How do u sell beats? - How do u sell beats?

do you have to copy right your beats before you send them to a label for previewing....or is there an easier way??? i don't really wanna spend 30 dollars for copyrighting for ever beat cd i make....is there any easier way?????? how do you cats do it??

one [/color]

If you want to have some sort of protection from those sharks , then you BETTER copyright EVERTHING that you let them hear.
$30 for each and every song aint all that bad when you consider how much you can lose if your stuff gets totally jacked.
Don't be cheap. I made the same mistake and got jacked by a pretty popular " producer".
I thought , " these guys are pros , they wont steal my stuff."
Wrong.
Then you're just ####ed because NOBODY will ever believe you.
I aint even talking bout a lawsuit either , I'm saying that you will never be able to convince anyone that you got jacked.
I worked for and with a couple of labels , motsly small independent ones and this guy STILL jacked me.
The assumption is that you wont have your music protected.
Most of the stuff they hear is wack anyway but if a hot beat comes in and it aint properly secured .........................
C'mon man what do you think they're gonna do?
It's their business.
Record BUSINESS.
I am by no means trying to discourage you , I'm simply telling you that if you intend to make any money from them hearing your stuff , you better be able to prove it's yours because if it's hot and you can't protect your music , you better hope you have an honest man there at the label.
And they are about as rare as gold 1200s.
Actually , you can find a gold tecnics 1200.
Show me an honest person in the record business.
An honest a&r?
Stop playing.
Shoot at this point , you cant even get mad at them.
If you're silly enough to send them your best stuff without copyrights then you will get EXACTLY what you deserve.
Think about it.
Let me use an illustration.
If you had the hottest girl in town but your friends were all pimps , you wouldnt bring her around them unless you were damn sure that she loved you and wasnt going anywhere.
That beat is your hot girl and yes the a & r are the pimps.
Only difference , they aint your friends.
Why do I think I know so much?
I used to be one.
Not a big-time major label , top floor view of Manhattan but still , I learned the game and it was sick , that's why I left.
I'd rather be real and starve.
Guess I'm just silly that way.[/color]

WORD[/color]

While this subject is being discussed, someone please let me know the following:
Is copywriting the same as the ASCAP stuff?
How do I go about copywriting my music and/ or doing the ASCAP thing?

Peace


R.I.P. to J.M.J.[/color]

No , they are not the same thing.
A copyright simply gives you the legal legs to stand on in terms of protecting your material.
Actually it is what it says it is.
A right to copy.
You own it.
Now , don't be confused.
ASCAP simply looks after your royalties.
This includes public performances such as t.v. , radio , football games and even some bars!
That's real. You will probably not get rich from your song being played in a bar but hey I wouldnt mind an $1000 check every couple of months. That's if it blows up.
You see , signing up with ASCAP or BMI is essentially giving them the right to negotiate performance fees and also to collect them and distribute them to you at certain intervals in the year. No they will not help you negotiate a concert or anything like that. Actually I am an ASCAP member and I would advise you to visit their website ,www.ascap.com .
You should also check out BMI.
They are kind of similar but people like each one for whatever reason so look at them both.
Personally I havent had any problems with ASCAP yet.
Oh , I almost forgot.
In order to join  ASCAP , I'm not certain about BMI but I think it's the same , you must have a work that has already been published.
Don't get scared.
For this purpose , ' a published work ' is simply a song or beat that has been available commercially or even if you've just had it played on the radio.
So , if you havent , throw something to a local college station and you're all set.
I could go on and on but I dont wanna bore you guys much more.
If you really need some more help then email me and I'll do everything I can.[/color]

good looking out

Thanks[/color]

Can you make a whole "beat cd" and copyright that? So that you're not kicking out $30 everytime? Will that cover you as far as the individual beats on that cd you did?[/color]

oneeighty wrote:Can you make a whole "beat cd" and copyright that? So that you're not kicking out $30 everytime? Will that cover you as far as the individual beats on that cd you did?[/color]

Same question here.[/color]

Posted on Nov. 12 2002,12:20
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Quote (oneeighty @ Nov. 11 2002,19:54)
Can you make a whole "beat cd" and copyright that? So that you're not kicking out $30 everytime? Will that cover you as far as the individual beats on that cd you did?

Same question here.

Yo guys , sorry for taking so long but I thought that I answered this already.
i guess I must have fallen asleep and never sent the answer in.
No.
You MUST copyright each and every musical composition individually.
One fee for EACH song.
I know that sucks but for the protection it gives you............
Like i said , sorry it took me so long dudes , I'm on here about this time every night , but I thought that I did this one already.
Oh well , anymore questions that involve this topic , get at me and I'll do everything I can.
1.[/color]

One more thing.....send in each song seperately.
Trust me.[/color]

Damn!
I cant believe I'm phucking up like this.
Yo , there is a way around it.
Burn a cd where the beats go into each other without a blank spot.
Yeah , it will be long as heck but hey , if you really wanna save some $.
Only problem though , let's say there's ten beats on the cd.
I buy one from you , how do you enforce the copyright?
After all , if you burn a cd that's 60 minutes long and it's all on one copyright and I just bought the rights to one...guess what? I can jack you for all of em because they are all under the same name.
Unless , of course you have a great lawyer and that's in the contract , but I assume that you guys are as broke as me so that is not an option.
Now if all the other beats were wack , you'd be all set.
Then again , you be a corny producer.
Pay the money for each one.
Guess there's really no logical way around it.[/color]

oneeighty Posted on Nov. 13 2002,14:54
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Hold up.....wait a minute!!!!
ok....i'm confused. i'm getting so many different opinions and answers from producers. some tell me you can copyright a whole cd of beats and that every "work" in that "big work" is protected. then, FromthePantoL.A. made some good points. man....i need to go on a copyright website. i think they're in DC and i was on the site a while back, but i don't know what it is now. anyone know a site?


Hey , one eighty , let me try to make it all make sense.
Those other producers are right.
Then again they are wrong.
Peep game.
You may indeed record a long cd with beats and copyright that cd as one composition so that you can save money by not paying each copyright fee seperately , however , as I said previously , if I paid you for the use of the copyright , because I wanna rap on one of the beats , there's nothing to stop me from jacking the rest of your beat cd.
After all , I do a contract allowing me use of your copyright.
Now , what your buddies are probably telling you , without them going into detail , is exactly what I stated in the earlier post.
You can add language to your contract which addresses the issue of how much of the beat cd can be used by me when I pay for your beat.
This is done by a few producers I know but the difference between these guys and myself is that they have free acess to a certain famous female music attorney , if you're in NY then you may know who I'm talking about.
Anyway , these fools have their connection so the forms that they sign with folks have that language in place already.
Then again , maybe the people you know are just talking out their anal chutes and never even thought what I just explained.
You gotta understand what you're doing to run that way and you still need an attorney because a label or artist , with money , may still try to jack you , especially if he knows that you do not have an attorney nor the funds to acquire one.
After all , only an idiot would try to save $30 by putting himself in the position of losing potentially mills.
There's many ways to look at it.
Me? I aint trying to re-invent the wheel.
I follow the labels lead when it comes to protecting my stuff.
If these greedy , no good , scum sucking , lying , back stabbing ,raping , exploitative ,manipulating , sons of b!tches do it the one fee per song way , that's the way I'm doing it.
Look at how good their protection is.
Don't believe me?
Go to yahoo and read about BizMark and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
You want a copyright website?
Kinda confused but I think I know what you mean.
If you are in the US go to the library of congress website and the do a search for copyrights.
Keep in mind , if you aint in the US that this is limited to you protection in the US.
You can do whatever you want , I'm just telling you how we do it.[/color]

[quote="FromthePantoL.A."][/quote]
I've heard of this:
Taking the cd of your beats / group, sticking it in an envelope and then mailing it to yourself.
The post date is the proof that you created those songs before that date.

I know that some people do this, but will it hold up in court?[/color]

ahhhh.... the "Poor Man's Copyright."  No I hear that doesn't stand up in court.  But it could fend off some local snakes.[/color]