Should I be giving out my music for free?

JuliusBeats

New member
I've just started to sell beats again and have made a bit of money just from previous experience. I've been looking around and it seems like I've been missing out on some other ways to make money than just selling leases, exclusives, etc.
Does anyone have any experience with giving out free beats and making a profit?
YouTube's content ID, getting placements, and also getting royalties.
 
Free is never free. Even if u give an artist a beat for free. Its not free. U could possibly be working with the next drake. YouTube can make u money by views. An yes find our how to get placements in movies games an commercial
 
I'm just starting with streaming services like spotify and content ID/royalty payments. Does anybody know how Spotify pays out? Do you have to claim your artist name after 250 followers first?
 
I don't like to charge money. I make music for fun, and I'm not trying to make a living out of it, so what I want is for people to hear and appreciate my music. Btw, who is spending money on buying music these days? unless you want the new album from adele...
 
I buy music...
This whole hippie mentality (with respect to money) sweeping into the music industry is really stupid.
...or maybe it's thievery, idk...but it's hurting all of us.

If you're willing to accept nothing for your efforts, your efforts are not going to be as good as when there is a trade.
 
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The way I see it is "Team work makes the dream work". Don't give out free beats 2 random ppl, but instead find you a core group of MC's that you will be working with and make beats 4 them while everybody promotes eachothers music. You can get money from royalties (although I'm still trying 2 really figure out how much can you make off royalties alone). Than you can sell compilation albums. Think about this, let say you have a compilation album with 13 tracks. 2 make things simple, you sell the album for 13$. You ask for a 40% cut on all the individual songs since you produced them all. Do you'll be making about 5$ per sale. Doesn't seem like much but remember that you'll have all the artists in the compilation helping you promote the album. Then everytime they perform the songs, you'll be getting a cut from royalties. Also you'll get your name out there and rappers will come 2 you 4 beats and you can then charge them, but I would suggest exclusive licenses only, but that's your choice. You won't have overnight success, but that's my 2 cents on this. Peace cuzzin.
 
you should do music with people you enjoy, share your beats with people you believe in.
A true heartfelt collaboration will always be better, quality wise, than selling your beats in a beats supermarket.

1st goal should always be about the music quality and enjoyement. Money is a result of dedication, heart, and hard work. Not a goal in itself.
 
i have given beats away before in the past but the only way to make money from that is just from royalties. i gave a beat to an artist that was signed to an independent label. i has sold his album on itunes. i have received royalties...my checks were literally less than a dollar but i still got paid.
 
On Spotify you make .0022 cents per listen. I wrote out all the research that I've done including royalty rates for streaming companies in another post here "Streaming Industry and Money". I do want to make money making music.
 
you should do music with people you enjoy, share your beats with people you believe in.
A true heartfelt collaboration will always be better, quality wise, than selling your beats in a beats supermarket.

1st goal should always be about the music quality and enjoyement. Money is a result of dedication, heart, and hard work. Not a goal in itself.

Thats exactly what I think.

Giving out free beats its sometimes thing You could consider as investment. The more beats You gave out, the bigger number of listeners heard of you. You can also take royalties.

I want to point out one thing. I don't think earning money for your work is bad thing. When you create something, whatever it is - it becomes your product. I think its all good to get money for your product. If your music is good, and you consider yourself as an artist then you have right to make dollars on it.
There comes another issue.
How much are your beats worth?

I mean no how much you could get for them if You put it on the beat-sale site and lease it. Then it could be even 5$.
I ask, how much your beat is WORTH, no how much you could get for it, selling to broke rapper who doesn't even have talent.

Its important thing to consider. If you treat your music, your beats, your art - whatever you call it - as trash, then you probably want to sell it for 15$ + 2 beats free.
And that's what you'll probably get.

If you think your beats are something better, something bigger - then you'll definitely advance sooner as bargain-sellers with beats treated like trash by themselves. Because if someone see that You treat your 'art' like shit, then he'll pay you like shit or - in most cases - don't even try to listen to your 'productions'.

I think that's very important thing that every producer / beatmaker / whoever should consider.
Because if there are 1000 'producers' selling trash for 15$, how much would they get? Ask yourself:)

Big up
 
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