Producers what are you willing to barter for your product?

oh nah. Like i said with artists that have a buzz.
trading for the opportunity to mix somebodies vocals wouldnt make sense because im sure most rappers would give you a shot at a free mix anyway.


but for an artist with a name (Nipsey Hussle, Freddie Gibbz, Kendrick Lamar type) getting a verse from them for this project im putting together (sort of a DJ Khaled type album with features from rappers) is worth trading them some beats
that or possibly selling the verse later on
i can make money off the verse or put the verse out as a leak from my tape to increase interest/clientele
so its all going towards building


hopefully i cleared that up.

Things are much clearer now, thanks for the explanation.

---------- Post added 06-11-2012 at 12:03 AM ---------- Previous post was 06-10-2012 at 11:43 PM ----------

how does that even make any sense, though?

just because you're BROKE doesn't mean you ain't HOT -

and just because you got money don't mean you're gonna move units -

I'm not speaking in definite, end all be all, terms. I used the word "less then likely" for a reason. Common sense will tell you that it cost money to make it in any business. For example, a producer may release his tracks at $10 per lease. His or her beats are hot and original and you, as the artist, want to use some of them in a mixtape release. Your only problem is having no money. Hot or not, because of the lack of money, the odds of releasing a successful mixtape are against you. Success requires the collective accomplishments of your goals, and most goals worth having cost money.

This isn't about the most or least amount of money. I'm speaking about money in general. Even if you trade, let's say an Akai EIE PRO, for studio time; obviously, a piece of gear with that kind of value is worth money. However if your trading for a dream then you should get your head out of the clouds.
 
well success & talent are two different things.
generally speaking if a rapper cannot afford to buy beats he probably also cannot afford to promote his music as flyers, commercials/advertisements & other ways of promotion would also cost him money.
the most talented artists in the world, despite all of his talent.. will not be successful if his music goes unheard.

so it's not JUST about MUSIC??? it's not JUST about TALENT???

---------- Post added at 02:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 AM ----------

Hot or not, because of the lack of money, the odds of releasing a successful mixtape are against you.

HOW MUCH MONEY is needed to release a successful mixtape?

---------- Post added at 02:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 AM ----------

free wont get me to that next level

so this is more about money than it is discovering and / or developing a broke, but talented (or GIFTED) artist???
 
so it's not JUST about MUSIC??? it's not JUST about TALENT???


nope. its not.
well being successful on a national, regional or even local scale is not just about music/talent
you can be good at what you do, and not let anybody know about it..and that doesnt cost any money at all.
people can see you at birthday parties or family reunions and be like "oh hey thats ron's son the rapper. rap for us! give us a cool rap about this potato salad your aunt made!"

but if youre planning on letting hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people know about your music for whatever purpose. be it to brag, or to touch peoples hearts through song...

you will eventually have to spend money
recording/mixing/mastering/promotion/artwork/airfare/gas/clothing with your rap name on it/email blasts/posters/wrapping up a van with your logo



it all costs money.
 
@F_or_Deaf yes and no. As one of the posters stated he would trade for gear thats exactly what I would do. Say an artist wants two of your tracks totalling $500. He can't afford to pay that flat rate so I would offer the barter policy. How about you buy this new interface or mic or whatever for me in exchange for these two of your tracks. this works out great because most companies that sell gear do it on a installment plan. So the artist gets a bill to pay after 30 or so days of say a min of $50 to pay it back.

I personally have some of my own artists I develop and whatnot but money IS a factor. How can you expect a producer/beatmaker/engineer to upgrade and buy new gear? Buy books to learn or take classes. How can they travel to conferences and meet bigger people or people just like them if they work for free and have no funds? How can they afford to register their copyright everytime they make 10beats or pay lawyers to draft up contracts? I love findining new talent and working with them, delevoping them because NO ONE else does it as much these days. But it does take a toll. How can I afford to fly to a meeting with Atlantic to meet some of their A&R's if I can't afford it?

Bartering is great because it gives you more time. Instead of going to the store and spending all that time browsing all you have to do is give the specs to the artist. Or maybe an iPad, those are equally expensive or some promotion or graphic design. Its whatever you want. I figure why not? When you say cash its direct, so immediately many will shy away but if you say "im willing to negotiate or barter" it changes their view. Even if the thing your asking for is the SAME amount of value as the cash, they won't see it as that. It's indirect, its psycological.
 
For me it is all about the cash......frontend, backend or residual...period. I don't want gear, mixtapes, graphic work, singers or anything like that...but that is just me. I want cash or future cash, so if the client can't pay for a beat or a mix with cash then we set up something that is recurring or a backend deal that I can make at least 3 times the original price of what they wanted.

So for example; I had a beat that I wanted to sell on a lease for $35 dollars. The client did not have the 35 but wanted the beat. So I said okay I need you to send out a twitter to your 3500 followers about an ebook I have for sale. The book and DVD sell for 35 dollars also. After he sent it out...I would give him the beat for free. In about a week there is a second tweet to the same followers that go out. So in this way I have two chances to make a sale from his followers. See on average 2% of folks buy from an email or a link send. 2 percent of 3500 is 70 (that is two book sales) and then hopefully I pick up one more buyer (which I did) for a total of three sales. So instead of selling one beat for 35, I made 105 off another product on the backend and got my three times the price of the beat I was looking for.

My view is that I can buy gear, clothes, beats whatever for money...so I always go for the money in a barter because I can't buy cash, but I can buy everything else with cash!
 
HOW MUCH MONEY is needed to release a successful mixtape?

Money isn't the only determination of success. Time, preparation, resources and support are also factors. However, as far as money is concerned, a persons financial status earns them specific opportunities which are more likely to be successful than someone with no money. So, in an attempt to answer your question, put your money where your heart is. That's the only way you'll completely know how much money it takes to achieve a successful release.

Generally speaking though, most people invest anywhere between $1000 - $10000. Those who are considered to be on higher levels spend substantially more.
 
@Himbeats I like your logic and that sounds like a great plan for you. I've done that from time to time as well to get people to essentially promo for me. Gaining me more traffic to my site.

I think its just a give or take thing. Artists are cheap end, point, conclusion. To be honest if a cat can't afford a $35 lease then they shouldn't consider this as a career. $35 is how much copyright registration is last time i checked.

I'd barter for gear mostly though. But all of this is in the air honestly because most artists dont even get to that level of negotiation. You send a sample of your work, they say they want to use that track, you give them your prices. They either A dont respond or B say they don't pay for beats...No art of negotiation whatsoever.
 
I'll take some used equipment. Maybe some free studio time if it's high end. Take me on tour with you. If i'm on tour, I can network. It all depends on what the offer is.
 
out of all those things, what's the MOST expensive?

prices vary. i couldnt give you an accurate answer.
one of those services online/in my area may differ from people you may find doing similar jobs.
however, airfare is usually most expensive. that and the price of gas lol. touring aint cheap.
 
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say PROMOTION is the most expensive out of all the things that you listed.

Actually, I've found that promo is the most time consuming. Currently, production gear is the most expensive for me. However, once I have the gear I seek, travel will become the most expensive; and so on and so forth. Cost is only expensive or cheap based on your goals and needs.
 
@deranged so you work for free? How do you do that? You kind of wait until someone says "I want to work with you?"

I'd barter for gear though. Vintage analog outboard gear and maybe some external hard drives. Anything that I may "need" that I can make them upgrade my studio in a sense. lol Of course cold $ holds more weight but it just depends.
 
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