As an aspiring hip hop producer, you face the same challenge as your up and coming peers: how to sell beats against so much competition? The answer is to find ways to stand out from the crowd. This article tells you how.
Just to get everyone on the same page before we start, there's a bare minimum you need to do to sell beats: You need good music, you need to connect potential clients, you need to close the deal (hopefully in writing,) and you need to get paid. The reality is that every hip hop producer out there is trying to accomplish these same things and most of them never reach the "get paid" part.
Most aspiring hip hop producers create a lot of music, some of it good, and then they post it to sites like Soundclick and hope the checks start rolling in. No real marketing or promotion of any kind - just half baked attempts to connect with clients by sending out emails or posting comments like "check out my beats!" on FutureProducers.com. That little effort won't cut it. I've tried and failed along with every other producer starting out. Then I learned 3 ways to take things to the next level:
1) Build your own beat site. This step alone puts you head and shoulders above the competition because visitors to your site will only hear your music. There's no chance of them clicking on the next producers link and buying someone else's beat. On top of that, when you promote your own site, you can connect with those visitors how ever you want. You can give beats away, you can charge premium prices, or you can trade beats for email addresses to build a customer database. Use simple tools like WordPress and e-junkie.com to build the site and process orders.
2) Release albums of your beats on iTunes and other digital distribution stores. There's no reason to not release your albums on iTunes using Tunecore or CD Baby or a similar service. How many producers do this? Not enough. And once you do you place yourself in another league. You stop waiting for labels or artists and start connecting directly with your fans, which is the way of the new music business.
3) Make videos. Here's a tip - YouTube is now the second largest search property behind Google. If you can't be found on YouTube, your missing connections with potential fans and clients. Think about it, scenes of you walking down the street while your beat is playing is a video. A camera pointed out of you car window while your beat is playing is a video. A slide show of pictures of your of your city with the beat playing is a video. Anything goes. Use a site like Animoto.com to simply load up some pictures and your beat and let them create a video for you. You can also sell videos on iTunes so there's more potential income.
VERY FEW producers are taking these three steps. Step up and get serious about your business. Not only will you position yourself to sell beats, you're also showing the industry that you're running a business and not just making beats with no idea how to sell them.
Just to get everyone on the same page before we start, there's a bare minimum you need to do to sell beats: You need good music, you need to connect potential clients, you need to close the deal (hopefully in writing,) and you need to get paid. The reality is that every hip hop producer out there is trying to accomplish these same things and most of them never reach the "get paid" part.
Most aspiring hip hop producers create a lot of music, some of it good, and then they post it to sites like Soundclick and hope the checks start rolling in. No real marketing or promotion of any kind - just half baked attempts to connect with clients by sending out emails or posting comments like "check out my beats!" on FutureProducers.com. That little effort won't cut it. I've tried and failed along with every other producer starting out. Then I learned 3 ways to take things to the next level:
1) Build your own beat site. This step alone puts you head and shoulders above the competition because visitors to your site will only hear your music. There's no chance of them clicking on the next producers link and buying someone else's beat. On top of that, when you promote your own site, you can connect with those visitors how ever you want. You can give beats away, you can charge premium prices, or you can trade beats for email addresses to build a customer database. Use simple tools like WordPress and e-junkie.com to build the site and process orders.
2) Release albums of your beats on iTunes and other digital distribution stores. There's no reason to not release your albums on iTunes using Tunecore or CD Baby or a similar service. How many producers do this? Not enough. And once you do you place yourself in another league. You stop waiting for labels or artists and start connecting directly with your fans, which is the way of the new music business.
3) Make videos. Here's a tip - YouTube is now the second largest search property behind Google. If you can't be found on YouTube, your missing connections with potential fans and clients. Think about it, scenes of you walking down the street while your beat is playing is a video. A camera pointed out of you car window while your beat is playing is a video. A slide show of pictures of your of your city with the beat playing is a video. Anything goes. Use a site like Animoto.com to simply load up some pictures and your beat and let them create a video for you. You can also sell videos on iTunes so there's more potential income.
VERY FEW producers are taking these three steps. Step up and get serious about your business. Not only will you position yourself to sell beats, you're also showing the industry that you're running a business and not just making beats with no idea how to sell them.
A. Zar is a producer, songwriter, and author of How To Sell Beats: The Underground Beat Sellers Report.
For more business tips, opportunities, and resources for beat makers, visit http://TheBeatBusiness.com
For more business tips, opportunities, and resources for beat makers, visit http://TheBeatBusiness.com
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