B
Backdrift
New member
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?
D
D assasin
Guest
I was seeing this too nor do I understand it ....its stupid if you ask me
HipHopBeatMaker
SUPER MOD(ERATOR)
Money by volume right? It worked for the Dug Cartels in Miami in the 80's so it should work for beats right?
That's what they proably think. Although i don't think anyone's gonna be pulling in $7 billion+ a year by selling beats.
Personally i think if your selling that cheap people'll think your music is worth next to nothing and they won't even listen to it.
I mean think about it. Aftershaves and Perfumes and designer clothing and stuff sell the same way. Especially for celebrities or people looking to splurge.
If it costs $1 they won't even look twice. But if it's $150 then they'll buy it.
It's value is how much they paid for it. The more they pay, the more valuable to them it is.
I guess that's how shyt designer clothes sell.
If i wasn't tryna be in the music biz i'd probably sell some shyt
looking designer clothes. If it's got a name you've never heard of then it's suddenly valuable.
Ya know, if i'm successful in this biz maybe i'll do fasion as well then. Rake in millions and millions.
Good idea.
j.troup
New member
50 Cent sells his music for .99 cent. So does Rihanna. So does Mariah Carey.
So why can't I?
So why can't I?
George Kush
New member
Those aren't beats. Those are "beets".
I'd rather give beats for free for credit rather than sell them for $1. You can sell beats for that cheap online---but in person you can't do that bs.
When your partying with a bunch of cats, blowing sweets and everyone is vibing---how can you say "yo, lemme get $1 for that beat"?
You all know damn well you would never ask for $1 or $5 from someone in person for a beat. All that can be done online.
I wouldn't even use my real producer name if I was selling beats that cheap online, cuz you don't that associated with your name.
The game is not about money when you starting out, your just trying to get your name out in your area. So that folks come to you, rather than you hawking your **** for $1.
Thats why I'm against selling beats online. It's pointless to sell beats online to cats in different states, just for a couple of lousy dollars. Or $5?
As a starting producer, I used to blow sweets and provide drugs/drinks, and GIVE out my music to local cats and produce them. People knew my spot as a spot to come kick it, and work on music on the cools. I wasn't a penny pinching dude trying to scrounge for $1.
A lot of times, rappers would bring their own sweets and weed , and I'd get blowed for free. It was all love, and that was more or less my strategy. I would give beats, you bring the cigarillos or sweets and we're cool.
This made me a ton of connections over the years, and eventually cats were paying me 4 to 5 figures for music.
As a producer, you have to be social. You need to be a cool as mfker who parties and knows people, and gets your name out.
Working on "beets" in your bedroom, and selling them online doesn't do ****. You need to be out there, and getting your name out.
Throw parties. Go to parties. Studio atmosphere when you got rappers inside usually is a party, so you gotta be down with the lifestyle. YOu need to understand the lifestyle in order to become a part of it.
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61Key
New member
Hey I kinda feel you on that!
If somebody spends 15 buks they can do up a whole cd worth of instrumentals.
but anyways, I wouldent do it to ALL my beats tho..
HipHopBeatMaker
SUPER MOD(ERATOR)
So your pro drugs huh?
I'm wondering if you were getting paid 4-5 figures what you doing on here? I mean this site's for FUTUREproducers? And your already accomplished right?
And how far back are we talking? 10-20 years ago?
No offense, just curious.
j.troup
New member
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?
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?
D
datboysc
New member
Just posted a new beat and trust me it isn't a damn dollar lol. Check my beat out I will post more just doing a test run so give me your feedback. Check out http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7738449
George Kush
New member
So your pro drugs huh?
I'm wondering if you were getting paid 4-5 figures what you doing on here? I mean this site's for FUTUREproducers? And your already accomplished right?
And how far back are we talking? 10-20 years ago?
No offense, just curious.
Pro drugs, Pro- choice. Haha.
Yo, 4-5 figures is not much if you only get it once in a while. I only hit 5 figures once, and that was over 2 yrs to collect the whole amount. It was a House remix I did for a UK artist. MY manager (actually my white homeboy who knows how to speak well) got me the contract through some of his peoples.
Usually $1500-$3000 is normal for unsigned upcomming producers, who have a buzz in their area. At least that's what I've seen.
To get paid on a continuous basis is whats hard. I would sell a beat for $3200, and then not sell anything for a while. Granted, I partied more than I should have.
So I am in the same boat as you all. Track record is the most important thing, and if you haven't popped off for a while--people lose you on their radar. Even cats that you blow sweets with.
M
MUSIKFIEND
Guest
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).
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George Kush
New member
Listen yo. My aliases are GamezBond and Rockspin. I'm not Geron or any one else that you mentioned. I been at this site for much longer than you, but unlike you I made my moves and dont have 13,000 post counts on this site. Look me up on this website, do a search on "GamezBond". You'll see that I been on this site since 2002. Playa.
I don't have anything against you, I was just saying that selling beats for under $500 dollars in person is EMBARRASSING.
Step your game up. If ppl are only willing to offer you that much IN PERSON, then you aren't doing business with the right people.
j.troup
New member
So what's the pic in your avatar??
Anyhoo...
Doesn't matter whether they are established artists with big corporate machines behind them or not. It's about the business model...
And if they can do it, why can't I?
Y'all need to stop thinking that it takes millions of dollars to go into business.
iambase
@30thJune1986
You can but the market for beats is not as large as the market for finished songs...
Plus the value of a beat for one artists is not necessarily the same as the value of one song for the random Jack the teenager.
As a matter of fact, selling your beat that cheap could have a countereffect...
As it was said higher, I think a "beat" can sometimes be considered as a luxury product...
Consider it like some gold which is then use in electronic circuits for mass production.. my analogy sucks somehow but ya'all might get my idea...
If you do sell your beats at .99 you will get an increased traffic, but you really have to tell people they are industry standards... but it will be mainly for exposure, you might not generate a lot of total cash inflow from that...
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George Kush
New member
LMAO. I put up that picture to mess with Caine, cuz he kept calling me out. Theres 4 or 5 ppl on this website with the same avatar.
Dude, I'm just against selling music that low in person. It's not a good look, not trying to call anyone out.
If you sell 300,000 copies of a $1 song, like 50 cent, then its worth it to price at $1.
But if you sell only 1 or 2 copies, then you've only made $2.
I've been saying this since 2003 and no one ever listens.
To come up, you need to make moves in your area. Work with artists around where you live, and make the name for yourself. A lot of your work will be given away for FREE, and you won't even write out contracts for the stuff. A lot of work may not be copywritten. I remember selling the same beat to 3 people and never got it copywritten when I started out.
Selling beats for under $250 is not even worth selling. I usually say at least $500. But $250 is minimum. Anything less than that should be given away as free.
Ask anyone on here that has made a local name for themselves, and they will tell you the same thing I'm saying. I'm sure deranged will say the same thing I'm saying.
HipHopBeatMaker
SUPER MOD(ERATOR)
Yeah gotcha.
I suppose nowadays $10,000 is around 7,500 pounds. A few years back it was 5000. And over 2 years that isn't much. I mean if a decent wage is 15,000 pounds a year then you'd have to get like 3 of these a year to match a standard wage. 4 or 5 if it takes 2 years to collect the royalties.
It's not much really.
And if the cost of living is hish. Like living in London, or NY or La or Tokyo then your practically broke living on that. I'm talking about decent areas BTW. Not crack dens and Broken down buildings.
George Kush
New member
^^ Exactly.
I knew a cat that produced for SPM in Houston, back when Dopehouse Records was big down here. Dude had a couple of album cuts, got paid 5 figures---but it was over a couple of years. So he was still doing his 9-5 at Foot Locker.
I knew a cat that produced for SPM in Houston, back when Dopehouse Records was big down here. Dude had a couple of album cuts, got paid 5 figures---but it was over a couple of years. So he was still doing his 9-5 at Foot Locker.
S
S_Preme
Guest
MUZIKFIEND hits us with his real talk yet again.
iambase
@30thJune1986
yeah just read his post...he answered before me...
HipHopBeatMaker
SUPER MOD(ERATOR)
That's the same way i feel. If a normal wage is $20,000-$25,000 a year for this person then they'd have to sell 20,000-25,000 beats to earn that much. A lot more to cover the costs of the investment too.
Website, Mixing and Mastering, equipment,etc.
If they sold beats for $5 which is really cheap too then they'd need to sell 5,000-6,000 to make the same money. Which is a bit ambitious too.
I mean how are you gonna get the traffic, convince people to buy of you and keep coming back?
Even if everything's automated and you just need to maintain the website you'd still have to spend a lot of time working to builod and take your website to the next level.
You'd need a team.
And if you've got a forum, articles, videos, reviews and similar stuff to entice people to stay you'd need a bigger team. Which means spending a lot more money, spending a lot more time keeping control of everything and having to sell 50,000 plus beats a year (at $1 each) just to get the wage of a standard job.
And then the cycle keeps reeating. You either keep building and building until you've taken over the beat market, which means rivalling SoundClick, RocBatlte, PMP, Myspace, etc or you go completely broke, lose all your personal relatiopnships if you've spent all your time on this and completely fail. It's kinda hard to come back from that.
There's only big rewards if you go REALLY, REALLY big which isn't likely to happen without a big team of producers and staff and a miracle.
If thinki9ng about doing something like this but a lot, lot better in maybe up to 5 years time. But if i did i'd have a big team, provide a lot more, make sure i already had a lot of traffic and definate potential sales and money coming in from other sources in case it failed, took longer than i thought and just to keep me going, keep me motivated.
Have you thought about this Troup and though of work-arounds?
Ya wanna let the people know?