Producers BEWARE and ...(Producers MUST READ!!)

bandcoach said:
So glad to know that it isn't just me thinking that 50c beat licences and $25 exclusives are selling us all down the sewer.

Damn; I got paid $8k in 1988 for orchestrating 40 songs - orchestrating not recording, not writing the songs, just writing the charts for others to play. Today that gig would be worth over $40K. If I'm writing exclusives, I expect, as a minimum, a weeks wage (which in my day job is $1500+ a week).

Good on you for speaking up.
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That exactly how it should be! thanks for taking the time and reading my post... I really want to bring awareness to whats going on out here!
 
I understand ppl are mad about not getting their value as "beatmakers" I rather be a producer and work with artists beginning to end...we as producers have to realize it's not the 90's when local artist paid $250 for a beat.. just like major artists have to do all kinds of different things besides make a album to make money...

we as producers got to spread our wings.. stop relying on soundclick and local rap "bums" those who just want to freestyle or hear their voices on a beat and ride around smoking weed to their song...

I rather develope artists instead of sell beats...it would be nice to sell a few beats a month for a $250 a pop....
let's start looking for projects to work on...
now this is just my opinion
 
before i read this thread i just told this artist i would make a beat for him and that i wouldnt charge at first, but then he sent me like 6 songs he wanted to me to sample and so on and so forth. he wants me to make 6 different beats. thats a lot of time out of my day and away from my daughter. should i still put the work in for free or what?
 
I agree that it is good to be more businesslike. People will take you and your music more seriously for one thing.

Giving away free stuff is always an important tool for promotion, but you need to have a reason for doing this. (I agree with the initial post but would word things differently). This may not be anything direct and it could be just to alter your image a bit, or indeed to have your free giveaways help spread your name. You have to use your imagination a bit with promotion too as you are trying to stand out from a very big crowd and so I wouldn't like to rule much out here.

I would also like to comment on an earlier post about having spare beats on your hard drive. If I don't think anything is good enough I wouldn't be giving it away or trying to make money from it. I would want to try and maintain a reputation for making good music by only having my best stuff out there.
 
If you are not making music as a work for hire (for an upfront sum or salary), you should be receiving your % of royalties as the producer, and possibly the composer/songwriter and engineer. You need to own the rights to your music, with or without recorded vocals. Whether you outsource your publishing or do it yourself, in this dog-eat-dog industry if you don't protect yourself you're gonna get eaten. At least throw a © on it.
 
Emmapeel9 said:
I would also like to comment on an earlier post about having spare beats on your hard drive. If I don't think anything is good enough I wouldn't be giving it away or trying to make money from it. I would want to try and maintain a reputation for making good music by only having my best stuff out there.
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Agreed, for every 100 project files I start in Ableton, I probably finish about 30, and only 15 or so will ever see the light of day.
 
Good info. Producers that sell exclusives for $50 & give away beats with out requiring written credit for the production are insane.
 
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I agree that the best option today is to establish a relationship with various artists and work directly with them with a split 50/50 or similar agreement (the little money received from selling music today, it's really nothing...) The free and cheap beat producers will not really get anywhere without switching gear to collaboration with other artists. Many artists today know GarageBand and similar tools inside out so they could make generic beats within minutes. But to sound original, that's where the angle is.
 
Build relationships with the artist you work with! That is key, if they feel comfortable with they will pay. I make a decent amount of money online alone just with the relationships I have with so many artists online. I am not going to lie, its not easy! On average i probably send about 60 Emails a day all individual emails just talking to different rappers and networking, not including the hundreds of texts i get and reply to and just have general convo with artist. The KEY for me is, to get to give me valuable time! Dont let the artist ask you for a beat for free, and you say NO and that be it. Marketing and Building relationships means the world in any business, and all businesses are in business to MAKE MONEY. Plain and simple! Would you really do this for the rest of your life if you KNEW for a fact you wouldnt make a penny from it?? Now be real, we ALL love making music.. But be honest, its human nature to want to be better and to grow and to live off what we love! RELATIONSHIPS RELATIONSHIPS RELATIONSHIPS!


o and, i saw someones post about the artist not paying upfront for your beat and you receiving money on the back end. DO NOT DO THIS, unless its a well known artist.. or an artist with a LEGIT shot to have a radio song. Producers this is when we have to use our ears and trust ourself. I dont even know what the percentage of rappers actually make it to the radio but its EXTREMELY difficult. DO NOT let this artist tell you guys you dont need money up front because you will get royalties on the back end! Trust me im no rookie in this game...

If an artist or his "manager" doesnt have 25 to 50 dollars to pay for a Lease.. how in the hell they gonna have the thousands of dollars it takes to push a song, and get it on the radio and in clubs! Be realistic, it takes ALOT of money to push a song! Example: Say you did a song with Rick Ross, you get nothing up front! But you get a percentage of album sales and radio play. But YOU KNOW Rick's songs are going to be on the radio and his album is going to be sold everywhere. But some internet artist wants to pay no money up front, and why? Has he ever had a hit, Does he have a distribution deal? WHAT DOES HE HAVE?

man sorry for rambling on about this.. i get worked up when talkin music and money!!
 
Very good & interesting topic, yoTrakk! I'm from Ukraine and my English is so poor.. but i read this topic in one breath. Thank you for that
 
Most music I hear from locals or even globally are repulsive anyways. nobody should be paying a bedroom producer for a beat that sounds rubbish.
The surge of "beats" coming out are at a disgusting peak, for obvious reasons like accessibility. And the rapper receiving the beat will most likely end up being a flop…womp womp
Frankly I think most producers including rappers are caught up chasing deluded pipe dreams. (please dont take that personal)
You goto honestly have talent...if youre a rapper/producer and youre ohso convinced youre a beat deity, but still havent collected any royalties, then more than likely youre facing grand denial. lets pray to the lord you have a day job.
and if you're living at your moms house and your 23+, and you make beats all day, you too need to get a job. and a gf.
But back to the topic...
Who cares if producers are giving away "beats" for free? and why is this even something worth ranting about?
If that producer genuinely believed they worked hard to make that beat, im pretty damn for sure they will not give that beat away~ If i did arts and crafts for a hobby and folded paper and made a very simple house and then on another project i built an extravagant castle using the same methods. id be more inclined to just giving away that house i spent less effort on for free and charge a stack for the castle. understand the logic? producers already consciously have knowledge of that value, that is probably why they are giving it away for free!
for myself, making music was for self pleasure. i never intended to cash out with it. i have songs for months but i never intend to release them. and yes they will collect dust in my hard drives! why would i release music that was merely just for practice. all of those tracks are an accumulation of thoughts, concepts, theory, technique etc. mies said less it more. if you're most favored producer released everything they ever made, it could quite jeopardize their career....................
 
Thanks for all the knowledge Trackxx and every1 else! Keep ramblin on and dont hesitate to drop more long posts
 
Excellent thread. I just had a conversation with video producer about virtually the same thing. Artists wanting free videos from him & free beats from me but had NOTHING to offer in return. They say we from the same city & need to help each other out which is understandable, but we doin all the work while you reap the benefits? NO! People that know my character know my value & are willing invest. If they can't pay for any type of production & invest in themselves then what makes you think they will invest in anything? Bottom line is this thread is well written & to you new producers just getting started PLEASE don't sell yourself short, your product is important to this industry as well as the "VOICE" over it....But our voice gets their trunk rattling & clubs jumping!!!!
 
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starlightj0nes said:
Who cares if producers are giving away "beats" for free? and why is this even something worth ranting about?
If that producer genuinely believed they worked hard to make that beat, im pretty damn for sure they will not give that beat away~ If i did arts and crafts for a hobby and folded paper and made a very simple house and then on another project i built an extravagant castle using the same methods. id be more inclined to just giving away that house i spent less effort on for free and charge a stack for the castle. understand the logic? producers already consciously have knowledge of that value, that is probably why they are giving it away for free!
for myself, making music was for self pleasure. i never intended to cash out with it. i have songs for months but i never intend to release them. and yes they will collect dust in my hard drives! why would i release music that was merely just for practice. all of those tracks are an accumulation of thoughts, concepts, theory, technique etc. mies said less it more. if you're most favored producer released everything they ever made, it could quite jeopardize their career....................
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Why do i care if a producer gives his beats away for free? Truthfully i dont give a damn if he does or not... so keep givin yours away for free if you want. But this is Future Producers Forum, we are hear to help eachother and to grow as a community. If you didnt understand what my original post was then you are lost fam. As far as keeping beats on your harddrive, i understand that we all have beats on our hard drive that may have been sitting there for a while... but what you have to understand that its not doing ANYTHING for you sitting there. You say the most "favored producer" has stuff on his hard drive, but he is the "favored producer" he can have stuff sitting around until he has an artist ready for that type of record. YOU are not a "favored producer" (no offense). We are all on the grind, and if you have beats on your hard drive and your not doing anything with them (doesnt mean you have to sell them online), then your losing.
If you would have read and understood my original post you would see that the exchange doesnt have to be money. It could be a link exchange or something like that. Everything doesnt have to be money, but trust me. If your consider yourself a "business" like 95% of us producers on this site are, and your too scared to ask for a sale. YOU WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN ANY BUSINESS.

Since you like talking about "favored" people.... Say Kanye did a record for Jay z's newest album. Would Kanye be scared to ask for points? Would he be scared to have his name on the split sheet? HELL NO!

if you scared get a pitbull fam...
 
yoTrakkz said:
Why do i care if a producer gives his beats away for free? Truthfully i dont give a damn if he does or not... so keep givin yours away for free if you want. But this is Future Producers Forum, we are hear to help eachother and to grow as a community. If you didnt understand what my original post was then you are lost fam. As far as keeping beats on your harddrive, i understand that we all have beats on our hard drive that may have been sitting there for a while... but what you have to understand that its not doing ANYTHING for you sitting there. You say the most "favored producer" has stuff on his hard drive, but he is the "favored producer" he can have stuff sitting around until he has an artist ready for that type of record. YOU are not a "favored producer" (no offense). We are all on the grind, and if you have beats on your hard drive and your not doing anything with them (doesnt mean you have to sell them online), then your losing.
If you would have read and understood my original post you would see that the exchange doesnt have to be money. It could be a link exchange or something like that. Everything doesnt have to be money, but trust me. If your consider yourself a "business" like 95% of us producers on this site are, and your too scared to ask for a sale. YOU WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN ANY BUSINESS.

Since you like talking about "favored" people.... Say Kanye did a record for Jay z's newest album. Would Kanye be scared to ask for points? Would he be scared to have his name on the split sheet? HELL NO!

if you scared get a pitbull fam...
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fam-
if anything your initial post sounds like a motivational speech. your rather elitist but submissive speech suggests that american producers are too dense to handle any sort of business/transaction. however youre ignoring other environmental, social and whole lotta variables involved within the transaction. you have absolutely no idea what sort of relationship they already have or the hell is even going on their lives....everything you stated in your post are biased assumptions and obvious realities. if the producer is not using his social card than its apparent that he/she is in fact a fool. youre nearly belittling everyone in way.
and your referral about kanye doesnt make any sense and is unrealistic to begin with therefore i cant even take your example seriously.

youre trying to intervene within a dimension thats not fit for humans. and i do not mean that in any negative way. ultimately the ones that will shine will shine and the rest will tumble. hopefully if you fit in the latter, you will come back to earth with a reasonable rational and find other means to live life.
anyways im not hating on you so pls dont take offense.
peace!
 
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