Why free Beats May Not Be a Good Idea
Let’s Talk About Free Beats and Instrumentals
No one ever said making music was easy. Sometimes you get in the zone and beats that absolutely slaps just fall right into your fingers. Far too often, however, it feels like you’re in an inspiration dead zone and those beats you keep hoping will eventually materialize just don’t spring to life. The temptation to search online for free beats to download is pretty strong in those moments. And why not? Who likes spending money buying beats when you can get them for free? Hold up, though. Most free beats aren’t as free as they seem. There are some significant risks and consequences that come with using free beats compared to the real and lasting benefit of buying beats or leasing beats for Rap, R&B, Gospel, or Hip Hop instrumental music.
3 Biggest Problems with Using Free Beats
We don’t blame you for being tempted by free beats. Especially when you’re a new or aspiring artist, saving money where you can is good business. But free beats are free for a reason, and there are major problems you might face if you decide to use free beats vs. buying beats or leasing beats.
1. Your originality suffers when you use royalty-free beats
Let’s start with the originality factor. Fans love artists who offer sounds. Like bees to flowers, music fans absolutely crave original music and beats. And that’s the thing with original beats; when they’re good, people will listen, and your social media presence can go from zero to one hundred just off the strength and character of your beats or instrumentals.
Alternatively, when you download free beats, you face two big problems:
- Free beats are not limited to how many people can use them
- People will recognize you used free beats and question your authenticity
- Some still have annoying and embarrassing vocal tags on the instrumental
Consider the first point. Free beats websites don’t restrict the number of downloads. You might love the beat you hear and download it, but it’s quite likely that a few hundred (or thousand) people did the exact same as you. And they’re all using those beats in their music. Someone trying out your music may be turned off because they recognize your beats from dozens of other new artists’ music they’ve tried.
That raises the second point. When people hear your music and recognize that your beats sound exactly like the beats from other artists, they may assume you’re just ripping off other people’s music. Major artists do that all this all the time and often get called out on it. Fans can be forgiving for big-name artists caught using other peoples’ beats, but when you’re a lesser-known artist, potential fans may just write your off without a second thought.
2. Many free beats can’t be monetized
The negative impact of your originality aside, a major problem with free beats is that many of them cannot be properly monetized. Unless you’re making music just for your own personal enjoyment or practicing your craft, you’re eventually going to try to sell your songs and albums. If you’re using free beats, however, your ability to sell what you produce will be limited to the licenses and copyright holders controlling those beats.
Some services offer what’s called “royalty-free” beats. Don’t be confused here, though. “Royalty-free” does not mean you can just take the music and use it however you want, and it doesn’t mean you pay nothing to use those beats. Royalty-free beats are tracks you get with a one-time purchase instead of paying royalties over time for using them.
What’s more, websites that advertise royalty-free beats often include a large number of restrictions on how you can use those beats. Some even only allow you to use the music you create with those beats on YouTube videos, but only if you connect your videos to their service. These sites often don’t allow you to remix and sell their royalty-free beats through music streaming services, direct digital downloads, or physical media like CDs.
The only beats that are truly “free” are copyright-free beats. These are beats that nobody currently owns, and as such, you can use them however you want and monetize them however you want. Realistically, though, you’re going to have a hard time finding beats that are truly copyright-free. And if you do, those beats will either be massively overused by other artists, or they’ll be of exceptionally poor quality.
3. You may lose the right to use the free beats
Since copyright-free beats are the only beats you can truly use without restrictions (and again, they’re usually rare, overused, or of questionable quality), you never truly “own” the beats you might download for free. Short of stealing someone else’s beats without permission (hint: don’t do that if you value your music career!) free beats are always at risk of having their free licenses revoked by the owner.
Especially with royalty-free beats, the original artist still maintains control over how those beats can be used. At almost any time, the artist who owns the original beats you’ve used for free may choose to rescind your right to use their music. Or they may change the status of their music to now require royalties. Or they may completely disallow any use of their music. Any changes to the license agreement for your previously free beats will change what you can do with the songs you’ve created with those beats.
In some cases, you could even be sued by the original artist if you continue to use what you thought were free beats, especially if you’ve made money off of them. Using copyrighted material without permission is considered copyright infringement, and courts allow rights holders to sue for anywhere from $200 to $150,000 for each infringed work. Needless to say, we put “free beats” in quotes for a reason here. Nothing is ever really free, especially when it comes to music. And there’s definitely a bigger risk to using free music than many new artists realize.
Buying Beats or Leasing Beats Is Better
Conclusion
Free beats may not be the best choice to solve your writer’s block, but you’re not completely out of options. Instead, considering buying or leasing beats. Whether you need beats for Rap, R&B, or Gospel songs, buying or leasing beats gives you far more security and transparency with what you can and cannot do with the beats / instrumentals you use.
With Mo4Beats, you can buy completely exclusive beats that have never been used before and mix them into your singles or albums. And once you buy one of our exclusive beats, it’s completely yours to use, no strings attached. What’s more, we offer beats for any type of artist on any type of budget. Our beats are hot enough to help you break into the industry with fresh sounds that help you get taken seriously.
Not sure you’re ready to purchase exclusive rights? Not a problem. Mo4Beats also offers flexible leasing options. Once your songs start selling, you can always upgrade to exclusive rights for the beats you’ve leasing.
Super-charge your music career right here, right now. Buy or lease exclusive beats for everything from Hip Hop to Gospel. Then use your fresh and original beats to win new fans, grow your presence, and break into the music industry.