dollar beats, 5 dollar beats, what's the deal?..

[J Bob]

LOL. George Kush aka Geron aka beat jacket, is lying.


I don't sell beats for .99 cent in person. Because in person, I have to sit with them and go thru the beats, use my electricity, my studio, take the time to burn them on CD, etc.

So I sell them for $10 a pop in person...just because of the added time and effort.



Artists are selling millions of .99 cent songs...so why can't I?

Do the artists sell those songs to be used as a production or a background music? No. Are beats sold to be used as production or background music? Yes. The song purchased off itunes isnt purchased as work, its purchased as entertainment. A production is and should be purchased as work. If rihanna sells a song for .99 cents after purchasing a $50,000 production, then what is she going to sell the song for on a .99 production? A half a penny?

 

[iambase]

she is supposedly adding value so it should be more...

but I would rather consider the production as some equipment investing... out of it comes the finished product (the song) which is sold at a fraction of the costs incurred...

and it's that product who can be sold in huge numbers...that's what could justify the low prices...(economies of scale)

But a production for a low price is not a good strategy on the paper I believe...

 

[Jim Bond]

50 Cent sells his music for .99 cent. So does Rihanna. So does Mariah Carey.


So why can't I?

Exactly

 

[Legal Dollaz]

50 Cent, Rihanna, & Mariah Carey are established artists who have huge machines behind them, have millions of fans & have sold tons of records. Their songs are playing on the radio & TV all day & blasting in the clubs all night. These same songs which the General Public are familiar with, are beig sold for .99 cents through iTunes which is owned by APPLE (A Major Corporation). I dont see how joe smoe w/ a website selling beats really compares (not that i'm talking about you personally). Plus there's waayyy more people buying music (completed songs that are on the radio) than their are buying beats (only rappers & singers).

There are TENS OF THOUSANDS of independent acts that are selling their music in e-stores such as Itunes, Amazon, E Music, Amie Street, etc... at the same price points as they big acts you quote to the point there is now a striving cottage industry that allows any one (including YOU) to make your music available for sale as well. Contrary to popular belief you can both BUILD and EAT at the same time, those that don't believe that are forever stuck in the 90's and will have little relevance in the current music business market.

So now the question is there a commercial retail market for instrumentals, but that has been answered decades ago when the music industry made the instrumental version of the complete song available and modern music has a long history of songs for sale with no vocals to begin with. Think classic, jazz, house/club, techno and the list goes on and on and on. Even most of your favorite songs out today in the Hip Hop/R&B genres are 'beat' dominated which is why 8 out of 10 times the first thing someone says is the BEAT (closely followed by the hook) is great! Now thanks to the Internet you can get straight to the point and serve the consumer directly.

The conclusion is if Troup decides he's selling his beats for $1 he's tapping into the PROSUMER market, not the traditional Professional market so don't confuse the two. Stop limiting yourself and things suddenly seem so clear and simple. Don't just think outside the box, create your own box because its all wide open now for the taken.

 

[iambase]

If I'm not mistaken, Troup is offering services to producers...
And people want instrumentals on which People have already performed( I'm speaking about hiphop or RnB)

Otherwise, people would have noticed mad demand in soundclick alone... where you can find beat for free (tagged indeed but some are great from a random jack point of view and free)

Every new strategy is not necessarily a good one, true that people have to make new moves...but it's not always that obvious..

You can't apply the same strategy on two distinct products... I mean it might work, but it might most certainly fail too.. some stronger argument than "why not me" would be appreciated...

 

[Legal Dollaz]

And people want instrumentals on which People have already performed( I'm speaking about hiphop or RnB)

Yes this is generally true if your talking about the music fan in the traditional sense but then you have the PROSUMER which is the grey area where being a fan ends and being a professional begin. This is why you have 10 million 'artist' myspace accounts.

 

[The Beat Pharmacy]

ok so im seeing alot of people selling there beats for as little as a dollar! WHY?! Is there some hidden purpose for it being so cheap? Or is 5 dollars the max anyone will ever pay?

cause they aint woth more than that. Garbage beats cost very little.

 

[iambase]

That's this market Musicfiend was talking about I think... it is not as large as the market for songs...
And true that, one's might have less marketing to push these "cheap beats" onto the "prosumer" (by definition)...

But the price tag might be for them some kind of "quality guaranteed" mark.

And there will still be a problem : Troup won't gain any "sustainable" competitive advantage.. What is he offering that others can't copy ? Over the long term he should think of that.

Or if I understnd well, he will have a massive amount of his own beats online so that he can promote in a way saying : Making an album as never been so affordable, make an album for 20$ ?

That could guarantee some sales indeed, but there is still the question of perception...

And it will be easy for people to counter saying that if he had his beats so cheap, it's because they have nuthin to help you differentiate from the rest (even if they do, I know that Troup is quite talented even though some people claim the opposite) ..



Well, in a nutshell, i'm concerned about Price elasticity for the beat market...

 

[Cash_Daily]

I know you guys is broke cuz i know what you charge... T.I

 

[j.troup]

Legal Dollaz pretty much laid it all out.


I'm going after the PROSUMER market. F Beyonce, I'm going after those 5 million people around the world that WANT TO BE HER.


See, y'all thinking locally. I'm thinking GLOBALLY. I know first hand what the prosumer hip hop markets are like in England, Germany and Japan...not to mention the US. They have a ravenous appetite for that "authentic" hip hop from the US.


And the Chinese borders are opening up more and more every day. They don't necessarily know of Dr Dre, Polow and Timbo. So to them, J.Troup can be as big as those big name producers are to the western world.

When those trade lines open up, I wanna be right there with hot beats to serve them.

That's why I'm learning Chinese in January 2010.



What am I offering that others can't copy? What is Lexus offering they GM can't copy? What is Microsoft offering that RedHat can't copy?

Someone mentioned soundclick...finding a hot beat on soundclick is like a needle in a hay stack...that stretches to the moon.

People pay for convenience.

In the digital age, we're competing less on the basis of PRODUCT, and more on the basis of SERVICE.



So with IndustrySound.com, there are 4 different revenue streams that are activated the SECOND people hit that website. And that's whether or not they spend money on the products.


But understand this...IndustrySound.com is NOT just about selling beats. That's only one minor component to the site.

 

[Dot_Robinson]

When you lower you asking price to $1 your essentially opening up your catalog to different markets. From artist whom are serious to those who just simply want to dabble in music part time. $1 isn't that significant of a loss as, let's say, $100,000 would be. Producers have found ways to remain stable in a time of low budgets and low opportunities. The goal has shifted from trying to get rich to trying to remain stable, which in my opinion, is a very smart way of doing what you love to do.

 

[j.troup]

When you lower you asking price to $1 your essentially opening up your catalog to different markets. From artist whom are serious to those who just simply want to dabble in music part time. $1 isn't that significant of a loss as, let's say, $100,000 would be. Producers have found ways to remain stable in a time of low budgets and low opportunities. The goal has shifted from trying to get rich to trying to remain stable, which in my opinion, is a very smart way of doing what you love to do.

The proble with people on this board is that they are more interested in FAME than they are in getting PAID.


Wal-Mart does 10's of billions of dollars in sales every year.


How much does Louis Vuitton and Gucci do?


Think about that.

 

[Legal Dollaz]

In the digital age, we're competing less on the basis of PRODUCT, and more on the basis of SERVICE.

Pay very close attention to the quote...

 

[MUSIKFIEND]

There are TENS OF THOUSANDS of independent acts that are selling their music in e-stores such as Itunes, Amazon, E Music, Amie Street, etc... at the same price points as they big acts you quote to the point there is now a striving cottage industry that allows any one (including YOU) to make your music available for sale as well. Contrary to popular belief you can both BUILD and EAT at the same time, those that don't believe that are forever stuck in the 90's and will have little relevance in the current music business market.

So now the question is there a commercial retail market for instrumentals, but that has been answered decades ago when the music industry made the instrumental version of the complete song available and modern music has a long history of songs for sale with no vocals to begin with. Think classic, jazz, house/club, techno and the list goes on and on and on. Even most of your favorite songs out today in the Hip Hop/R&B genres are 'beat' dominated which is why 8 out of 10 times the first thing someone says is the BEAT (closely followed by the hook) is great! Now thanks to the Internet you can get straight to the point and serve the consumer directly.

The conclusion is if Troup decides he's selling his beats for $1 he's tapping into the PROSUMER market, not the traditional Professional market so don't confuse the two. Stop limiting yourself and things suddenly seem so clear and simple. Don't just think outside the box, create your own box because its all wide open now for the taken.

True but those indie artists are selling SONGS not beats. Songs in which they are performing, Most likely have videos to, & alot of them already have established cult followings. Same as the major artists i previously mentioned but on a smaller scale. With outlets like youtube, myspace, facebook, twitter etc. that line between indie artists & major label artists is growing more & more thin. Alot of indie artists are actually outselling majors.

As for your instrumentals theory, alot of instrumental albums have been made available to coincide w/ previously released songs. instrumental albums & .99 cent beats are two totally different arenas.

I'm not really here debating whether or not J Troup's site is a great idea or not b/c hell i could be wrong & he could very well sell a ton. It's just that he was incinuating that selling beats online & established artists selling songs online were the same thing & there's a pretty big difference.

The proble with people on this board is that they are more interested in FAME than they are in getting PAID.


Wal-Mart does 10's of billions of dollars in sales every year.


How much does Louis Vuitton and Gucci do?


Think about that.

Wal-Mart is a stronger brand imo than LV & Gucci. Both have audiences that they cater to. Wal-Mart's audience happens to be much bigger & their stock is much more diverse. Now that i think of it you can't really compare them though. Apples & Oranges.

 

[Legal Dollaz]

The proble with people on this board is that they are more interested in FAME than they are in getting PAID.


Wal-Mart does 10's of billions of dollars in sales every year.


How much does Louis Vuitton and Gucci do?


Think about that.

Its easier to DREAM about making millions than it is going out and actually MAKING $150,000 a year on a consistant basis. The 'lotto' approach allows the person to place the failure on the lack of 'luck' or the fault of others for not 'putting them on' or the 'system is bias' etc....The entrepreneur approach places all the burden on yourself but if you succeed the rewards are limitless. Everyone wants heaven but nobody wants to die correct?

 

[Legal Dollaz]

True but those indie artists are selling SONGS not beats. Songs in which they are performing, Most likely have videos to, & alot of them already have established cult followings. Same as the major artists i previously mentioned but on a smaller scale. With outlets like youtube, myspace, facebook, twitter etc. that line between indie artists & major label artists is growing more & more thin. Alot of indie are actually outselling majors.

As for your instrumentals theory, alot of instrumental albums have been made available to coincide w/ previously released songs. instrumental albums & .99 cent beats are two totally different arenas.

I understand exactly what your saying and your right in the traditional sense but my point is there is no longer the need to limit yourself to the traditional approach in a age where most if not all the barriers that made the traditional approach possible have been broken down.

If Troup has a core audience base then why shouldn't he monetize at all levels available IF that's what the audience wants?? This is not about the way things SHOULD be, this is about the way things are.

For every 1 beat you sell to a ARTIST in the traditional sense there will be 10 others that will not buy it (because they're not serious enough in their pursuit to justify spending $1200) but will want to 'rock over the track'. That's why they end up 'stealing' your track...its time to MONETIZE THE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR and diversify your revenue streams.

For example lets say Troup REAL purpose of the $1 dollar sell is to further promote his brand/online business system. Ten 'pro sumer' artist buy it for a dollar and in return they agree to yell his brand in their track. Then more do it and more do it and next thing you know a "Troup Track" becomes a BRANDED SERVICE. He can even team up with other producers and have them 'sublet' if you understand what I mean. Then the influence can grow even further due to a diversification in the product and then a big corporation does a 6-8 figure deal with the Troup brand and away he goes. Meanwhile on the other side of the park you have 2 million producers cramming into one tiny hole hoping for the lotto pick of a Beyonce beat placement which is a failure rate of over 99%.

Time to open the game, the worse you can do is fail.

 

[MUSIKFIEND]

^I feel what you're saying. The biggest risk the bigger the reward. I wish Troup the best & i hope it does work out.

 

[Legal Dollaz]

^I feel what you're saying. The biggest risk the bigger the reward. I wish Troup the best & i hope it does work out.

Yes indeed and let me tell you the reason why there are so many kids calling themselves 'producers' nowadays is because the financial risk has become so small (6 months practice on a free crack copy of FL and I'm just one 'industry connect' away from Timbaland riches and fame) but little do they know the rewards have shrunk down as well so you just have a whole ocean of 'floor noise' going on now. To rise out of that you have to either break all the way through the industry in the traditional sense to the point you have consistent hit records on the radio (only 1 -3 new producers in the urban side per year) OR you have to become very creative and innovative with your approach and take on the challenge of creating your 'own industry'. That's if your truly trying to do this for real...if your just on a industry groupie hunt then I have no words for you, keep doing what you do.

 

[iambase]

Ok, some good moves, I see what you are doing...
I guess you will really make sure that your website is "the" reference, that's crucial ! It is going to be interesting.

 

[Genycis]

To each their own... I think the $1 per beat can be a gift or a curse, depending on who sees it as a benefit or disadvantage. I will sometimes do this as a special sale to increase traffic a little, but not to keep it this way as a set price. Could be something as an annual or semi-annual sale.. got that little tip from the place my wife gets soaps and lotions from, Bath n Body Works.. they'll do a twice a year sale, generates business, and traffic, and keeps loyal customers even when the sale's not on. Selling at $1.00 all the time will make some people think "damn, great price!" but those more serious be like "why is the price so cheap? Cheap beats? nah, I'll go somewhere else". Could always create two websites and set up different beats... the ones you're not so concerned with on one page for dollar beats, and the ones you put more into for your own site. Could link both to each other if you wanted.. just my two cents.