Why YOU Aren't Getting Paid For YOUR Beats - Part 2

Written by Jugrnaut

Why YOU Aren't Getting Paid For YOUR Beats - Part 2

We are back for more. In part one we discussed the main 3 issues as to why you weren't being paid.

1. Producers under selling their work.

2. Artists not respecting producers because they're under selling their work.

3. Mixtapes replacing albums as the new medium of music.

We're going to break down the issues and present solutions. Artist and Producers come together to make songs. Magic if you will. It’s a joint effort. What we're seeing is one side isn't respecting the other and the music as a whole is suffering.

Beat Makers/Producers - Your music is worth more than $5. I repeat, your music is worth more than $5. I can barely buy a Happy Meal at McDonalds for $5. The price of your beats should never reach these single or even double digit lows.

The Artists know you’re under priced. But as production cost comes straight out of their pockets they're not telling you.

The Labels know you’re under priced. They're laughing at you all the way to the bank.

The Music Publishers know you’re under priced. You sell your rights away so they’re really laughing at you, as this is your retirement income.

The TV/Film Industry knows you’re under priced. But make too much bread to give a shit.

The above referenced are just a small portion of the industry that regard you as a joke and will not tell you the money you're missing. Everyone knows except you. You've been lied to. Less is not more in this case. Don’t despair we're here to change that.

While new producer #1 is hustling to sell 500 beats at $5 to make $2,500, new producer #2 just made $2,500 selling 1 beat, and will continue to make money off that beat, even if he decided he didn’t want to make music anymore. That’s the position you need to strive for. But the only way for this to happen is for producers to band together and set a standard scale of pay.

If everyone is using the same standard, no one gets underpaid (per se). A producer doesn’t have to worry about "if I charge him, I won’t make the project, etc., etc". The best music wins (hopefully).

With our 15 years in the industry as producers and label executives, we've developed a scale to use as a reference and to reflect on the current state of the industry. You should always consult legal counsel when it’s available to you, before signing any contracts. The following are production advances. An advance is a payout of future royalties. You should do you best to negotiate 2%-3% (points) for producer royalties with escalations and seek to retain all your writers and publishers shares. Remember, this is to be used as only a point of reference, and is not intended to replace legal counsel. Always negotiate as much as you can without compromising the deal.

New Producer $500-$3000 - Producers with fewer than 10 major label record releases

Mid Level Producer $3500-$7500 - Producers with 10+ major label record releases

Star Producer $10,000 and Up - Producers of top 40 radio singles/with 10+ major label record releases

Keep in mind as a producer; you're always 1 record away from that big radio record, catapulting you into star producer status.

Some might look at the above scale, and say, Jug "new/unsigned artist can't afford to pay that much for production"...

I tend to disagree. These days, artists tend to pay for everything else, (jewelry, sneakers, rims, strippers, etc) before paying for the most critical aspect of their career.

Their production.

Production in most instances will insure an artist success. An artist must invest in quality production in order to truly succeed. I repeat, an artist must invest in quality production in order to truly succeed.

If they are serious about their craft they should invest in quality production. If they need to make a payment plan, fine. As long as they understand there is a value associated with your production services. When artists have to pay for production, studio, etc, they tend to invest more time and effort into their music. When production is free, they are more prone to just lay anything down, as it’s really no cost to them. It's like just say whatever on the track, and if I don’t like it, I'll just leak it on a Mixtape, and do some more, until I get the right one. We’ve already discussed how the Mixtape game affects producers.

Then people have the nerve to ask why music sales are down? It’s due to an over-abundance of poor quality, free music and conditioning fans to think music is free. Why pay for your album after I got a dozen of your Mixtapes free?

Beat Makers/Producers - Your music is worth more than $5. I repeat, your music is worth more than $5. I can barely buy a pack of socks at Wal-Mart for $5. The price of your beats should never reach these single or even double digit lows.

To put yourself in a better position to get paid, learn to protect your work.

1. Copyright your material. Learn to copyright your material before submitting music to various artists. Copyright info can be found here.

2. Register with a performing rights society like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

3. Read up on the Harry Fox Agency. If you have had production work released, and already have a publishing company, you definitely need to contact them, as you are more than likely missing out on money due to you.

4. Read up on the Sound Exchange.

5. Keep a record of your production projects/submissions. In my experience its best to send email when you can. CD's tend to get lost by artists. If you do submit CD's be sure to have your production name and valid contact info on the CD. Sometimes this helps, most times it doesn't.

6. Keep track of the artist you submit your music to. Meaning, keep track of their twitter, face book, mixtapes, etc. Sometimes artist will do a record, not contact the producer or not know who produced it at all. This is where #1 comes in handy.

7. Familiarize your self with invoice templates. This is a business people, start acting like it. If you don't bill a person, how can you expect to get paid?

8. Find a reputable entertainment attorney. Signing a bad contract on a hit record is every producer’s nightmare. That 1 bad contract could be your last in this business. If your destiny is to be a 1 hit producer, at least make sure you get paid for it.

Remember, production is the platform in which artists need to stand on to make it in this business. Artists have to respect your contribution, as we have to respect theirs. When things are balanced, the best music is made and everyone wins.

We're looking into starting a producer’s coalition, or network if you will, where producers can access information as it relates to production, publishing, contracts, projects etc. As veterans in this business, we can't stand by and watch producers getting taken advantage of, and as a unit we can work together to make it better for everyone.

If you're interested just register here for updates etc.

Hopefully the info serves you well. If you have additional questions, hit me up on twitter, and we'll try and get you the info you need to succeed.

Jug