Buying Beats Online: Everything You Need to Know
Why You Should Lease or Buy Exclusive Beats as an Artist?
In the world of Hip Hop in R&B, there is a constant demand for new music. People listen to music at work, while driving, while at home doing chores, while working out, some even listen to music to fall asleep. There’s literally someone listening to music 24 hours of the day. On top of that music plays on every reality show, sports games, commercials, urban movies, etc..
The reason this is important is, because from a business point of view, where music is the product, there is an ongoing need for new music. As an artist this means there is an infinite amount of opportunities to earn income for doing what you love, which is making music.
That being said in order for you to began profiting as an artist, and for others to see value in the music you create, you have to have original music, that is not in jeopardy of another artist or producer claiming rights and dividends / money for. There are countless stories of artist making hit songs, only to be sued by other artist for not obtaining a proper license or permission to use the song or instrumental before hand.
By using another artist work for profit without clearance, you are putting yourself in a possible bad situation where you won’t make a dime off the song, or worse, you could find yourself in debt because of the fees and court costs. Either way, most record labels, and radio stations, are looking for original music, where the profit margins are higher.
So if you are looking to be taken serious in the music industry, having original music, and the rights to use the music, is the way to go, especially if you hope to make a living off your craft.
This is where leasing and buying exclusive beats come into play.
What Does it mean to Lease or Buy a Beat Exclusively?
Now that we know the importance of having original music, let’s dive into how you can get your hands on it as an artist to add your vocals for a song.
First thing to know is there are two main licenses for buying beats, Leases, and Exclusives. For now let’s just talk about leasing beats.
Leasing Beats
The most cost efficient way for a new artist to get a license, to use a producers instrumentals, is by leasing it. This simply means that the artist has made a payment to the producer for permission to use the beat. Leases vary in price, from producer to producer, and song to song, but typically a lease is around $20 – $25 a track. The rights to these beats are not exclusive, so the beat can be sold to other artist looking to lease the same beat. Also there’s normally limits on the number of sales or profit made from the track, typically capping off at around $5000 – $10,000 of earnings. Not too bad of a profit for a $20 investment
The reason leases are so popular among producers and artists, is because it gives the artist an opportunity to record original music, without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars, that is normally the cost for an exclusive license. It also allows producers to work with new artists, and be compensated for the time spent making the song, without losing their rights to the instrumental.
Let me explain that last point further. A typical Exclusive beat sells for $250 – $1,000,000, depending on the artist and producer involved. If a producer sold all the rights to use the instrumental for only $25, they’d be missing out on money they could have earned if they had chose to sell it to a more establish artist exclusive.
Be honest, no one would limit themselves to make $2o, when they could potentially make thousands.
So basically this agreement works for both sides. The producer gets to work artist who typically have a limited budget, and the artist gets to the right to use original music, without spending a whole lot of money on production cost.
Buying an Exclusive License for a Beat
Exclusive licenses are recommended for more established artist, those who have a fanbase already willing to pay for their music / shows, or simply those who have a super high confidence in the music they’re created and feel that it will be worth the cost in the future. When an artist buys an exclusive beat, he is given the rights to record music and sell it without the restrictions of a lease.
Plus by having exclusive right to the instrumental, he can rest easy knowing that after him, no else can buy the beat again from the producer.
Beat Scenario 1 :
Rapper T Money has 251 active followers (they really show support) on his social media. His friends always ask him, “T Money when you gone drop another song”. He gets about 3 – 5 shares each post, and 15 – 25 comments.
T- Money would benefit from an exclusive beat.. he has an online buzz, and he can capitalize most on his music by getting his own beat with exclusive rights, and then publishing his music.. From potentials shows, streaming services, merchandise, royalties, and single sales, he could potentially earn thousands.
Beat Scenario 2:
Rap artist Johnny D. has been writing for years, and his friends constantly tell him “You got talent.. Your next”. Every time he raps people get excited and start moving along to the music.
Johnny D. would really benefit from an exclusive beat as well.. He has raw talent, that connects with his listeners. If he had his own song and rights, he could shop them to major labels / record companies as a demo.. He could also release it on streaming services as well and because it is new and raw, a lot of people will connect with it, which would result in profits for Johnny and a buzz in the music industry.
Beat Scenario 3:
Rappin Mike is a confident person who feels like it’s his destiny to make great music.. He doesn’t have a lot of followers, but he can strongly visualize his self having a top single on the charts.
Mike will definitely benefit from a Exclusive beat, cause he’s a star! What’s destined to happen will happen, so if he had exclusive rights, he could release a hit song, and sit back while it goes viral.. We’ve seen this many times from Soulja Boy to Lil Nas X.. They came out with one song and it took off from there! Money in the bank.. One thing can also learn from them, is you have to be ready for success.
Whether you sing or rap, look at each scenario and see if yours is similar, if it is, I’d recommend that you’d buy an exclusive beat.. If you’re not confident investing that much into your music at this point, then I would suggest starting out with leasing a beat, and seeing how the response is first.
Rappin It Up / Conclusion
Hopefully after reading this article you’ll chose Mo4beats when buying beats online. This website has been around many years and has been a trusted place for many artist to buy beats.
Wherever you choose to buy your instrumentals, the bare minimum I recommend for any rap artist who seriously wants to succeed in the music industry, would be to lease their own unique beat, instead of doing a remix to a current song like everyone else.. “Be unique, be successful. Be an artist”
Here are some beats for sale, that will help you have an advantage above the rest.