Can you really live off making beats

R

Rodville

Guest
Last night I stayed up thinking about the music game currently. I realized that it might not be so profitable selling music online. Number 1 how many people do you honestly know thats selling music online and living well from it? I don't mean that made 2,000 of there music. Anyone you know making 30,000 plus a year. Which is the standard cost of living for the average person if your paying bills.

I realized that the new market of selling is not towards rappers. We need to face the truth and realize that no one is buying beats. Especially at a respectful price. The new market/ trend is selling products to producers who create the music. Since they are more likely to spend money on their craft.

Don't believe ask yourself how come every rapper or producer has some product that's targeting producers. We have laptops, headphones and other items coming out directly marketed at you. We have sell more beats, live off beats and other forms of material being sold to producers. Where is live of raps or sell more music doesn't exist because its no profit in it.


How many forums do you know that are like future producers, but for rappers only. Just like in any business you have when the product made is higher than the actually demand there is no profit to be made.
 
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You speak truth and I've actually thought the same thing before about how whoever is making the products us producers buy are the ones who's making real money. Eg plugins, samplepacks, computers etc. And tbh mixing and mastering would be thriving a lot more than the average producer. But it's not all bad. There are people out there who make a fair amount of money of producing/writing.
 
The-Dream makes 165,000 a track he writes/produces. if youre hot youre hot. Lex Luger makes mills off of FL too
 
Krys$hun said:
The-Dream makes 165,000 a track he writes/produces. if youre hot youre hot. Lex Luger makes mills off of FL too
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I think you need to research this information. If they where making so much money they would be on the forbes. The dream actually produces mixing and mastering not just making beats alone. I doubt if lex luger is making millions.
 
Of course it's possible, I know and I work with a lot of producers who does live by making and selling beats. You just gotta get your name out there and work your ass off.
 
Lifeadeath said:
Of course it's possible, I know and I work with a lot of producers who does live by making and selling beats. You just gotta get your name out there and work your ass off.
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Cosign^^^^^^100%

You first have to consider your situation. Not everyone needs 30k to "live" of beats. If you're at home w/ mom and dad your cost of living is obviously going to be lower. I mean Pharell had a platinum plaque when he was still at his mommas crib So living off beats is definitely possible. Also you have to take into account what you spend your money on and what you invest in. If you make 30k and spend 35k a year, you're broke and in debt!

It really boils down to money management and your marketing game whether or not you are "living" or just "surviving".
 
I agree with most of what I've read so far. One other thing that u might want to take into consideration (since marketing products towards producers was brought up) is do you at least make the money back that you invest. If you buy a $300 pair of Dre's, I would HOPE that you make at least that much buy the end of the year. That's what keeps me motivated. I may not be making millions or even thousands, but I've definitely made lots more than I've spent

I heard one person say it takes hard work and hulstlin...But to tell u the truth, we don't need to work nearly as hard as artist. First of all I don't even consider sitting in the lab making a beat WORK...Thats relaxation, venting, fun, whatever u want to call it. Second, there are all types of artist out there that need beats...Yea most of them may not want to pay. From what I've learned its better to just give beats away and just have the artist give u a shout out and credit...Or even just sell your beats for cheap...Once u build a reputation or a relationship with an artist, they will continue to come to you and they will send others your way...Im only speaking from experience
 
You can live of making beats it just depends what your market is.

I've been living off music for a few years now I not rich but I'm pretty well off. What works for me is licensing music to gaming and television companies
 
Cyko said:
You can live of making beats it just depends what your market is.

I've been living off music for a few years now I not rich but I'm pretty well off. What works for me is licensing music to gaming and television companies
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A lot of my work seems like it would make for good movie music...What would be a good route to take to get into licensing
 
STP said:
A lot of my work seems like it would make for good movie music...What would be a good route to take to get into licensing
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Sign up with a publishing comapny.. Check out bmi and ascap read through what they offer and pick the better company (based on what fits your needs)
Copyright your material... There are a lot of sites that will help you license your music pumpaudio is one of them. I have better luck cold calling to be honest
 
I just graduated high school and dude, when I sold my first couple of beats I thought I was gonna be rich. $150 for a beat. I feel kinda bad for the dude but he wanted it.
 
Make sure ur beats are HOT!!
Promote as much as u can
Put in work and be disciplined!!
And dont expect to make thousands of dollars after one week, Be patient
 
Like jus keepin it 100% You can live off ya beats ya jus got to get out in this would an get ya name up what i been doin is pushin cds in my state an been savin an making investments...Its jus while comin up SAVE an thats the key! I GOT OLD MONEY
 
hell yea you can live off producing. Develope your self and brand your product. It will take time to build up your clientel but once you do that you are gonna be good. Im doin this! I am not rich by any means but i make more than enough to get by and i have house payments a 2 kids. Being in my mid 20's and accomplishing this is a great thing. But you have to look at it as a business. When you first start a business it dont matter what it is, your not going to be successful over night. I make a great amount of money offline (which suprised me at first) But once you build your brand and have your mind set anything is possible.

At the end of the day, break own how much money you need to make to live off of? rent, utilities and all of that... dont factor in going shopping and video games and jordans lol. Factor in the bare minimum, and you will be suprised that you really dont need that much to live off of. Find a starting point and dont stop, dont give up... THE SECOND YOU GIVE UP IS WHEN ITS OVER!


Grind!
 
I believe you can make money off selling beats, guys like Geniusboy and 99centBeatz are doing it. You see you can either treat your work like a business, where you become a marketer and market your beats to a target audience, or you treat it as a creative artist, where you work with serious rappers and work on projects.

You have to be honest with yourself. Do you really love making music? Or do you want to be rich? famous? Living that fast lifestyle where you'll get tired of it pretty soon anyway, look at katt williams, and waka flocka flame quitting. Do you want to stay true to your creative side and make projects with serious rappers and build a fanbase that will be loyal and dedicated? With the internet and digital distribution being the future of the music industry, both ways are possible to make money. The first way you probably will make more money but look what you have to sacrifice.

I tried the first way, I don't like it, I slowly started to see what I was becoming. You stop following instinct and intuition and start just making more beats to get sales, even lowering your prices to cater to a certain target market. When making music that you love you should be inspired..going with a "flow" and coming out with a completely original and hot beat, even if that means working on a beat for 2 weeks. It has to come from the creative subconscious mind though.

I came to realize there are two different markets of rappers..the rapper that wants to be rich and famous that wants free beats( some actually do buy beats ), and the serious rapper that wants to be creative and make music from the heart. The rapper in his "ego" trance, and the rapper that's "awake"

Like I said both ways you can make money, the first way you'll most likely make a LOT more money, the second way you can definitely make enough money to live off and be stable, just have to realize the state of the music industry and how the internet has made it easier for creative artists to get music directly to fans. You'll need time and patience the second route...and most likely a 9 to 5 starting out. Nothing wrong with having a job, just take your time. I believe there's a shift happening...there's so many #swag rappers that eventually they'll be giving up, so now is the time to sell dreams, hope and influence to this target market.

Stay Humble,
Majestic
 
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Rodville said:
The new market/ trend is selling products to producers who create the music. Since they are more likely to spend money on their craft
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YUP...products and services...

SPEND, SPEND, SPEND your money on your "craft" that nobody even really cares about!!!

w/ out politics, branding, and gimmicks, YO CRAFT ain't SHIT

(COMMERCIALLY SPEAKING; of course)
 
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