THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT MY BEATS???

THERE ARE LOTS OF SKETCHY CHARACTERS OUT THEIR I WILL BE SENDING PRESS PACKETS OUT SOON...IS IT BEST TO PUT A VOICE TAG OVER DEMOS OF BEATS (FOR SALE), OR TO USE SUPER LOW QUALITY MP3'S? OR SOMETHING ELSE? ANY ADVICE WOULD IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.
PEACE,
IZZ

i am a big fan of doing remixs, using acapellas / sound bites. It sounds most natural and can give the artist an idea for what a song would sound like structure wise. Also can target different kinds of talent. Audio tags and water marks on beats are so **** annoying!

That or send off some beats straight up to get your foot in the door and save your heavy hitters for when you get contacted. Bring your beats through, and dont leave them with people. May make them want hear again and be eager to hit you up and see whats up. Just an idea. Good luck holmes.

totally, tags are very anoying. accapella to target certain folks, brilliant idea bro. When you send them to labels, what else do you normally include in a press packet? Thanks bro.
Peace
Izz

do you normally sell beats up front and its a done deal, or do you produce the song? is it typical when straight slangin' beats to get no credit as a producer? When a label or artist buys a beat do they normally buy more later? Is it nessessary to register a copyright on beats as a producer? Thanks for you help.
Peace,
Izz

Are your beats original productions or contain uncleared samples?

Audio tags keep rappers etc from download your beats and using the downloaded file without paying but if you have label contacts that are accepting your material (solicited) don't tag them, a label if want to use your beat/s on an actual project will want the stems, the mp3 or mixed down .wav will be like a scratch pad for them.

if sending out un solicited though, tag em some kinda way as you have no clue who is gona hear em/ snag em, even if the cd gets thrown in the trash by an intern, somebody else might pick it up, the tag will be a link back to you.

people can still re create ya beats though even when tagged, just makes the actual audio file itself un-usuable.


so again

if solicited = tag intro and outro with ya contact info

if sending unsolicited, tag the hell out of the beat


oh and if submitting files online via e-mail

make your website url part of the actual mp3 file name so it will be in front of the listener along with contact info right after beat ends

cd cases get lost, magic marker can get smeared
if it's in the audio, it's there

I Sample MOst of my beats...
for a sampled beat if you have in the contract that it is a work in progress and sample clearing is the responsibility of the purchaser does this protect you from sampling laws? So solicited means they know they are gonna get some beats and unsolicited means sending to people you haven't contacted before? what does scratch pad mean? thanks alot bro.
Peace,
Izz

yeah, "solicited" is like you made a personal contact with a rep or artist and they asked or gave you or your rep or contact you made, the thumbs up to submit beats.

un-solicited is when you just submit beats to every rec label a&r person who's address you come across on web or in a mag or book.


most un solicited material get trashed before even listening.

not because they hate you or your beats but

to protect them from a copyright infringement suit.


let's say you you send your beats un solicited to a label

you hear nothing

a few months, a year etc etc go by then a record is released by that label and the beat sounds very similiar to one that you had submitted.

your gonna be pissed and think they jacked you, because you had mailed a beat cd to them. but.

they will say "we do not listen to unssolicited material, any un solicited material is placed in the garbage without being listened to, and if THAT is their policy, you wasted your postage and have no case . It would be up to you to prove that they actually listened to or had very likely chance of had listened, to even copy your stuff.

You are not responsible for clearing the samples in your beats submitted no more than a deejay need secure mechanical licenses for a mix cd given to a club owner as an audition mix as making beats with samples is much like making dj mixes

but if you get jacked on a uncleared all sample beat, you have no legal case yourself since the owners of the sampled songs actually have exclusive control over any derivitive works (your beat) that contain the sample.

better off networking, making contacts and submitting that way, (solicited & specific)


oh what i meant by your mp3 being used as a scratch pad is, a signed artist /label

will be wanting the tracked out files of the beat for the final mixdown of the song but the mp3 can be used to do a rough version of the song, try out different vocal arrangements.


like online I sell mp3 beats to unsigned home recording rappers/singers to record songs etc
But A serious/signed artist/label would get the mp3's free, to evaluate the tracks and decide if they want to get the tracked out versions and pay producer fee/royalty advance for the files,

Awesome. THanks alot for being so helpful bro. I'm saving all this information onto text edit for further study.

So basically i should"

Be very careful with unsolicited submissions and avoid unless its the only route available

Network, meet people face to face and get the ok (solicitation) and then send mp3.s

does this sound like a good plan?

When selling mp3.s to home artists/unsigned do you normally lease or do exclusive? Do you have a beat site were you sell them?
Thanks again bro.
Peace, Laughter and Health,
Izz

izz wrote:Awesome. THanks alot for being so helpful bro. I'm saving all this information onto text edit for further study.

So basically i should"

Be very careful with unsolicited submissions and avoid unless its the only route available

Network, meet people face to face and get the ok (solicitation) and then send mp3.s

does this sound like a good plan?

When selling mp3.s to home artists/unsigned do you normally lease or do exclusive? Do you have a beat site were you sell them?
Thanks again bro.
Peace, Laughter and Health,
Izz

Yes you got it, just when making those face to face contacts try to verify the person is who they say are, as alot of questions, not to be annoying but thorough.

http://www.bgbeats.com/ Yeah I go for the low price non exclusive online mp3 beat sales to home recording artist's non exclusive is like selling our beats like they are your song singles, yet instead of selling for a buck like itunes you can get 10 or 20 or 50 times more because you are actually selling "permission to use the beat in a new recording) almost like a mechanical license.

http://www.bgbeats.com/ check the site youl'l see how the non exclusive stuff works

here is the simple non exclusive agreement I use for those sales.

when you get into going after placements with signed artists etc, ten you need actual legal representation.

selling mp3 beats online is more like a traditional business plan of supply & demand, selling a product and services related to the product. Publishing royalties and residual income is not expected from mp3 beat sales as most of the buyers will record stuff to amuse themselves and friends yet still want a decent quality product without having to use existing industry beats



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Non-Exclusive BG Beats License Agreement

*PLEASE READ THE TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING BGBEATS.COM LICENSE AGREEMENT


1) The BG BEATS available for sale as mp3 download and non exclusive license remain the property of BGBEATS.COM and are licensed, not sold, to you for use in a new recording with vocals added. *Any BG BEATS that contain samples from copyrighted works are "uncleared” and it is the licensee's responsibility to obtain sample clearance if so is desired/needed for commercial release.

2) The Licensor (BGBEATS.com) grants the licensee (buyer) permission to alter any BG BEATS related to this agreement to suit the individual needs of the new song recorded with the licensed beat.

3) This license does not authorize the distribution of any BG BEATS WITHOUT VOCALS added on the recording being sold/distributed.
Vocals of some sort must be recorded onto the BG BEAT prior to distribution whether free or sold.

4) The licensee *may use* the BG BEATS in compositions such as, making demos,mixtapes, records, remixes, and live performances. The licensee may sell up to 2,000 cd's or downloads of the new recording at which time the licensee is asked to renew the non exclusive license.

5) The non exclusive BG BEATS price gives the buyer an untagged mp3 file of the BG BEAT/s purchased and permission(license) to record vocals on the beat and sell or give away in cd form for promotion as well as display online and sell the final product on own site or itunes store etc etc.

6) The BG BEATS are licensed 'as is' & The Licensor can not be held responsible for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss arising from the use of Beats licensed from BGBEATS.com in mp3 form.

7) Completion of a BGBEATS.com mp3 download/non- exclusive license means acceptance of these terms of the BGBEATS.com Non-License Agreement.

Your Pay Pal receipt acts as proof of your non exclusive BG BEAT/s license purchase so be sure to save your Pay Pal receipts.

9) You are requested to list credits as : "BEAT PROVIDED BY BGBEATS.COM" on any cd track listing or mixtape/ liner notes/websites.

10) Questions/concerns can be sent to the permanent e-mail address : [email protected] include "BGBEATS.COM" in subject.

©2009 BGBEATS.com Legal Department.

(I DON'T KNOW WHY THE #8 IS A SMILIE)



http://www.bgbeats.com

BG,
Thanks again bro. Were do you reside? im in minnesota. Which mpc do you use? i have used the 1000 for near 7 years and recently got a 4k and learning that now. I'm glad to see there are still good people out their, willing to help folks out without asking for something in return. I dig your beats. How long have you been selling beats/producing? did you have a mentor to help you along the way? or figure it all out yourself?
Peace, Laughter and Rythm
Izz

A lot of good points were brought up here.

ALWAYS make sure you are getting credit for your work. Also make sure you know what people's intentions are with your music and find out if they're for real. There are a LOT of clowns out there who tell you one thing and have completely different intentions. If something seems fishy or if you're not completely comfortable with a situation that's presented to you you're not obligated to do anything. You can simply pass on the situation and other situations will come along anyway as longs you keep pushing what you do!

izz wrote:BG,
Thanks again bro. Were do you reside? im in minnesota. Which mpc do you use? i have used the 1000 for near 7 years and recently got a 4k and learning that now. I'm glad to see there are still good people out their, willing to help folks out without asking for something in return. I dig your beats. How long have you been selling beats/producing? did you have a mentor to help you along the way? or figure it all out yourself?
Peace, Laughter and Rythm
Izz

let's see, to try to answer your questions here

Virginia

mpc 1000 & ableton live 8 & serato

dj since 1994

making beats since 95 and in person sales/ production
learned some about beats from producer (the bedroom wizard) http://briangmusic.com/bedroomwizard.cfm

competed in sam ash live battle of the beats jan 2006 great experience too.

did alot of remixes for all kinds of artists, alot of female artists
(BG REMIXES brand)

current site http://BGBEATS.COM though 4 different urls point to diff pages within the site

can find out most of the other answers there on there

cool, thanks.
Peace

mrbeatz wrote:A lot of good points were brought up here.

ALWAYS make sure you are getting credit for your work. Also make sure you know what people's intentions are with your music and find out if they're for real. There are a LOT of clowns out there who tell you one thing and have completely different intentions. If something seems fishy or if you're not completely comfortable with a situation that's presented to you you're not obligated to do anything. You can simply pass on the situation and other situations will come along anyway as longs you keep pushing what you do!

Mr beats, I just cheked out your page...Tight as heck bro. Really dig the rhymes and beats...
Peace, Laughter and HEalth

izz wrote:Mr beatz, I just cheked out your page...Tight as heck bro. Really dig the rhymes and beats...
Peace, Laughter and HEalth

Thanks a lot homie! I really appreciate that! Good luck to you with the beat stuff too!