Selling Beats is DEAD!!!

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Xabiton said:
Some of these niggas better learn how to do a dance, write hooks or dj. I realized that when i saw Just Blaze doing more Dj shows than records a few years ago.
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yea he talked about that in that XXL Mag article about the changing producer climate ... he's pretty selective about the production he does too, if its not a Jay Electronica type, its gonna be something on a big commercial level
 
Music is an international language there will always be a need for it , but what I think hurt the industry the most was FREE BEATS. Great Promotional tool ..YES... but they devalues your work, talent, and brand. And I agree "Selling Beats won't make you rich , selling your Brand Will" . And alot of Industry artist dont even go to the "Main Stream" Producers anymore because they can find a young up in coming producer who makes the same kind of beats their looking for. So it all ties down to how strong your marketing is for your brand!!!
 
I hate free and dirt cheap beats as much as the next producer but you can't say it started with that ... that comes from free software which makes sense for someone to give away their music, since there's little to no investment made, and that comes from technology in general, but as a whole, people not wanting to pay for things & technology making it possible for people not to pay is the root ... no one buys albums, people stop getting paychecks & stop making payments out, everybody gets hit, hardware/software equipment developers, producers, labels, artists, etc. ... I know most producers didn't think all the music they downloaded in college was gonna lead to themselves being the one not able to eat, but it is what it is, there's not turning back, so you just gotta figure out how to maneuver the way things are
 
fataltone said:
good to see you're about to get off the ground with you consulting business

but sometimes a consultant/business coach needs some consulting because they are too close to their company and can miss some opportunities to make more money or slim down overhead

I like to pose to you a question you posed to me a while back

what innovative things specifically can you do for a artist...
and I use your same example you gave me Neo-singer that writes,producing,etc.

what could you do to help further their career and help them gain visibility.

hope to hear from you
THIS IS NOT A BLAST just a question from another music professional
you might be able to help me see some things I'm not see with my media/ent company
my site business stuff is under the WALKING ON WATER SECTIONMerry Christmas celebrating the Invasion Day (the day that was chose to celebrate the birth of Christ)
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Excellent question.


My services come with about 20 years of industry knowledge and insights. My services come with a unique understanding of THE CUSTOMER. My services come with 20 years in the technology sector, which we all know is at the forefront of all business today.


That Neo Soul singer...I'll do the following for him.


1) Revenue Streams - Turn 2 revenue streams (selling music and doing shows) into 5 revenue streams.
2) Image Consulting - Ensuring his image compliments his music, and is unique within the market place
3) Market Analysis - Analyzing the current offerings, and ensuring the artists music/image/persona fills a void within the music industry..aka giving him his own lane
4) Executive Production - Managing his project from conception to completion, to ensure quality is second to none.
5) Innovative Marketing Strategy - I'll show him how to not only GET into the public's consciousness, but stay there.
6) Social Network - My services come with expert level know how in leveraging social networking to establish and cultivate relationships with the public.


Now exactly HOW I accomplish this, is all privileged information...trade secrets...competitive advantage.



But those are just some of the things that I do in the realm of consulting. All without a $10,000 up front budget.
 
IanMathews said:
Rappers are not the only market you can be targeting. TV/ads/film. Hip-Hop beats are everywhere on TV. Some of them are 10-, 15-, 30-second clips... but somebody made them, and somebody else paid for them.
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I know right. It's time to wake up. As long as the internet exist the market will never be saturated, rappers don't want beats from the same producers over and over. Also they need different beats for every album or mixtape or project they do.

Also, you can sell your music for tv/ads/films/games/youtube/presentations or whatever like you said...

I had to laugh again at people who are mad at free beats. I used to be mad at that too, but it in no way effects you. It doesn't effect your sells either, because loyal customers will buy your stuff no matter what the cost is. A loyal customer is way more valuable than some random person that just wants to "buy a beat"

I'm thinking of giving some of mine away for free. It's a form of viral marketing for one.

Direct-to-fan is the future now. Stop trying to run a beat selling business and do what you love. Make beats. The trick to selling beats is to build relationships. Loyal fans will buy from someone they trust and have an emotional connection with. They will promote for you and buy. But they don't want to see some marketing guru or PR expert, so don't get caught up in buying all these "how to sell beats" kits or being too professional and formal.

Stop trying to sell music and let your music sell itself. Hell if you get 1 loyal customer they will buy from you over and over and over. Imagine if you got just 10 of them. Think of just getting 25 loyal customers and all 25 of them buying one beat from you for $20. Mind you a "loyal customer" is not the same as a "beat buyer".

Just be social on the net, network, be yourself.

Other than beats I am composing music for independent video games, also releasing my composed music royalty-free and "tweet to download now" but will make them "fan sets own price" once i got more traffic.
 
MrJames851 said:
yea he talked about that in that XXL Mag article about the changing producer climate ... he's pretty selective about the production he does too, if its not a Jay Electronica type, its gonna be something on a big commercial level
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well im sure hes still spending rocafella money lol. he can be picky. at some point people need to move beyond just making albums cuts and singles and realize that there is way more money in making music for other venues like TV, Video games, movies ect. I am moving more towards sound design for that reason.

BeanTheBeast said:
Music is an international language there will always be a need for it , but what I think hurt the industry the most was FREE BEATS. Great Promotional tool ..YES... but they devalues your work, talent, and brand. And I agree "Selling Beats won't make you rich , selling your Brand Will" . And alot of Industry artist dont even go to the "Main Stream" Producers anymore because they can find a young up in coming producer who makes the same kind of beats their looking for. So it all ties down to how strong your marketing is for your brand!!!
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people will make their own music. thats the era we are in now. people make music for themselves and their friends and think it belongs on the radio when it doesnt fit. free beats, free tools ect aren't hurting anything because only broke people are really going to look into this avenue seriously
 
Majestic Mastermind said:
Direct-to-fan is the future now. Stop trying to run a beat selling business and do what you love. Make beats. The trick to selling beats is to build relationships. Loyal fans will buy from someone they trust and have an emotional connection with. They will promote for you and buy. But they don't want to see some marketing guru or PR expert, so don't get caught up in buying all these "how to sell beats" kits or being too professional and formal.

Stop trying to sell music and let your music sell itself. Hell if you get 1 loyal customer they will buy from you over and over and over. Imagine if you got just 10 of them. Think of just getting 25 loyal customers and all 25 of them buying one beat from you for $20. Mind you a "loyal customer" is not the same as a "beat buyer".

Just be social on the net, network, be yourself.
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Exactly. I couldn't have worded it better.
 
j.troup said:
Excellent question.


My services come with about 20 years of industry knowledge and insights. My services come with a unique understanding of THE CUSTOMER. My services come with 20 years in the technology sector, which we all know is at the forefront of all business today.


That Neo Soul singer...I'll do the following for him.


1) Revenue Streams - Turn 2 revenue streams (selling music and doing shows) into 5 revenue streams.
2) Image Consulting - Ensuring his image compliments his music, and is unique within the market place
3) Market Analysis - Analyzing the current offerings, and ensuring the artists music/image/persona fills a void within the music industry..aka giving him his own lane
4) Executive Production - Managing his project from conception to completion, to ensure quality is second to none.
5) Innovative Marketing Strategy - I'll show him how to not only GET into the public's consciousness, but stay there.
6) Social Network - My services come with expert level know how in leveraging social networking to establish and cultivate relationships with the public.


Now exactly HOW I accomplish this, is all privileged information...trade secrets...competitive advantage.



But those are just some of the things that I do in the realm of consulting. All without a $10,000 up front budget.
Click to expand...

my experience level is more around 7 years and
I don't a artist/producer to have a $10,000 upfront budget but it would be nice

I mean for a new artist/producer $10,000 budget might sound like a bit much...
but it's a small amount when you're
talking about recording/mixing/mastering/promotion/websites/imaging(clothes,shoes,hair)/etc....

don't you agree unless you're working a percentage of the artists/producers total earnings

which to me is more of a manager

and executive producer like Puff Daddy was mostly when first starting Bad Boy Records

when I plan more intense involvement in a artist's career I rather work with an artist I can sign to my media/ent company

do you plan on signing any of the artist you consult/manage...or just pure work for hire

blessing on your company keep up to date on your site when it grand opening mines is Jan.1st but it's live now
 
Well some ppl nowadays want everything free. hence this is what hurt album sales bro
 
fataltone said:
my experience level is more around 7 years and
I don't a artist/producer to have a $10,000 upfront budget but it would be nice

I mean for a new artist/producer $10,000 budget might sound like a bit much...
but it's a small amount when you're
talking about recording/mixing/mastering/promotion/websites/imaging(clothes,shoes,hair)/etc....
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Depends. With social networking, promotion costs is damn near negligible, if you work it right. Promotion of today doesn't consist of magazine ads, billboards, tv and radio. My approach is different, focused on building relationships with the customer. So my approach takes more TIME than MONEY.



fataltone said:
don't you agree unless you're working a percentage of the artists/producers total earnings

which to me is more of a manager

and executive producer like Puff Daddy was mostly when first starting Bad Boy Records
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My consulting strategy is to work WITH the management of the artist (if they have management). My people draw up the strategic plans, and the artist and their management execute those plans. Like a coach draws up the play for the players on the court/field.

If they don't have management (depending on the type of agreement we structure), then we take a more hands on approach. Eventually I'm going to look into developing a management arm as well, so everything can be in house.


As far as Executive Production goes, that's basically being a Project Manager of the music. If the music isn't right, and in line with the image and the market, then the rest of the efforts are for nothing. So strict Quality Controls have to be in place to ensure the music is up to par.


fataltone said:
when I plan more intense involvement in a artist's career I rather work with an artist I can sign to my media/ent company

do you plan on signing any of the artist you consult/manage...or just pure work for hire
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A combination of both. There will be the work for hire aspect of things, for those who just need the a la carte services. And there will also be those artists (that are hand picked) that will have a closer business relationship with my company, and depending on their goals, are still free to pursue other business relationships (distribution, etc).

I'm not interested in starting a record company and signing artists. That approach doesn't work. My goal is to show artists/organizations HOW to make money off of their music in 2012 and beyond. I'll make money off of making them money.


If they go out and get a record deal and sell 10 zillion records because of the foundation my company has laid for them, and implementing the strategies that we've put forth, then we've succeeded. Then from there we can say "look what we did for So And So...). That's a win for us, which speaks volumes as to our abilities.


fataltone said:
blessing on your company keep up to date on your site when it grand opening mines is Jan.1st but it's live now
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To you as well. I'm finishing up the website now, and should be prepared to for the official launch of the company, and our first client within the next 30-60 days.
 
@ Fataltone, don't think this is fallout from the Christ thread but that website doesn't look professional. Most people will form an opinion based on the professionalism of your presentation (your website).

Your website is a bit crowded and has no real color scheme / overall theme.

Don't take this the wrong way... but it should get a make over before you roll it out.

... again this is not an attack or anything, It's just an opinion.

... well, I just Googled "music consulting" and all of the independent sites look pretty amateurish. I'm 8 pages in and not one pro looking page yet. There are a lot of people doing it, it seems.

It says the average music consultants salary is around $50 G's...

Music Consultant Salaries, Average Salary & Jobs Pay

I guess I'm in the game too. I'll just cheat off of your page... I'm joking. Make that site look pro though.

$0.02
 
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BiggRome 2.0 said:
@ Fataltone, don't think this is fallout from the Christ thread but that website doesn't look professional. Most people will form an opinion based on the professionalism of your presentation (your website).

Your website is a bit crowded and has no real color scheme / overall theme.

Don't take this the wrong way... but it should get a make over before you roll it out.

... again this is not an attack or anything, It's just an opinion.

... well, I just Googled "music consulting" and all of the independent sites look pretty amateurish. I'm 8 pages in and not one pro looking page yet. There are a lot of people doing it, it seems.

It says the average music consultants salary is around $50 G's...

Music Consultant Salaries, Average Salary & Jobs Pay

I guess I'm in the game too. I'll just cheat off of your page... I'm joking. Make that site look pro though.

$0.02
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Rome...


Funny, I did the same thing, just to see how people were implementing the whole "consulting" thing, what services they were offering, what price points, etc.

And the majority of their sites looked mad 1998-ish. I was like wow, I would never take you people seriously with these crappy websites. How you got charge somebody racks on racks, and you can't even put $1500 into getting your website done up correctly?
 
Spektor said:
what is exactly DIRECT-TO FAN?
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It means you don't need a middleman anymore. There's no need for a record label or any of that anymore. Just the music artist and the music listener. All you need is your own blog or website and an e-commerce widget like vibedeck, vibenation, myflashstore that you can put on your blog or website that allows you to sell your music directly to the customer/fan.

The whole point is to get loyal fans not transient fans that come and go. You want to have 20 loyal customers rather than 5,000 "beat buyers" coming to your site. Out of 5,000 "beat buyers" maybe a handful may buy and you have to go through a lot of marketing to get that amount of traffic to your website.

The 20 loyal customers will always be there. Not only that but you can sell your beats at ANY price you want. You can set your beat prices at $100 or even $500 if you wanted, loyal customers will buy them because they trust you.

That should be the focus. But fans will only remain loyal to you if you appear as a human not a marketing machine manipulating their emotions, so just be yourself and drop the PR talk.

Take a rapper like Canibus for example, his fanbase buys all of his music and even promotes FOR him.

There's money for all of us out here. The market is no where NEAR saturated. Don't focus on a high number of visitors to your site though, focus on building close relationships with people. Do that by just being yourself.

Just do what you love, be social on the net and your music will definitely sell itself.

Sorry for the long speech but I believe this is where we are at in 2012.
 
j.troup said:
Rome...


Funny, I did the same thing, just to see how people were implementing the whole "consulting" thing, what services they were offering, what price points, etc.

And the majority of their sites looked mad 1998-ish. I was like wow, I would never take you people seriously with these crappy websites. How you got charge somebody racks on racks, and you can't even put $1500 into getting your website done up correctly?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did the search to try to find an example to show what I "thought" one should look like. Not too many colors, not overdone, something that got to the point... but, no luck. Those sites all said "I'm not taking this seriously, call if you want to though..."

Some had more info than others, some were ridiculous price wise.

Personally, I think that people really won't read a wall of text, they'll read short blurbs that get right to what they're on the site for. If somebody needed to do a lot of explaining, they should dress the part and shoot a quality promo vid and put it on their site and maybe have a few testimonials from past clients. They can use tabs for all of the other info. If I landed on a page with 5,000 words on the front page... I'd get cross-eyed.
 
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BiggRome 2.0 said:
Yeah, I did the search to try to find an example to show what I "thought" one should look like. Not too many colors, not overdone, something that got to the point... but, no luck. Those sites all said "I'm not taking this seriously, call if you want to though..."

Some had more info than others, some were ridiculous price wise.

Personally, I think that people really won't read a wall of text, they'll read short blurbs that get right to what they're on the site for. If somebody needed to do a lot of explaining, they should dress the part and shoot a quality promo vid and put it on their site and maybe have a few testimonials from past clients. They can use tabs for all of the other info. If I landed on a page with 5,000 words on the front page... I'd get cross-eyed.
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And those are exactly the things I'm keeping in mind as I design this site. Not alot of crazy colors, banners, etc. Don't make it look like a circus. Clean lines, simple color scheme, and short blurbs that get straight to the point. If they want to READ MORE, then there's a READ MORE button, where they can get more information.


And WHO ON EARTH PUTS PRICES ON A CONSULTING WEBSITE?!!! That's crazy. They need to contact you and talk to you to get prices.



lol @ the "I'm not taking this seriously, call if you want". The impression I got was "sure, I'll take your money..."



I'm trying to avoid all of those pitfalls. Website is being designed just like my log. Simple, Clean and To The Point.


Hopefully I achieve that.
 
j.troup said:
And those are exactly the things I'm keeping in mind as I design this site. Not alot of crazy colors, banners, etc. Don't make it look like a circus. Clean lines, simple color scheme, and short blurbs that get straight to the point. If they want to READ MORE, then there's a READ MORE button, where they can get more information.


And WHO ON EARTH PUTS PRICES ON A CONSULTING WEBSITE?!!! That's crazy. They need to contact you and talk to you to get prices.



lol @ the "I'm not taking this seriously, call if you want". The impression I got was "sure, I'll take your money..."



I'm trying to avoid all of those pitfalls. Website is being designed just like my log. Simple, Clean and To The Point.


Hopefully I achieve that.
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Yeah, the sites you've put up before all looked pro. I think fataltone should look into a template or get a designer or something. Some stuff on his site isn't centered or spaced properly.

Not hatin' Fataltone. I just want you to give a good impression out of the gate.

Cuss me out if you want to...
 
BiggRome 2.0 said:
Yeah, the sites you've put up before all looked pro. I think fataltone should look into a template or get a designer or something. Some stuff on his site isn't centered or spaced properly.

Not hatin' Fataltone. I just want you to give a good impression out of the gate.

Cuss me out if you want to...
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I would hope he doesn't cuss you out. He's the very one that said



fataltone said:
but sometimes a consultant/business coach needs some consulting because they are too close to their company and can miss some opportunities to make more money or slim down overhead
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It is what it is. And coming from a potential client's POV, i think that it's valuable.




Hell, I changed up some stuff on my website based on what people on FP said. And it was a good call. Cuz they saw some things I didn't.
 
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