Selling your Beats

[maverick]

I was wondering how many here from IllMuzik have sold their beats, and if so how much did you get and how did the transaction go ?

Peace

 

[bigdmakintrax]

I just sold 14 tracks yesterday to 2 artists....I usually have the ones that appear to be trustworthy come and do personal biz otherwise I just go to a showcase or open mic with my track and promote....and I also deal with artists that are serious I do watch who I deal with because remember this is a business and sometimes things can go sour or someone might get pissed off at you for no apparent reason only because of how they misunderstood the use of the track you gave them....onto the next part.....get all of your paperwork straight......in the beginning I used to just be dealing with people on word of mouth contracts.....that is a no no.......that is your work and there are legal loopholes involved with someone stealing ya shidd.....or doing things with it that you don't want.....i retain as much control over my tracks as possible when i lease them.....usually never give exclusive use or sell a track that gives up my copyright and control.......but with well written contracts and agreement and upfront understanding it's hard to go wrong....when you sell or lease tracks by word of mouth like about 85-90% of artists like to deal you are setting yourself up to lose out........always have some part of your contract that allows you to negotiate if the artist uses the track on an album with other producers....(if it blew).....then you can get your points and splits straight......and also use that clause to reinforce your entitlements to any future royalties if you wish to do that (I would definitely keep my share).....

Imma use this example to help out those that think that this is a game or something......suppose you sold or gave an artist a track to use and 1 you didn't have at least the copyright......and that artist decides to record the track at another producers facility.....and say that artist really needs tracks and he in the process of recording the song for the artist decides to go ahead and keep the instrumental he had to copy onto his computer and then uses it or worse copyrights it before you...
BAAAAAD news.....so just run your biz like a biz not a hobby or charity....you can get burnt.....

 

[DJ Hoppa]

i sell em hella cheap....anywhere from 5-50 bux....after i drop my solo tho, prices will rise

 

[MIKELABZ]

same here... i dont realease tracks without some type of vocals on them to prevent slicing and duplications of the instrumental... the vocals are my stand in copyright for now... and when i do copyright my shyt the price automatically goes up the price of the copyright permission form cost.

L-Rock

 

[DJ B-Stee]

i got one cat thats my boy and im producing a lot of his tracks for free...he's definitely got potential tho...so when he drops his album and everything, my name will start to get out.

 

[Craig Gantt]

Yeah I seen some real shady shit in the industry. I wonder if there are alot of mc's like me see my whole thing is if I make it u make it bottom line so if I put out an album that went gold or somethin like that and you helped with it then I wouldnt feel right if I didnt help your situation also ya feel me?

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Yeah that's true Goldy, it's a gamble everytime though because the number one thing is also being able to have a good working relationship with your artist or producer....if you can do that and you got a team type of situation that's unique, it's something you can do because every producer should possibly have a favorite artist and vis versa.....but a lot of cats get tracks and you might never see them again for whatever reason so you have to have some record of where and who you might have leased or sold your work to because you still have a legal and financial interest in where your music might end up....

 

[maverick]

Aiight, thanks everybody !

 

[Cleverwon]

As far as copyrights go, as soon as your material is in tangible (physical) form it is by law copyrighted. If you want to know every possible angle of the music biz as far as the law goes, get this book by Donald Passman called All You Need To Know About The Music Business. Get ya mind right!!! Thank me later.

 

[Medicine Man]

I would start by just hooking up tight local emcee's with free beats for a while to get your name out, thats what I did for a couple of years. At some point you should be able to tell that its time to start charging, usually because cats will just expect it when they hear your beats, if they are really tight. When I started making beats I just tryed to get as many emcee's on my shit for their albums as possible, but at some point people started to ask how much I charge and stuff, so I would just say a price, and if it was to high I would bargin the price down. Now days I sell beats from 50 to 500+ depending on the beat and how much the artist can spend. And I still hook up certain emcees with free beats if their really tight, because if fans hear it, they'll also hear my beat.

 

[Tha1AndOnlyDJT]

I heard someone in cinci was selling beats for $200, thats funny.

 

[MIKELABZ]

aint that hi-tek... he's tite

L-Rock

 

[djswivel]

I've sold a couple beats. I picked up $400 US for my last 2......on my soundlcick site the beats are Heaven 2 Hell, and Murda Muzik. I got my contracts right.....I authorized the use of the beat, but the artist can never re-sell the beat at a later date

 

[djswivel]

everyhting went smoothly in that transaction....

 

[Haterade]

I sell beats from time to time, anywhere from $200 to $500- it just depends on what I feel the beat is worth... but out here in Cali, fools be trying to get by on the $25 a beat shit- that's not even worth me turning on my sampler for that...

 

[Chedda]

what kind of standard do you lot think your beats have to be before you feel you can start askin for money?

i'm personally also feelin to start chargin people that i give my beats to in the near future, but i don't really understand what level your production should be at before you could/should?

 

[CooGi_dice]

i sell about 1/3 to 40% of the tracks i make but the magority i hold on to for use with my artists, my self or to save to one day send out to record companys.

if im completely producing a hip-hop song the fee is 200$-300$ (depending on the song) for the track and a 150$ producer fee, if im doing multiple songs with the same artist i will work something out, especily if they bring me quality buisness.
if they only want the track il give it to them for 250$ minimum, more $ depending on the song. but i wind up charging them agian for the mulit track, that is work.

there are additional fees for writing hooks and what not, and if a client records at my studio, ect... but all this is discused before hand so there are no miss understandings.


@chedda - i think your tracks should be at atleast a semi pro level before you begin charging, listin to your joints can you SERIOUSLY imagine them with your ideas on the radio. seek the opinions of others, prefribly other producers and enginers, and at best people in the industry, but dont ask yes men, ask someone whos real.
remeber not evryone is gonna give you an honest opinion and if you ask some one whos making corny ass music there probobly gonna tell u its hot even if its not just becouse there at such a low level them selfs.

EDIT-
ps. i wont sell my tracks to just anyone first i find out where there head is at then i have to feal that you have some tallent and drive, if i feal that they have no relistic chance at becoming singed or doing anything in the industry i tell them to keep there money, i aint doing this to gass anyone or rob anyone.

 

[Chedda]

that's what i thought, just to show them around to as many peeps with a good hip hop knowledge as possible, try get a general opinion.
thanks man.

 

[K.O.]

I have a question for everyone who can provide feedback on this topic. I am negotiating with an artist who is putting out his solo album. He has 12 tracks that are produced by a mainstream producer and he needs 4 more tracks from an independant producer. In this situation there could be 2 scenereos.

1. The album is a legit album and will be sold in stores and distributed in a way that the sales can be tracked.

or

2. The album will be a street(bootleg) album where i wont be able to track sales.

For each of these scenereos im sure theres a different way to go about selling him my beats. Im sure either way there will be a contract involved however i dont know much about how to make one to fit what i need. I am not selling him my beats exclusively. I do want credit for my work either way and i dont want him to get it and resell it or have other people other than himself record on it......so who can help me out and give me a solution i can go by for each scenereo as far as how a contract should go and what kind i need??? Help Is appreciated.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

K.O. you definitely need to consider the scenarios that could arise the most important 1 is if this album blows you should have some contract clause in the original lease to those cats, that will keep you legally able to negotiate album points to be split between all of the producers, because you are entitled to points and knowing the splits you are due is also important, say your tracks made a platinum album but you didn't do any negotiations or contracts for your share of the sales you might be caught short and might not be able to get anything.....this is a good way to break into the big leagues, because being in the company of some known or already established platinum producers on an album is a nice way to get exposure and at the same time Make some good money for your efforts.......I attended a conference in NY about 2 years ago with ASCAP, BMI and Sesac and they went over the whole process from the time you produce your track and the various scenarios that can happen.....since you are in Queens there is an upcoming conference in July and down here in MD in about 2 weeks, then in July there is another bigger one down near 42nd Street in NYC I can give you details if you are interested, the one here in a few weeks is going to be more geared to stepping up your game and also hopefully in attendance a special guest, The Alchemist and Kanye West were two of the guests at the last one and they also debuted their newest artists, I suggest you use the advice on Illmuzik but at the same time educate yourself and also look for workshops and conferences that are legitimately sponsored by people like ASCAP or another publisher that will have people that are experts and will give you good advice.....a few of the conference also have attended 1 or 2 entertainment lawyers present to answer questions too......Good Luck