H&R
DJ Nice // Crack City
ill o.g.
Fast Cash & Credit Or Wait For The Majors?
A new discussion I am seeing between producers and also on the net lately is whether or not a producer on the come up should be selling their beats or saving them for the majors? "Should I sell my beat to an unknown artist who has the cash to pay for it? Or should I hold onto it because it's a crazy beat and sell it to a major when I break into the game?" There are some out there that just want that quick cash and then there's some that want to save their heat because they feel it is HIT POTENTIAL if the right major artist was to get on it.
One way around this is to lease the beat (giving the artist the non-exclusive right to use the beat for 1 of his/her projects) so that way you maintain all the rights to the beat an can still sell it exclusively later on if anyone with a big name comes knocking for it. Also please make note that if you are selling beats with no contracts involved, technically (of course morals come into play here and the type of person you are) you can re-sell the beat to anyone because a contract is the only thing that can legally stop you from selling the beat again. I for one have sold plenty of beats without using a contract and normally I wouldn't sell the beat again but to be honest if a major artist who is all over MTV and etc. wanted that beat I would not pass that up. I would be ridiculous to pass that chance up (call me a sell out, but that is an opportunity that can lead to many more business dealings down the line based off of one placement and it'd be foolish to pass on it even though it may seem wrong to sell it again). In all it is business and everyone including the artists need to know the business side to the game. Now if you sold a beat exclusively (with a contract) and someone with a nice chunk of change comes knocking, you can always purchase the rights to the beat back and then re-sell it, which does happen.
Now for those still saying they are going to hold all their heat for the majors... If you aren't in the door to the majors yet chances are if/when you get there those beats that you thought were so hot are most likely not going to be so hot anymore because your skills will have increased and you will be making better beats than before. Let alone the majors most likely will not be even interested in those same beats as the times change. Don't get caught up and fall in love with to many of your beats because chances are they will never see the light of day on any projects that way. In my opinion I say part with those beats, take the money and the exposure, and keep making music. Of course you can always keep in mind what I stated earlier about "leasing" which I personally think is the best way to do it.
To add a twist to all of this, what about working with an artist for free for exposure, experience, and production credit with no cash involved? I personally think it's good to find some artists and work/build with them to create good music. To shed some background info about myself I landed a track with Tom Gist of the Diplomats (Diplomat Records) by offering to collab with him for free. I am a fan of his music and got in contact with him and let him hear my music. He chose a beat he liked and he rocked to it and sent the completed track over to me when he was done with it. That track in turned ended up landing on a lot of mixtapes with me being credited as the producer which in turn was good exposure/promotion for myself and my team. Exposure can be priceless... Could I have sold the beat for a nice chunk of change to him? Who knows? I honestly was just hoping he was interested in one of my beats and wasn't paying any mind to money thoughts. If I tried to charge him as an unknown producer he could have easily declined and lost interest. That is also one thing you have to weigh. Can working with such and such artist help me in the long run? I wouldn't just toss free beats at any artist that comes along unless their name holds weight and would be a good look as a production credit under my belt or I was really feeling that artist's work, and wanted to collab with them and do a track. Speaking of that, I just wrapped up a project titled "Campaign Trail" with my artist Bob Kennedy in which my team produced 9 tracks out of 18, and I executive produced the project all for free because I really believe in him and we have developed a friendship as well as a business relationship, so we work well together and if he succeeds I succeed and vice versa (Big shout to Bob!)
All in all you have to be smart and not let your love for your music or "Major" dreams get in the way what can help/be good for you now. That doesn't mean be money hungry and try to make that fast buck. If you know how to handle your business properly you can sell a few of those beats with hit potential and still keep your rights and be able to pitch them and hopefully sell them to a major when you get in the game.
A new discussion I am seeing between producers and also on the net lately is whether or not a producer on the come up should be selling their beats or saving them for the majors? "Should I sell my beat to an unknown artist who has the cash to pay for it? Or should I hold onto it because it's a crazy beat and sell it to a major when I break into the game?" There are some out there that just want that quick cash and then there's some that want to save their heat because they feel it is HIT POTENTIAL if the right major artist was to get on it.
One way around this is to lease the beat (giving the artist the non-exclusive right to use the beat for 1 of his/her projects) so that way you maintain all the rights to the beat an can still sell it exclusively later on if anyone with a big name comes knocking for it. Also please make note that if you are selling beats with no contracts involved, technically (of course morals come into play here and the type of person you are) you can re-sell the beat to anyone because a contract is the only thing that can legally stop you from selling the beat again. I for one have sold plenty of beats without using a contract and normally I wouldn't sell the beat again but to be honest if a major artist who is all over MTV and etc. wanted that beat I would not pass that up. I would be ridiculous to pass that chance up (call me a sell out, but that is an opportunity that can lead to many more business dealings down the line based off of one placement and it'd be foolish to pass on it even though it may seem wrong to sell it again). In all it is business and everyone including the artists need to know the business side to the game. Now if you sold a beat exclusively (with a contract) and someone with a nice chunk of change comes knocking, you can always purchase the rights to the beat back and then re-sell it, which does happen.
Now for those still saying they are going to hold all their heat for the majors... If you aren't in the door to the majors yet chances are if/when you get there those beats that you thought were so hot are most likely not going to be so hot anymore because your skills will have increased and you will be making better beats than before. Let alone the majors most likely will not be even interested in those same beats as the times change. Don't get caught up and fall in love with to many of your beats because chances are they will never see the light of day on any projects that way. In my opinion I say part with those beats, take the money and the exposure, and keep making music. Of course you can always keep in mind what I stated earlier about "leasing" which I personally think is the best way to do it.
To add a twist to all of this, what about working with an artist for free for exposure, experience, and production credit with no cash involved? I personally think it's good to find some artists and work/build with them to create good music. To shed some background info about myself I landed a track with Tom Gist of the Diplomats (Diplomat Records) by offering to collab with him for free. I am a fan of his music and got in contact with him and let him hear my music. He chose a beat he liked and he rocked to it and sent the completed track over to me when he was done with it. That track in turned ended up landing on a lot of mixtapes with me being credited as the producer which in turn was good exposure/promotion for myself and my team. Exposure can be priceless... Could I have sold the beat for a nice chunk of change to him? Who knows? I honestly was just hoping he was interested in one of my beats and wasn't paying any mind to money thoughts. If I tried to charge him as an unknown producer he could have easily declined and lost interest. That is also one thing you have to weigh. Can working with such and such artist help me in the long run? I wouldn't just toss free beats at any artist that comes along unless their name holds weight and would be a good look as a production credit under my belt or I was really feeling that artist's work, and wanted to collab with them and do a track. Speaking of that, I just wrapped up a project titled "Campaign Trail" with my artist Bob Kennedy in which my team produced 9 tracks out of 18, and I executive produced the project all for free because I really believe in him and we have developed a friendship as well as a business relationship, so we work well together and if he succeeds I succeed and vice versa (Big shout to Bob!)
All in all you have to be smart and not let your love for your music or "Major" dreams get in the way what can help/be good for you now. That doesn't mean be money hungry and try to make that fast buck. If you know how to handle your business properly you can sell a few of those beats with hit potential and still keep your rights and be able to pitch them and hopefully sell them to a major when you get in the game.
