How do you sell your beats?

Aight, I got some hott joints. Do I need a manager or should I hustle the local artist or what...? I would hate to sell hott beats to my homies only to realize someone with a actual record deal wants the same beat. What would you do and how do you sell beats without taking away from Studio time in the lab..?Unfortunaltely there are no books on this matter in specific..

havin a manager isnt nessicary but it does help. just remember he also gettin a cut. me personnally if a cat witha deal wanted a beat the was already in use, if he had real money then that homeboy would be out of a beat (sorry). but u dont have to scam him. either refund him or give him another beat he likes. now just pullin the rug from under him would be phukked up of course. but sh!t if you that hot then it should be a problem to have a catalog of hot beats. right?

personally, i hit the corner up and just wait for people to walk by, then say

"yo, i got them beatzz son"

tanamo00420 wrote:personally, i hit the corner up and just wait for people to walk by, then say

"yo, i got them beatzz son"

classic

don't tell me that barth is your aviatar... too funny

you should lease your beats then..... if u feel they are that hot, and make the exclusive buying price something expensive if need be for the local cats, if u really dont wanna sell the beat...that way, they are pretty much renting the beat, like Blockbuster Video, except, if it hits the radio, and u got ya contract straight with them or their label, have your percentages worked out in the contract to where u get your percentage everytime they use the track with your leased beat on it you get your cut also

These are some good tactics, but I think Publishing would take care of radio and performance(BMI/ASCAP). I make about 200 beats with hooks every 3 months, so it shouldn't be a problem, but the thing is the stuff you may call wack they might make it hott, so I just keep droppin' jewls till one of them hit..But I still think someone needs to write a book on how to sell hip-hop beats and when someone gonna have a contest to give away an MPC???

Tru4LifeRecords wrote:These are some good tactics, but I think Publishing would take care of radio and performance(BMI/ASCAP). I make about 200 beats with hooks every 3 months, so it shouldn't be a problem, but the thing is the stuff you may call wack they might make it hott, so I just keep droppin' jewls till one of them hit..But I still think someone needs to write a book on how to sell hip-hop beats and when someone gonna have a contest to give away an MPC???

i've asked before and never really got a straight answer. do you copyright before you publish? and do you have to clear your samples before you publish? before you copyright? for some reason i was under the impression that you can copyright a publish you sh*t and then worry about clearing samples. but thats just not sounding right to me for somereason. maybe one of you guys can clear this up for me.

peace

tanamo00420 wrote:personally, i hit the corner up and just wait for people to walk by, then say

"yo, i got them beatzz son"

"2 for 5, son, 2 for 5. Nigg@z got garbage down the way, son"

put out a cdr of beats
order like a 100
go to the clubs when hip hop acts you like are playing
hustle
put your hand in the hand so to speak
get to know the club managers
have them grease you up when they have national acts stroll through
send beat cds to college radio stations
send beat cds to local presses, college newspapers, student union groups,
send out beat cds to film makers who make skate, snow, bike, or other extreme sports videos
DO NOT SEND BEAT CDS TO LABELS YOU DONT KNOW OR DO NOT SEE
remember the golden rule
what you do for you is the best way
a manger will not **** with you unless your sharp and if your good enough for a manger , stop being a short ender and get the full credit for the full time.
see most heads only think of emcees on beats
but a real head will see that there are alot of other avenues.
MY PHILOSOPHY IS THIS
IF I APPROACH AN EMCEE I TAKE THE HIT
IF AN EMCEE APPROACHES ME THEY TAKE THE HIT
thats how you get the big money anyway
you have the people who want something from you come talking with money in hand.
one thing i learned in this game
emcess take forever
i have had alot of lil deals with both local and national underground cats
and in both cases if you gaive them beats to choose, it takes a long time
if they come to you however you can usually get a litlle something going fast.
its a hard pill to swallow but forget money and all that
get your name out
work on a style
those two things alone will make paper faster then anything else.
one the real
one good book to peep is called
guerrilla marketing by jay conrad levinson
it talks alot about marketing strategies.
its focus is on small business but alot of the ideas cross over into the music biz.
think of all the ways beats can make money and then think of all the places you can look
emcess are only a small portion
nowdays it seems like beats can sell anything
i just sold a beat a couple months ago to a film maker who saw my ad in the paper and wanted some custom made beats for her project.
wasnt much but it was 250 and a lil screen credit, and i went to the screening party and networked.
do that.
peace

That was a good reading..I agree, that getting your name going and focusing totally on your beats will get some attention. Presentation is a powerful too. Ppl run for you if you're hott. Their rep is on the line if you're not. I don't agree with just sending beat tapes out though. Every submission needs a contact person. This is really tru when you have good concepts in your hooks. We need to keep this thread going because some ppl just making beats and they aint seeing no figures. Producers and beatmakers used to be important..Gotta maintain that..

Get connections......selling a beat is selling a beat period. I would never sell beats to my friends. This is business and the industry has no friendships. Take loses then you will get your gaines

I agree that this is a business, but you have to pay your dues with these beats and that means selling beats to get a buzz...It's about the $$$ when you talking business.. But my contracts back me up with alot of it.

Yeah I got a CD of over 100 contracts for the music business, from songwriting, to publishing, to management, everything.

Honestly i think your better off working with a good artist who you feel is really talented and your on the same page as him. Because in the long run it's gunna be alot better to be down with a talented cat in the long run than selling beats for 50 bucks here 100 bucks there. At least thats the route I'm takin, I'll tell ya how it works out in five years.

i like the hustle and idea's wkiw, but my contention is that normal cats (not producers/emcee's) arnt tryin to hear just straight beats. Thats why instead of doing what u suggested (crazy hustle all over town) with beats, i do it with remixes. that way people have a full track that they can bang on the regular and not just some beats. i put beats in the right hands of emcee's, not normal everyday cats.