Leasing or Exclusive rights for reggae/dancehall riddims?

terry_oi

terry_oi

TerryVibes Productions
I also posted this on the Music Industry / Legal forum,but i thought maybe here it will have a better chance to get a reply.
My question is how does all this work with reggae and dancehall riddims,from a producer's point of view? Is it common practice to lease your beats(riddims)? Or is there some other kind of agreement/contract (Exclusive etc)? I'm asking since in Reggae music,many well known artists perform the same riddim,unlike on other genres where the artists want the beat exclusively..and i'm talking about full-scale commercial releases here.
I plan on opening a website with mostly riddims,so any info on this and on what kind of agreements/contracts are usually made in these cases,are really appreciated.

---------- Post added 08-18-2011 at 03:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-14-2011 at 03:20 AM ----------

Anyone? I'm new to this and i'd appreciate any info..
 
I think they lease the riddim because if the producer sold it exclusively then there wouldn't be like 10 different songs on the same beat.
 
Producers of dancehall music usually build a riddim generally in the same way a western producer releases an album. Its not really about succesful albums in JA, and therefore in reggae, its more about successful riddims and they will mostly get revenue from the radios and TVs. They will also often be sponsored by local businesses (parties, bars, agriculture ;) ), and therefore, they record 10 different artists for almost no money (maybe 1-2 big artists) on the new riddim to get maximum radio (etc...) revenue with each production. This also explains why dancehall is easy to DL.

Then you have new labels that re-cut and rerelease riddims and push their tunes by vinal which sound systems (like DJs) play. Im not sure what you mean by full scale releases, in USA? in Europe? In Jamaica its a really very different market for music...
 
its all about the "riddim" in dancehall culture. if the riddim is hot, all the artisit are going to want to be on it, especially if a well known artist already has a hit on the riddim. i'm not an expert, but from personal observation i'd say most of the riddims coming out of Jamaica are not licensed to any artists in particular. i'd dare venture to say the loose nature of copyright enforcement is one of the drivers behind the genre. meaning, producers probably dont really restrict who use their beats in the hope that someone will put a hit on it at which point the recognition they get makes it worth it.

the approach to the music business in Jamaica is vastly different than it is in the US; its more of a day to day hustle as opposed to trying to build a career, but it works somehow.

and like MaracujahSound said, dancehall is more geared toward compilation albums with a bunch of different artists on the same riddim.
 
Thank you for replying.So i guess my question is,since i want to sell my beats globally through the internet,what contracts/agreements should i offer?Just the same as most producers in Soundclick do-lease for around $25 and exclusive for say $200?Or is there some other kind of agreement that is more suited/common for reggae/dancehall riddims?
 
As far as pricing, to be honest should depend on how good your beats are. Not what other producer sells. I would compare the quality of your beats to other producers and see what level your at. Then this can give a general idea on how much you can charge.

Just my 2 cent
 
yeah, I'd follow the same convention regardless of genre. just wanted to give you some insight into how the dancehall culture works. things and times have definately changed and you may find todays dancehall artist pretty much following the same pattern as hip hop artists as far as how they acquire beats, etc.
 
terry_oi said:
Thank you for replying.So i guess my question is,since i want to sell my beats globally through the internet,what contracts/agreements should i offer?Just the same as most producers in Soundclick do-lease for around $25 and exclusive for say $200?Or is there some other kind of agreement that is more suited/common for reggae/dancehall riddims?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... if you are not a producer, then try to find one that could buy your beats. reggae dancehall is a cut throat business and many have been robbed, stolen, cheated etc... its not about finding an agreement, its about finding the right people. You're gonna have to be ready to give away some of your material for free, promote it, and make a name for yourself before you start thinkning about making money. Its not like pop or dance or whatever. How many rich producers/beat makers do you know in this industry?

I know so many guys that work 12h a day in reggae/dancehall production and barely make enough to survive. Don't want to discourage you, but think about that... :D

---------- Post added at 03:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 AM ----------
terry_oi said:
Thank you for replying.So i guess my question is,since i want to sell my beats globally through the internet,what contracts/agreements should i offer?Just the same as most producers in Soundclick do-lease for around $25 and exclusive for say $200?Or is there some other kind of agreement that is more suited/common for reggae/dancehall riddims?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... if you are not a producer, then try to find one that could buy your beats. reggae dancehall is a cut throat business and many have been robbed, stolen, cheated etc... its not about finding an agreement, its about finding the right people. You're gonna have to be ready to give away some of your material for free, promote it, and make a name for yourself before you start thinkning about making money. Its not like pop or dance or whatever. How many rich producers/beat makers do you know in this industry?

I know so many guys that work 12h a day in reggae/dancehall production and barely make enough to survive. Don't want to discourage you, but think about that... :D

---------- Post added at 03:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:13 AM ----------

maybe you want to focus on hip hop, for sure there is more money and it is more structured like what westerners know about
 
Ok,thanks everyone for replying!
Another quick question(ok maybe two): Should i allow people to use my beats commercially with a non-exclusive license or just with an exclusive one?I mean i see most people allow about 2-3000 commercial copies limited to one release,when leasing their beats,but i also noticed a few that allow only non-commercial use when leasing,like promotional mixtapes etc.The 2nd option sounds more reasonable to me,since else it kind of voids the reason to obtain an exclusive license.What do you guys think?
I also record other stuff(mostly rock),but lately i've been mainly producing reggae.I was also considering writing music for films etc,but i'm not sure how to go about this,are there any websites that deal with that sort of thing(i think taxi.com is one of them)?
I'll make a new thread with some of my more recent reggae beats,so hopefully you can check them out and tell me what you think.
thanks again,
TerryVibes
 
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