This will be a long ass post, but in the interest of sharing knowledge....
I can't speak for every website but I do believe you lumped in PMP Worldwide without actually checking the site out, or maybe you've never had an account with them...
1. It’s Not Professional
If I’m claiming to be a professional in my craft, beat making for example, sending someone to a cheap generic profile that has no personality and is cluttered with useless information is an amateur move. Generic web profiles make it easy to be ignored in the competitive market of selling beats.
I dont believe anything about my PMP profile is cheap or generic. I've honestly never heard anyone say PMP looks cheap. When people inquire about my production and I send them to the page to hear what I have up... they never have a problem getting right to the music because all the bios, links, are tucked away to focus directly on my tracks.
2. Promoting Competition & Losing Sales
One of the biggest things you should be concerned about is that when you promote your profile, you are also promoting RocBattles (or Soundclick ), and the thousands of other music producers on there. When I land on your profile, before I even scroll down to your beats, I see links to check out most popular music producers and the most popular beats, and I already want to leave your profile because I want to check out what is hot right now. There are music producers on there that will have better beats, and better prices, and you are losing sales because you are promoting them.
Again on my PMP Profile.. (you can check this for yourself, not promoting my page) PMP Worldwide - The Best Opportunities for Producers and Songwriters
There are no direct links to any "popular" producers. There are no ads at all really. Like I said it gets right to MY music.
Secondly, I stand by my production and the value of it. If you're afraid of "better beats" then why even have music up in the first place? That really sounded like a scare tactic to get people not to use these sites.
3. Competitive Pricing
How do you value your hard work? It doesn’t matter. Because when there are beats being sold for $10.00 (on average) you will have to keep your prices competitive to try to snag the sales. And let’s be clear: when I say $10 beats, you may think “Those are some crappy beats.” But no, there are some really professional sounding beats on the market for really cheap. We are in the digital age of FL Studio and Reason, where teenagers living at home can pump out beats all day, and $10 a beat suits them just fine because that add up for shoe money. When your music is surrounded by under-valued beats, you will have to be accommodating to survive.
Again, the wording here really sounds like a scare tactic.. Maybe I'm reading it in the wrong context but it sounds like "Oh no, the teenagers who are living at home have cheaper beats than I do! And wait...they're professional sounding!" If this is the case, then why even be bothered having music up? The teenagers who are living at home are just going to come by and do your job better than you, for cheaper.
4. Wrong Audience
A site like RocBattles promotes itself to music producers. So most of the traffic is producers and rappers. So if you are getting a lot audio plays on your profile, and wondering why no sales, it is likely because you are being listened to by other producers.
Let’s think about the type of visitor you want to visit your profile, and the type of visitor you don’t want. I’m sure the people that do buy beats from RocBattles go there for the wide selection, and cheap prices. Do you want to be a part of that wide selection and cheap prices, or do you want to meet a “serious” music artist with a real album budget? They
probably aren’t searching those sites because
they have tons of producers coming to them directly. To be honest, I don’t know if big name artists are searching on those sites… I suppose it is possible. I just want you to think about the group you are marketing yourself with. Are you in the group that spends 2 hours on a beat and then sells it for $10, valuing your time at $5 an hour, and can you make a living off that?
For the first point, RocBattle is a place for producers to battle their tracks agains other producers..they hold tournaments and offer prizes.. It's OBVIOUSLY marketed towards producers in the same way a RapBattle website would be marketed towards Rappers who want to battle. Says so right in the name.
The second part I bolded because these are assumptions.. how do you know there arent "serious" artists with "real budgets" (define real? hell, define fake) then theres the part about artists having tons of producers coming to them directly.. are we talking about artists who want to spend a good amount on production (more than the teenagers who live at home are charging) ... or just celebrities now? If we're talking about the former.. how do you know this? lol If we're talking about the latter, you just stated you don't know if there are artists going through tracks on these sites....you literally dont. Let's not forget their a&rs, management, weed carriers, the artists they've signed who may be more internet savvy etc..
If you know anything about producing for known artists.. the checks don't come in everyday, sometimes it could be years before the project is released or even longer before you get paid... Can you make a living off that?
Also coming back to my other point.. If the teenagers who live at home are making beats faster, cheaper, and theyre actually professional sounding AND all the celebrities already have tons of producers lined up to work with them.. WHY should I even put my music out? I should just quit now!
5. No Connection to Your Customer
You shouldn’t look at selling beats, as just selling a beat. You should look at it as building relationships. Here’s why:
When someone buys your beat and makes a crappy song, that doesn’t help you look good. So one-off sales to artist you don’t know is not always good. Most popular music producers won’t just sell their beats to anyone, because the final product will have both the producer and the artist’s name on it. Having your name associated with crappy songs will not help you in this industry.
By building a relationship you can sell multiple beats to the same customer. Businesses call this customer retention. The focus is on keeping customers happy so that they keep them coming back and paying for your services. It’s difficult to encourage someone to keep working with you when they buy your beat from a generic website that lacks personality.
This point is rather confusing.. Having one crappy song with an artist is a bad look..so I should have tons of tracks with the crappy song making artist. Also this is a difficult feat to pull off if my website is generic and lacks personality?.............???
All of these websites have options to send a message to the producer, to keep the contact going. Obviously it benefits the producer to make repeat sales.
Most popular music producers won't just sell their beats to anyone... Are you sure about that? Have you asked "most" of them?
How many is "most"? Whenever I check a popular producer's twitter theyre usually shelling out deals for indies, giving out their email for such a transaction. I've literally never seen a "popular" producer retweet/respond to a potential customer and deny them the right to purchase/work with them based soley on the customer's music...
Unless we're talking about some one, say on Kanye West's level. We've all seen how specific he gets into exactly how his music is presented.. Are we comparing ourselves to Kanye West?
6. No Personal Branding. No Voice.
The RocBattle profile pages have a profile picture, and a thumbnail image above it. Other than that, every profile looks the same. The focus isn’t on you. You are secondary to the advertising and other clutter on a page.
People would happily pay for a beat by Timbaland before they even heard it, because he has created a personal brand, and established a known track record of making quality music. These profiles don’t allow you to establish your brand or show off your previous work. You need to make people excited to work with you and it takes more than a profile photo for people to connect with you.
First let me say here, your knowledge of well-known producer's business dealings is astounding. (I had no idea)
Why can't you show off your previous work on RocBattle, SoundClick or PMP? I'm currently showcasing 3 or maybe more of my most recent placements on my PMP profile and PMP actually promotes this type of behavior..In that case I believe you are just misinformed.
But I do agree, nothing beats the personal face to face communication and the bonding that occurs when having a runner bring some Wendy's into the studio so you and the artist can laugh about the high calories packed in your seasoned fries while dipping one into a milkshake and appreciate the artist's autotuned hook that was just laid over your beat.
But what makes you think you can't use an online profile to attract a customer who may hear the music, then wish to set up such an experience? I don't think any of these places.. Soundclick, RocBattle, PMP are designed to keep producers away from meeting people in real life. The music itself should be what gets people excited to work with you. Everything will build from there.
7. Website Clutter
These sites don’t offer the best user experience. They are cluttered with ads, links to your competitors, and tons of other features that take the visitors eye off you and your music. If you are paying for a service, the focus should be on you and your music to make your shine and stand out.
That’s it!
I agree, if I'm paying for an account I should NOT see ads for other producer's beats directly above, below, slightly to the left or anywhere near my own... and the best part is, I don't. Nothing take the listeners mind away from my music, the sole focus of my profile is MY MUSIC. Again, see for yourself PMP Worldwide - The Best Opportunities for Producers and Songwriters
