are all rap beats free for non profit use?

amaristunna

New member
I'm wondering if all beats by a producer put on YouTube or whatever are free as long as it's non profit. I don't see why not honestly. What can they do if I'm not making money? Basically I just wanna record to them and post them. I'm tired of looking for beats that specifically say free download and shit.
 
unless it explicitly says that the beat is free to use in any context you can not assume that it is - quickest way to end up losing a lot of money and time if they decide to sue you.
 
free to use - royalty free is what you want, and just because it is free is not the arbiter of whether you should get it - exercise some degree of quality control
 
no different then people posting beats with uncleared samples. can they sue you, sure, will they?, no, if they even hear it. do what you want the likelihood of legal action is small, but overall your song will sound better if you actually work with a producer and get the beats tracked out rather than just ripping something off youtube. plus getting out there and working with people/ buying beats shows you're serious about your craft.
 
so, Sal, where did you get your law degree? Your advice is simply an exhortation to commit a criminal or civil offense - do it and worry about the problem later if it arises.......

@amaristunna: as with any legal advice, you should consult your own lawyer to get clarification on the finer points, but it is safe to say that unless you have a bottomless pockets, using something which you do not have a clear right to do so to make money from is only going to end in court......
 
I mean what are your goals as a rapper? If its a hobby then rap on whatever you please. But if your someone with aspirations to make money at what your doing then at some point you have to stop the shortcuts and put money into what your doing

But the easier solution is linking up with an in house producer to collaborate on all your projects. He can even act as an executive producer for your project. Look at acts like

Cash Money and Mannie Fresh
YOung Jeezy and Shawty Redd
Drake and 40 and Boi1da
Joey Badass and his in house producer
Ludacris and Bangladesh
and to some extent 2Chainz and Mike Will

All these combos worked together to make a unique sound for the vocal artist. And I'm sure in the early days these artists weren't getting charged by the producer. And even now they probably will lighten what they normally can ask for as producers. That's honestly the best way to go because now a producer will be an extension of you. Everytime he shows off his latest music you will be on the vocals. Every time he wants to promote you will be on the vocals. So you guys multiply your efforts. Its the best way to come up.

Finally let me say I've been trying to shortcut as an artist for a long time and now I'm getting my paper work in order. Dotting my eyes and crossing my Ts. And as a producer I LOVE sampling music for my beats. There's nothing like it. And quite honestly that's my best music. But I know I don't want to have to eliminate Radio play competitions from my options, Formal releases in certain physical stores, selling music on my own website, youtube partnerships, licensing on other media all because I'm hanging on to sampling

So now I'm learning new instruments. I'm listening to different music to craft a new sound, I'm doing things like using of samples of audio I record and different ideas to work around not sampling another artists music.

As a vocal artist, hiding the fact that are your tracks are lifted is going to be even harder for you. And yea you can get away with it but I went to a Drake Concert and he didnt perform "Best I Ever Had" Which is probably his biggest hit ever. I'm willing to bet its because he hadn't gotten it settled when they called him out for not clearing the sample.
 
so, Sal, where did you get your law degree? Your advice is simply an exhortation to commit a criminal or civil offense - do it and worry about the problem later if it arises.......

@amaristunna: as with any legal advice, you should consult your own lawyer to get clarification on the finer points, but it is safe to say that unless you have a bottomless pockets, using something which you do not have a clear right to do so to make money from is only going to end in court......

University of Reality. court costs money, lawyers costs money. if someone really wanted to sue him they'd be spending more money than they would receive in return. which is why soundclick is full of uncleared samples, and rappers stay using jacked beats. if you're not getting radio play you don't really have to worry about all that. i agree with what DaBomb said you should link up with someone and have them produce for you. it will help you grow as an artist.
 
I see you constantly ask cats about their law degree............where did you get yours?
If you read my whole post, you will know that I do not offer binding legal advice and ask the question of others who deliver legal advice with certainty to determine if they are talking from cold hard knowledge of the law or from warm, fuzzy personal feelings about how the law should be treated.

I did study contracts and torts in 1983 and also completed a course in Music Business Law in 1987., so yes I have some legal training in the field, but such training does not qualify me to offer uncorroborated advice

and your degree in law is from where?

University of Reality. court costs money, lawyers costs money. if someone really wanted to sue him they'd be spending more money than they would receive in return. which is why soundclick is full of uncleared samples, and rappers stay using jacked beats. if you're not getting radio play you don't really have to worry about all that. i agree with what DaBomb said you should link up with someone and have them produce for you. it will help you grow as an artist.

For some people, it is the principle of the matter that they pursue (consider Metallica suing individual downloaders) - and in most cases costs are awarded against the defendant as part of the punitive measures imposed by civil courts, so any plaintiff is going to win when successful - note that I wrote when, not if; infringement of copyright and associated authorship and exploitation rights once proven are difficult to defend - there is no part of fair use that allows you to sell or otherwise exploit someone else's intellectual property for your benefit - fair use is about study, education and critical review
 
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If you read my whole post, you will know that I do not offer binding legal advice and ask the question of others who deliver legal advice with certainty to determine if they are talking form cold hard knowledge of the law or from warm, fuzzy personal feelings about how the law should be treated.

I did study contracts and torts in 1983 and also completed a course in Music Business Law in 1987., so yes I have some legal training in the field, but such training does not qualify me to offer uncorroborated advice
and your degree in law is from where?

So you ask people about their law degree and you don't have one yourself.
If you would actually keep an open mind and get that chip off your shoulder you would understand why cats post how they post.They might not have a degree but in most cases common sense goes a long way.I know you think you know it all *or at least you think you do)but no need to come off like an ******* EVERYTIME you post something.

Peace
 
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If someone asks a question about whether something is legal and the replies are "don't worry about it, it's all good, do what you want", and subsequently this person ends up being sued they may well have a case against the provider of such advice through the civil courts; that they should have sought a valid and competent legal opinion instead of relying on some internet nutter is neither here nor there when such a person is suffering from a lack of judgement; they will seek any remedy that the law can provide them.

My question is designed to help me and the op in each thread understand whether the person offering advice understands the true implications of their advice or if they are just making it up based on what they think should happen.....

Valid answers would be "I do have a law degree", "I have successfully defended suits of infringement", "I asked my dad/mom/uncle/aunt/cousin who is a lawyer? and similar.

However, in most cases, the latter form of advice (I'm telling you what I think based on nothing but my gut) is more often the case and can actually be very poor advice indeed......

You did not answer where your law degree is from ......

There was no need for you to attack me in the last part of your post - ad hominems are the resort of someone without a viable argument - attack the person rather than the idea
 
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Lmao you guys are funny.. But yes its not for making money as of now. Just starting out in a way... NON PROFIT

Even if your intent is not to make money you are still breaking the law and still infringing on copyright and other moral and intellectual property exploitation rights, which brings with it severe financial, and sometimes criminal, penalties.

The fact that you have asked for advice on-line is a clear indication to any competent court, that you perceived that there might be an issue with using the material in the first place, thus making it clear that, whilst you did not seek advice from a competent lawyer/attorney, you were attempting to obtain advice on how to act to avoid a problem.
 
I don't make rap/hip-hop beats, but I'd be completely p*ssed off if I saw one of my beats "wandering" around with someone singing.

I think that, even though you upload it to youtube (or any other site) and someone wants to put their vocals in it, they should at least ask for permission to use.
 
You don't need a law degree to know the laws of your industry...

I'm a contractor by day. If I go to a job, and the carpenter says, "Hey.. can I use 2x4's as the roof rafters? 2x6 and 2x8 are just so heavy, and more expensive. It's fine, right?" My answer is NO, that's not code. Now, I'm not an inspector, and I'm not a lawyer, but I KNOW that's against legal building code.

Same applies here. If you're gonna rap on a beat you don't have permission to rap on, it's just illegal, straight up. You don't need a law degree to know that. In fact, as musicians, we SHOULD be aware of the laws that apply to us, regardless. It's part of your craft, whether you're into it, or you like it or not. If your argument is "Well, nobody is gonna know.. just do it," then by all means, give this guy some free beats of yours. You're a hobby producer? Hook up with this hobby rapper. No harm, no foul.

Again, going back to the contractor analogy, just because your buddy will build you that deck for free coz he's a nice guy doesn't mean I will. I'm trying to make this my livelihood, like many have before me.

If a producer has a beat that says, "Free for use" or "Free lease", that's fair game. But if you're buying a beat through iTunes for $1.00, it does NOT grant rights to re-use the track without consent. Same goes for free preview downloads on SoundClick and other sites. You have to do business with the producer directly and correctly if you want to alter a piece of their music by rapping over it - even if you don't want to sell your finished product.

There are enough producers out there who just want to see their beats rapped on, for their own promotional use. Hook up with some new beatmakers who could benefit from free promo. That way, you won't have to infringe on someone else's work.

To the OP, I would check up on some of the language and circumstances that come with buying, selling, and releasing music online. Exclusive vs Non-Exclusive Rights. Royalties. Copyright. Creative Commons. How producers make money. How rappers make money. Etc. Again, even if you don't want to make money rapping, you can certainly lose money by making certain uneducated decisions regarding other people's music.
 
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LOL........you're a clown.
I know you like to go back and forth with people because you're right ALL the time EVERY time but sorry,you're "speech" and text doesn't fool me in the slightest.
I haven't told you this in awhile so i guess i need to say it again.........
Save the i know it all attitude for the new jacks who don't know shit because it doesn't impress me.

And to answer your question.........i don't have a law degree but i don't need one because my lawyer has one.I just use common sense.

Peace
 
​This is why the game is f***ed up. LOL!

The silliest thing about the original post is that he is telling us that using other people's beats for free is ok, but then asks if it is ok. He is already stealing beats, so why is he asking for permission?

There are a lot of clowns out here, I swear.
 
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I think producers are going about this all wrong imo. They should just lease all their beats for 20 bucks,
but provide paperwork that says they are splitting the songs royalties. I see producers selling exclusive beats on here
for 500 and up but royalty free and the real money is in publishing. The more rappers that use your beat, the higher
chance you have that at least on of them will blow up , which in turn will make the producer that go to guy.
But most artist jacking your beats aren't going to do shit with it but show their homeboys anyway, and the rappers sucks balls most people will just wanna know who made the beat anyways
 
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