Is selling beats online possible?

[Project Live]

Hello everyone. I have created this thread today because i am really struggling with selling my beats. I have worked my tail off for the past 3 months and have not been able to make 1 sale! Please dont mind me posting my links here, i am only doing it so you can evaluate my system and tell me what im doing wrong. This is what i am doing currently to sell my beats:

Steps

1. Search for clients using advance search on google to find instagram profiles of rappers in my city

2. After having a very good list of potential clients i instagram message them and tell them i like their music and ask them if they need beats.

3. When they say yes i refer them to my website: projectlivebeats.webs.com

My website where i sell my beats on is extremely straight forward and easy to use. It is in a format that dosent lack any details and features anything a producer would need on a website.

In terms of price i am charging $10.00 per non exclusive lease. This under cuts the industry norm of $15. And im not saying this to promote my work but my beats are for sure industry standard and could be turned into a hit song or radio single.

What am i doing wrong? How can i just make one sale? Any help at all would be extremely appreciated. I again apologize for posting the link to my website in this post, i am just doing that to provide full detail in how i am currently trying to sell my music.

 

[Yumid]

Id guess your demographic is wrong. You are messaging random people asking them if they need beats then referring them to a pay site. They aren't looking for beats to begin with and then you are asking them to pay for them, on the internet where tons are readily available for free. Car dealerships don't call people to come in for a sale and then completely ignore them once they get to the show room. You need to make a reason for them to buy your beats when they are on your website, getting them there isn't going to be enough. You need a selling point, not an easy to use web design. At this point it's all sales, maybe selling isn't your strong point? Being able to make a good sell-able beat and being able to sell that beat are two COMPLETELY different skills. Selling is a skill that needs to be studied in itself, if it doesn't come naturally.

There are plenty of stickies on this forum about how to sell your beats.

 

[tmicbeats]

With any online business it takes money to make money, having a web site with a 'get your free website' banner on the bottom doesn't look professional. Most up and coming rappers are not looking to buy beats no matter what the price is, there is a small percentage that are willing to but you need lots of traffic coming into the site daily to drive sales, try running some ads on GoogleAds.

 

[soundslikeswerve]

in my experience I think its best to go out to the local shows, link up with like minded artists, and hook them up with the agreement that were working as a team and if you get on my name is there with you. the online $10 beat sales aren't really going to amount to much unless you have plenty of time and money to spend. going the networking route ive always thought is a lot more fulfilling as you get to hear the tracks made with your beats, plus if you get them some tracks that bang they'll hook you up with their boys willing to drop 200 or so for a beat if they want that sound.. that's why its important to develop a sound whether it be your style of beats or the way you mix get your signature.. my 2 cents at least

 

[zoo]

If I was a rapper and I got a private message asking me if I'm looking for beats, then when I reply affirmatively I get a website link thrown in my face I don't think I would even click it. If I somehow ended up clicking on it and I was sent to a beat store I would be even more displeased.

Make a connection with your target market. As someone said above, network above all else. You should not be trying to force the sales, the sales should occur naturally through good networking and relationship building.

We are naturally impressionable creatures, play on this. Humans are more likely to buy a product off someone they feel like they know and trust, and obviously, like.

All of this is, of course, assuming the product is worth purchasing in the first place. Good luck, man.

 

[LondonBeats]

How about letting the artists come to you?

Do you use any beat selling websites as well as your own website? I ain't nothing special, in fact your beats are better than mine and you seem to have a larger following and after I worked to get into the charts on MusicCentro (was 1st for almost a week) I made around £200 / $342 and gained about 5 loyal clients just from my one little beat 'Level 9' on there (Pegasus Music) truly, I barely did a damn thing!

If people who are looking for beats like yours are going to soundclick, you need to be on soundclick as well, let those types of websites do the hard work for you!

 

[Project Live]

How about letting the artists come to you?

Do you use any beat selling websites as well as your own website? I ain't nothing special, in fact your beats are better than mine and you seem to have a larger following and after I worked to get into the charts on MusicCentro (was 1st for almost a week) I made around £200 / $342 and gained about 5 loyal clients just from my one little beat 'Level 9' on there (Pegasus Music) truly, I barely did a damn thing!

If people who are looking for beats like yours are going to soundclick, you need to be on soundclick as well, let those types of websites do the hard work for you!

Thanks man, i am on soundclick. I have NO idea how it works. I tried for a solid week trying to figure it out. I mean i get how the purchase mp3 thing works, but in terms of leasing i didnt get at all how customers lease your product? When you add you beats for lease theres no purchase link or lease here button or something. Because of this i made my own site and went to bandcamp because it was less confusing, more straight forward, and more efficient. Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread too, i truly appreciate it.

 

[LondonBeats]

When you add your beats for lease theres no purchase link or lease here button or something

Thats why people use a Paypal button on their page next to the Soundclick player with their beats, the idea is that a artist will listen to the beats, type in the name of the beats they want in the PayPal box and pay. You would then get a E-mail with the money, their e-mail and the name of beats they wanted which you would then manually send out to them. Other sites such as MyFlashStore and MusicCentro send out the beat automatically for you and thus save you time.

Easy to follow Soundclick guide that will explain everything: How To Sell Beats On Your SoundClick | D.A.H. Trump

 

[zoo]

The main thing that sticks out to me here, OP, is that your promotion sounds like spam rather than effective promotion of a product!

You don't absolutely need a website, a SoundClick profile, a BeatStars subscription or whatever else. It's all about your personality, your beats and your ability to market. Sure, having a professional website will help sales but I certainly don't think it would nearly spark sales.

 

[fataltone]

why are you contacting artists in your city to sell them beats online????

selling online is for reaching consumers that you can't reach normally

where have you gone in your city to talk to artists in your city

have many rappers do you know personally in your city

you should at least know 10 to 20 rappers in your city

if possible over a year you want to cultivate at least 50 relationship with rappers

usually when you build a solid relationship with one rapper you'll get business through their rappers buddies

do you have a studio where you can offer more than beats???

do you know how to help rappers develop songs ???

if you don't want rappers in your studio

find a local studio in your city where you can bring artists in

charge for your beats and producing the whole song from start to finish

work the offline angle first

this is how I paid for all my studio equipment or repaid myself

and yes the soundclick advance is on point



and when I say cultivate relationships I mean you get to know these rappers

you don't need to be best friends with them but instead of charging
$10 you could be charging $100 to $150 for exclusive instrumentals

I only work with christian artists
the artists I cultivate relationships with
are part of my Church Home or at certain Christian music events around town

I don't know what the music scene is in your city
but if you have any music events in your city you need to be there

here is some information on offline networking here


PM me for more help

 

[SFTRAXX]

Lets get realistic about this for a sec.

Most of the guys who have been selling beats online successfully have been consistent in their efforts and have been grinding it out for years. So saying "I have worked my tail off for the past 3 months...." really doesn't mean much. Regardless of how you feel.

::sidenote::

I think a lot of cats go to Soundclick, listen to the top 25 guys and say to themselves: "Hey I can make beats that sound better than this!" and then hit they the ground running to try to get some sales. Then a few months down the road they get upset because their results don't match their vision. This IMO, is like getting mad at not winning the lottery.

::end sidenote::


IMO getting consistent online sales revolves around:

1. getting unsolicited visibility
2. building a consistent image
3. sustaining a presence online.
4. Streamlining the beat buying process.

plus a few other variables.

So, what does this mean to you?

Try and find a non intrusive way to get in front of your target clientele and stay there.

For example:

If you know that people who buy beats online are visiting a popular website, make yourself visible on that website. Then funnel that traffic back to your website using effective strategies. Cats like ProducerJC, Fataltone and a few others often share their effective methods here on FP so look them guys up.

Also a few things to keep in mind:

---Email blasts are most effective when the list is made up of people who have a genuine interest in your music.

---Being visible is just a part of the equation. Having consistent, quality music is another part - just as much as having plenty of it.

---Offering free does not always help. Sometimes it can hurt your movement. It doesn't always equate to paying customers. From my experience, it usually attracts people just looking for 'free' sh*t.

---Undercutting the market isn't necessarily key to getting sales. (Think about it) Increasing value should be your goal.


Good Luck

 

[Dandeezy]

I've learned that by having a different sound than most other producers, emcees will come to me with song concepts and sometimes even track out an entire record that they've put together before contacting me. This will not necessarily help you with sales though and marketing is a separate skillset in itself like how you had to learn your DAW and mixing and all that. It's another skill.

 

[Spinscratch]

I think I have spent hundreds on different systems and I have a formula that works. SFTRAXX has some very key points about branding and sustaining a presence online. For me it's about getting my own website and 'branding" myself. The more you are out there, the more people will recognize you barring you have quality music. With my system I started making about $1000 a month in Jan, Feb then $2000 around April and May...I Haven't been able to break into the 4k a month yet but I think I can if I diversify into EDM music since this is a huge trend right now.

One of the major issues with producers these days is they make the same type of beat so they are ONLY targeting a certain group. Anyway I will tell you that is is VERY possible to live off selling beats, I'm living proof but to tell you I'm not the best producer in the world, I just know how to attract traffic.

I make the most out of the Soundgine music player using the "free downloads" and Youtube integration to have customers visually see what they are buying. This has made a huge difference. I also sell sound packs on the player which accounts to 35% of all my sales. I have tried other players but they are very lackluster. I don't email blast or hit up Fiverr for traffic or blog mentions (I used to). Just make good music and forget about making sales, let them come.

I quit my job last year and now do this full time. Listen to me..."If you want to sell music for a living, PREPARE to work your ass off". I work more now than I did working a lame 9-5 job but I love it plus I make double the money. I was literally down to my last $80 bucks total in my bank and slowly worked up, now I'm more than good. Stay away from the beat selling scams and "shorcuts to success" there are no shortcuts.

 

[fataltone]

I think I have spent hundreds on different systems and I have a formula that works. SFTRAXX has some very key points about branding and sustaining a presence online. For me it's about getting my own website and 'branding" myself. The more you are out there, the more people will recognize you barring you have quality music. With my system I started making about $1000 a month in Jan, Feb then $2000 around April and May...I Haven't been able to break into the 4k a month yet but I think I can if I diversify into EDM music since this is a huge trend right now.

One of the major issues with producers these days is they make the same type of beat so they are ONLY targeting a certain group. Anyway I will tell you that is is VERY possible to live off selling beats, I'm living proof but to tell you I'm not the best producer in the world, I just know how to attract traffic.

I make the most out of the Soundgine music player using the "free downloads" and Youtube integration to have customers visually see what they are buying. This has made a huge difference. I also sell sound packs on the player which accounts to 35% of all my sales. I have tried other players but they are very lackluster. I don't email blast or hit up Fiverr for traffic or blog mentions (I used to). Just make good music and forget about making sales, let them come.

I quit my job last year and now do this full time. Listen to me..."If you want to sell music for a living, PREPARE to work your ass off". I work more now than I did working a lame 9-5 job but I love it plus I make double the money. I was literally down to my last $80 bucks total in my bank and slowly worked up, now I'm more than good. Stay away from the beat selling scams and "shorcuts to success" there are no shortcuts.

this works for ppl who sell to anyone with money to pay(99%) of producers
for me my niche is Christian Artists only so I make all my exclusive sells through direct messaginh and building relationships on social media(I 30 day run social media campaigns and review the data and improve on my techniques) and recommendations is how I sell most of my services and products

all my social networks are integration through a social media dashboard(hootsuite)
so when I post on I hit all my key social platforms all one time
and Hootsuite allows me to schedule content to share(which also creates traffic)


email marketing works for me and has been key to repeat business
Aweber and Constant Contact are great products for that

I still blog as I make a fair amount of money through affiliate marketing offering my readers products that I truly believe in(plus I enjoy writing)

And I also gained a fair amount of clients for business/entertainment consulting over the last year nothing where I thought about leaving my job which is working for a great Christian organization.

 

[Salem Beats]

Hello everyone. I have created this thread today because i am really struggling with selling my beats. I have worked my tail off for the past 3 months and have not been able to make 1 sale! Please dont mind me posting my links here, i am only doing it so you can evaluate my system and tell me what im doing wrong. This is what i am doing currently to sell my beats:

Steps

1. Search for clients using advance search on google to find instagram profiles of rappers in my city

2. After having a very good list of potential clients i instagram message them and tell them i like their music and ask them if they need beats.

3. When they say yes i refer them to my website: projectlivebeats.webs.com

My website where i sell my beats on is extremely straight forward and easy to use. It is in a format that dosent lack any details and features anything a producer would need on a website.

In terms of price i am charging $10.00 per non exclusive lease. This under cuts the industry norm of $15. And im not saying this to promote my work but my beats are for sure industry standard and could be turned into a hit song or radio single.

What am i doing wrong? How can i just make one sale? Any help at all would be extremely appreciated. I again apologize for posting the link to my website in this post, i am just doing that to provide full detail in how i am currently trying to sell my music.

Point-by-point:

1. Search for clients using advance search on google to find instagram profiles of rappers in my city

Why just your city?

2. After having a very good list of potential clients i instagram message them and tell them i like their music and ask them if they need beats.

You lie to them and tell them that you like their music, without even listening to it?

3. When they say yes i refer them to my website: projectlivebeats.webs.com

OK.

My website where i sell my beats on is extremely straight forward and easy to use. It is in a format that dosent lack any details and features anything a producer would need on a website.

You're kidding yourself. It's not "straightforward and easy to use" at all.
People are used to buying beats from layouts like these: Slime Digital

In terms of price i am charging $10.00 per non exclusive lease. This under cuts the industry norm of $15. And im not saying this to promote my work but my beats are for sure industry standard and could be turned into a hit song or radio single.

You're not "undercutting" any industry norm at all. Beat prices are all over the place. The only verified pattern is that they've been steadily sinking due to an increase in supply and decrease in demand.



-Ki
Salem Beats (+Reviews)

 

[Salem Beats]

Lets get realistic about this for a sec.

Most of the guys who have been selling beats online successfully have been consistent in their efforts and have been grinding it out for years. So saying "I have worked my tail off for the past 3 months...." really doesn't mean much. Regardless of how you feel.

^ + 1.

If you're not willing to emulate the methods successful people are using to make sales, then you should expect to take longer to reach your destination.
When it comes to business models, blazing your own trail (by adopting an unfamiliar site layout, for example) will slow you down.


-Ki
Salem Beats (+Reviews)

 

[JSoundsOnline]

i sell beats all the time online. you have to brand your name. and then it will stick!!!! when people think beats,,, some think,, ya i know a place..

 

[innerpeace]

i dont know what you use as far as hardware but you should showcase your beats at a show and build your name up....use a mpc or maschine and play your beats live....or join some beat battles and get your self more exposure.....do more networking in facebook groups......keep trying dont give up