Producer supposed to pay the artist?!?

TallPnoyBoii

New member
So i got this local artist telling me that i'm supposed to pay him to rap on a beat i made. And i'm not even charging him for the beat.

Is this how the buisness is now? Because i thought it was the other way around.

By the way this is not a stupid question. I'm pretty sure the artist is supposed to pay the producer for the beat. But i just want to know what this guy is thinking
 
lol no i would never do that.

maybe if it was snoop dogg or some other high profile rapper
 
So i got this local artist telling me that i'm supposed to pay him to rap on a beat i made. And i'm not even charging him for the beat.

Is this how the buisness is now? Because i thought it was the other way around.

By the way this is not a stupid question. I'm pretty sure the artist is supposed to pay the producer for the beat. But i just want to know what this guy is thinking

I've wondered this too...

This is how I see it...

ask yourself.....are you putting out an album for YOURSELF? under your name? if so, then thats where I can see the rapper is asking for money.

if you are to put out an album under your own name,

think of it as...you're using this rappers vocals as an 'instrument' in your music, you're paying him for his services

now, if you look at it the other way where you will be selling a service (selling your beats) then the rapper should pay you.

because the rapper would be trying to promote himself, he needs to go to a *store to buy beats (that would be you) he pays you for the product (*the beat)

it all depends on how you look at it.
 
I've wondered this too...

This is how I see it...

ask yourself.....are you putting out an album for YOURSELF? under your name? if so, then thats where I can see the rapper is asking for money.

if you are to put out an album under your own name,

think of it as...you're using this rappers vocals as an 'instrument' in your music, you're paying him for his services

now, if you look at it the other way where you will be selling a service (selling your beats) then the rapper should pay you.

because the rapper would be trying to promote himself, he needs to go to a *store to buy beats (that would be you) he pays you for the product (*the beat)

it all depends on how you look at it.



Correct.

That is exactly how it works.
 
Why is he a genius?

It is no different whatsoever from a producer hiring a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, trumpet player or any other musician...

You think if you need a singer for your song, the singer should pay *you* for the honor of you letting him sing on your track?

Think about it for a second and it should hopefully make sense to you.
 
So i got this local artist telling me that i'm supposed to pay him to rap on a beat i made. And i'm not even charging him for the beat.

Is this how the buisness is now? Because i thought it was the other way around.

By the way this is not a stupid question. I'm pretty sure the artist is supposed to pay the producer for the beat. But i just want to know what this guy is thinking


This is how the business has been forever...

This is nothing new or unusual or strange...

If you want him to rap on *your* song for *you* so *you* have a finished song for *yourself*-- then you obviously should pay him. You are hiring him as a musician.

If *he* is contacting you to supply music for *his* album that *he* is releasing-- then he obviously should pay you. He is hiring you as a producer or buying the backing track from you.


Those, of course, are just 2 scenarios...

You *both* may be doing a project *together* as a *group* where, in that case, neither of you pay eachother... in that case, the point is to make the record and you both try to make money from it.



This is no different from any other business transaction.


It is like this...

If you hired a photographer to take your modeling headshots for you--- you would pay the photographer for his services.

BUT...

If a photographer approached you and said he wanted to photograph you for a book he was doing--- he would pay you.



This is common sense.
 
I'm saying if dude is actually pulling it off, if he is actually getting paid from producers. yes, then he is a genius.

I understand what you are saying and it makes sense, but dude is flipping the script. and if he is actually pulling it off, I'm impressed
 
yo no matter who it is, big name or unkown, the rapper always pays the if you want any respect as a producer. maybe youl give them away no charge, but a producer should never pay someone else to use his own work and effort
 
So i got this local artist telling me that i'm supposed to pay him to rap on a beat i made. And i'm not even charging him for the beat.

Is this how the buisness is now? Because i thought it was the other way around.

By the way this is not a stupid question. I'm pretty sure the artist is supposed to pay the producer for the beat. But i just want to know what this guy is thinking


Typically the artist pay the producer. If it is just a local artist, he is probably trying to pull a fast one on you (or don't know what he is talking about).

But if he is well known (popular signed artist in the music industry or even popular local artist), it might make sense to pay the artist so you can say you had this artist rap on your track.

But that would only be for promotional reasons (obtaining more clients via advertising). To make money, you would have to sell your tracks to the artist (typically).

Also consider your production costs:

1. Computers
2. Software
3. Various hardware
4. Recording equipment
5. Studio time
6. Hiring professional musicians
7. Travel expenses

If you are spending on this, you have to recoup your costs.
 
I'm saying if dude is actually pulling it off, if he is actually getting paid from producers. yes, then he is a genius.

I understand what you are saying and it makes sense, but dude is flipping the script. and if he is actually pulling it off, I'm impressed

Well, you obviously dont understand what I an saying... Not only is he *not* a genius, but genus *not* flipping any script...

Believe me when I tell you this is standard practice in the real world.

Think of it this way: you are making your "Dwells" album titled "Rock the Dwells"... You need a rapper for one of your songs (a song called "Dwells Is On")... You approach a rapper to perform on your song for your album... You say to him "excuse me sir, I like your rapping style and I was wondering if you would please rap on my song that needs some vocals?"

so, in this situation, you really expect the rapper to pay *you*?
 
I understand perfectly what you are attempting to say. The OP gave no mention about using the rapper as a 'session singer' or using the rapper for the OP's project. If this was true it would be a completly different situation. But from the OP's post it seems like just a 'standard' arrangement, where the rapper uses a beat from a beatmaker. for both of their catalogs. but the artist is getting paid from the beatmaker to add to his (rappers) catalog. This to me is genius, it's like going to the club and getting paid to drink. (and yes many people do get paid to drink at clubs, and I think that is genius)
 
It sounds to me that he is saying he asked the rapper to perform on his song for his own benefit... Does not sound like the rapper is grttig a beat for himself.

If the OP would clear this up, it would help him get the proper advice rather than people just guessing and assuming.
 
Why is he a genius?

It is no different whatsoever from a producer hiring a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, trumpet player or any other musician...

You think if you need a singer for your song, the singer should pay *you* for the honor of you letting him sing on your track?

Think about it for a second and it should hopefully make sense to you.

i agree if u like wat he/she do pay them in sum kind of way
 
Im in the same position.
Im releasing my first studio album and my manager is contacting artists/managers to work on it, so I know we will have to pay for them to feature on it because its ME contacting THEM to work on my song!

If your going to sell it either as a single or on your album and you know you can recoup the money its going to cost to get the artist on your song my advice is to just go for it!

Even if you just break even it will still be worth it to get you more established and you can always add that artist to your portfolio.

Hope this helps!
 
Im in the same position.
Im releasing my first studio album and my manager is contacting artists/managers to work on it, so I know we will have to pay for them to feature on it because its ME contacting THEM to work on my song!

Hey, look at that! Finally somebody who understands how the world works (and how it has been working since the beginning of time)!

Everybody else will look quite silly, amateurish, and unprofessional when they try to get people to pay for the privilege of performing on a random persons album!

...hmmmm, maybe I should try getting people to pay me to be on my albums... That is about the only way a person can hope to make money with making records these days!

:)
 
yea. I would kinda understand if you were making a Khaled like album and you had the money to that. but no, you should never pay an artist other than that.
If it was a single that they were pushing I do offer to pay for some of the promotion.
 
yea. I would kinda understand if you were making a Khaled like album and you had the money to that. but no, you should never pay an artist other than that.
If it was a single that they were pushing I do offer to pay for some of the promotion.

OK, great, well, I'm finishing up my new "Dvyce" single and I need someone to rap on it.

...so, Jaysir, I like your style... You can rap on my song and it will only cost you $30! You can just send that money to me then you can rap on my song!

...And to everyone else... Don't be jealous... I can find stuff for all of you to do on my songs. Just send the money to my paypal account and we'll get started!
 
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