Why YOU Aren't Getting Paid For YOUR Beats - Part 1
Written by Jugrnaut
Why YOU Aren't Getting Paid For YOUR Beats - Part 1
We get a lot of email from up and coming/new producers asking the same question...
How do you go about getting paid for your beats/tracks, and what should I charge?
This here can pose as a semi tough question. While I can't tell you what you should charge, I can sure as hell tell you what you shouldn’t be charging.
Creating a beat/track isn’t the easiest thing to do, and if you're like us, you take pride and time to do what you do best.
Then you spend more time marketing the music, getting it to the right artist, writers to get the song recorded. All of this is the great part about doing music, but it can also be extremely frustrating and time consuming.
Now the song is done. Sometimes the artists are so excited they put it out on mixtapes, they start to perform them at their shows, post them on facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. So where does all of this leave the producer?
If you're not careful, it can leave you with ZERO.
Music is intellectual property (creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce). - The great thing about it, is that you do the work once and it keeps earning for you over time, which are royalties whether it be production royalties, or publishing royalties. If a producer does a record that isn't published (released commercially) the earning potential is severely reduced sometimes negated altogether.
In today’s market where music sales are extremely low, artists are losing their record deals, going independent and are more prone to release mixtapes rather than albums. Good for the artist, as they are able to keep giving music to fans and stay on the road, but a nightmare for producers.
While mixtapes are a great promo tool for artist, it leaves the producers, with little to nothing.
For one, mixtape sales are not monitored. In a traditional record release a producer is paid a producers advance in addition to royalties for every unit manufactured or downloaded. With mixtapes this isn't the case. For mixtapes, the artists rarely pay producer advances and do not pay royalties. Meanwhile, artist can get paid through bookings strictly off of mixtape buzz, performing the records you produced. Should the producer get paid? Yes. Then why doesn't it happen?
I'll tell you why.
Nowadays some (not all) artists are under the impression that quality production isn't worth paying for.
The reason for this is there is a new set of online producers who are leasing & selling exclusive rights to their beats for very low dollar amounts. They have been misguided into thinking that the internet has a pool of people paying for music, any by reducing the price you can sell more beats. Sounds reasonable but this really isn't the case, as most people, especially internet savvy people, hardly pay for anything online.
I've seen producers selling/leasing (?) beats for as little as $5 dollars and giving artist the right to perform at shows and press up 1000's of CD's. This is exactly why; no one wants to pay YOU for your beats. Your production peers have set the bar so low that YOU can't eat. A producer with a good track record in the industry can bypass this, but upcoming/new producers are left out in the cold. If an artist sold 20 CD's at .50, they'd make more money than you did, if you’re selling beats for $5. Smfh.
I ask you, is this fair to you as a producer? That your prodution peers are selling exclusive rights for a few hundred bucks, some cases even less. Exclusive rights? That means that you removed yourself from the future income royalty streams. Downloads, ringtones, radio, internet radio, etc.. Exclusive rights should almost never be granted and if they are, there should be high advance money to cover a portion of the potential revenue streams you might miss out on with stipulations that still entitle you to at least some of your royalties.
But Jug, "It's great promotion" or "I can get heard" or "I need to get it out there" or "Indie artist can't afford to pay", blah, blah blah.
For starters it is promotion. Is it great? It’s hard to say. Did you even get credited properly? Can other artist even find the producer if there are no credits? In most cases no one knows who produces anything on mixtapes as liner notes and credits aren't a requirement. Sometimes this is done purposely to keep you from getting any shine and more production work, which would create leverage for you to get paid. INDUSTRY BULLSHIT, but I digress.. You don't really think they want to see you come up now, do you?
Yes you need to be heard, but not for free. There needs to be some sort of commitment to paying you something for your music as the artist will be able to sell mixtapes (without you knowing) and do shows for whatever price they can get. Once your track is put out, it’s extremely hard to get someone else to pay for it. No one wants second and third dibbs on beats.
As for indie artist, they need to pay to play. While we understand that indie resources are limited, they have resources! Don't sell yourself short. You will be setting a standard and when an artist with resources comes calling, there's no reason for them to pay you, as you haven't charged anyone else significantly!
In part two, we'll discuss how to protect yourself, and how to get yourself paid for your hard work!
