to find song starters. There are a lot of multi-layered samples, which are also available as individual stems. This means you can browse samples and either use the entire thing, or if you only want one instrument from that sample, you can just download the stem. We offer stems for 90% of our samples.

Having said that, I know a lot of our users like to use the entire sample as it comes. Maybe that’s controversial to some people, but I feel that our unique royalty model makes it more of a collaboration between producer and sample-maker.

Would you mind talking us through WAVS’ innovative approach to sample royalties?

Almost half of the samples on WAVS are completely royalty-free. For other samples, the royalty only kicks in if a song gets picked up by a major record label or if it surpasses one million streams. But if neither of those things happens, the sample is essentially royalty-free. This represents a win-win scenario, as producers can stay creative without worrying about complicated sample clearance processes.

Meanwhile, sample creators get fairly compensated when one of our users’ tracks blows up. In those instances, we’ve found that producers are very happy to share their royalties with the creator of the original sample. This has helped us attract the best samples from the best sample creators in the world. As a result, when you browse WAVS, the level of quality is generally higher than you might find on fully royalty-free platforms.

How else do you ensure you’re offering producers the best original samples?

Before each pack is published, our team at WAVS reviews the metadata to check that the key, tempo, keywords, and genre are accurate. We also check for copyrighted material, and on the rare occasion that we believe something is copyrighted, we’ll reach out to the sample creator to request evidence that it’s original material. There’s also a Report Sample button in case someone suspects something that might be copyrighted. It happens very rarely, but it’s something we take really seriously, so it’s important to us to ensure there are appropriate mechanisms in place.

As well as making things fairer for creators, it’s clear that WAVS are dedicated to making things quicker and easier too. What other features are designed with creators in mind?

We recently introduced a ‘Mood’ filter, which is really popular with our users as it allows them to hone in on the specific vibe they’re looking for. If you’re not fixed on a tempo, key or genre but are thinking more in terms of mood, you can browse samples in those terms. For example, dark, weird or mysterious.

We also have a Selections feature, which includes curated collections of well-known artists, subgenres and unique sounds and textures. If you’re a type-beat maker, for example, and you want to make a beat in the style of Kanye West or The Weeknd, there are curated selections for that. Curation is a big part of WAVS, and we have a team dedicated to putting together inspiring Selections that speed up the creative process for our users.

Thank you to Dan for taking the time to speak with us about WAVS. If you’re looking for a sound resource where you can find an affordable license for commercial use, head to WAVS to sign up for a free trial now.