Question about selling rights to a beat?

T-Normous Beats

New member
Hello everyone, I have someone who is interested in purchasing one of my beats. However, I am not sure the proper legal actions that should be taken. Is there some way I can sell exclusive rights to the beat, but if it ever becomes some huge hit I could somehow hold part of the ownership of it? I am not too familiar with the legal side of the music industry. Also, how can a contract/receipt be properly given/received over the internet? Lastly, about how much are beats going for these days? I'd prefer to not be taken advantage of...

Thanks guys!

T-Normous Beats
 
Hello everyone, I have someone who is interested in purchasing one of my beats. However, I am not sure the proper legal actions that should be taken. Is there some way I can sell exclusive rights to the beat, but if it ever becomes some huge hit I could somehow hold part of the ownership of it? I am not too familiar with the legal side of the music industry. Also, how can a contract/receipt be properly given/received over the internet? Lastly, about how much are beats going for these days? I'd prefer to not be taken advantage of...

Thanks guys!

T-Normous Beats

How much do beats go for

$20 $40 $300 $5,000 etc. Really depends on the client, their budget and what you're willing to come down to. It's your music, your business. Make a decision.

how can a contract/receipt be properly given/received over the internet?

You can do this with an invoice or within your contract. I'm assuming your using paypal to accept payments, they have receipt systems there (free)

can I sell exclusive rights but still own part of the song

Yes, you can. Exclusive rights is vague. You need to clarify what the exclusivity is bond to. Does this mean they have exclusive USE or outright own the beat. This is something you have to figure out. Sit with a lawyer and knock out your terms.
 
Hello everyone, I have someone who is interested in purchasing one of my beats. However, I am not sure the proper legal actions that should be taken. Is there some way I can sell exclusive rights to the beat, but if it ever becomes some huge hit I could somehow hold part of the ownership of it? I am not too familiar with the legal side of the music industry. Also, how can a contract/receipt be properly given/received over the internet? Lastly, about how much are beats going for these days? I'd prefer to not be taken advantage of...

Thanks guys!

T-Normous Beats

If your looking for a real answer, then here is what you do.

Step 1
Go to this page : Justice Retro Hunter, The Official Website

copy paste that contract into a word document, and change the information so that it matches YOUR needs. For example, replace "Justice Retro Hunter" With the name of your company. Fields that have (" ") around them mean that you should replace that information with your information. Here are all the fields you need to change in that contract :

("Effective Date") - Replace this with the date of the transaction between you and the buyer.
“You” (hereinafter referred to as the "Licensee") - Replace "You" with the name of the buyer.
Justice \"Retro\" Hunter (Justice Retro Hunter) (hereinafter referred to as the "Licensor") - Replace Justice Retro Hunter with your real name, and between the \ \ you put your stage name.
("Composition") - Replace this with the name of the instrumental.

In section 2.
upon the payment to the Licensor a sum between $300.00-$1500.00 receipt of which is confirmed - Replace the money amount with the amount you want to charge.

just make sure that you apply the necessary changes in all sections of the document.

For now, this document should cover your needs. Like the previous poster said, if you balling like that, consult a lawyer, and eventually you need to get some real hardcore licenses that will cover your ass when shit hits the fan.

Step 2

Receipts are funny creatures. If you want to do the easy way, upload your instrumentals and sell them through this site : Discover and sell digital products - Sellfy.com
create an account, connect your Paypal account, upload your beat, and set your price. The website will generate a receipt after purchase. And you send that over to your buyer. Use copy-paste and put it into word if you have to.

You can also just send them an email, going over the details of the transaction, and state that the email is the form of a receipt.

Some advice

You need to pressure your client in them telling you what their budget is. But you need a hallmark price that you don't go below in negotiating. The conversation would go like this :

Buyer - "How much for XYZ Instrumental?"
You - "Well my exclusives start at $600.00, but we can negotiate a price based on your budget."
At this point the conversation can go 2 ways. Either he wont respond to you, or he will reply, either with a large budget or a small budget... If his budget is larger than $600, then most likely he will agree to the $600 that you've laid out. If it is smaller, then it's really your decision as to how far your willing to drop your price. Remember a budget is always set in stone, and you can't high ball someones budget. Sometimes, people won't tell you their budget because they know how to play ball. So really, you just need to play it smart. Do your research and see who your buyer is and if they have any online presence, or if they are an artist, if their music is good or not. If they make shitty music, don't low-ball. If you find out they are a manager for Katy Perry, then do everything it takes to get your music to him, even if it means dropping the ball for free. It's all a strategy game, and you need to be 3 steps ahead of them, and think strategically.


Beats don't really have a going price these days, but for the most part you have 2 camps : The Have's and the Have not's. Some people sell beats for $50.00 a pop, while other sell for thousands, and in some cases hundreds of thousands.

Here is how money scales up in the music genre, from getting paid the least to getting paid the most :

Hiphop/Trap -> Pop/EDM -> Rock/Country -> Movie/Commercial.

At first it's not abundantly clear why hip-hop and trap is the least fruitful of the music genres in getting paid. The reason is simple. Supply, and demand. There is a very high supply of trap music and in hip-hop. Thus the price has gone down. Pop and EDM are runner up, but drastically less, so the going rates are normal. Rock and country still require analog sound, and so it's remained unchanged after the big tech boom. Movie and commercials are of course movies and commercials, and will always be the highest paying gigs for producers, if you can pull it off.

But to reconcile what i'm saying, you'll have the indies with no money, and you'll have the power corporations with too much money, and so your going price is going to be a direct reflection of who you are dealing with. One mistake you shouldn't make is saying your beats cost $10,000 to some indie guy, yet you have no credits, or names under your belt. not only will the majors not take you seriously, but neither will the indie's who are struggling.

Anyway hope that helped.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top