In this instructional monologue, an industry veteran with 28 years of experience walks producers through the nuanced decision of giving away beats for free versus selling or leasing them. The speaker emphasizes that the choice is personal and depends on a producer’s career stage, but outlines a strategic framework: prioritize collaborations with artists who either possess exceptional talent or have a marketing budget that can amplify a track’s reach. He advises negotiating deals that balance front‑end advances with back‑end royalties (points, streaming percentages) while retaining 100% of publishing rights. The talk stresses the importance of having an entertainment attorney to secure fair contracts and protect relationships, and it highlights the long‑term value of placements and exposure over immediate cash. When a song is picked up by a major label, producers should aim for larger advances and higher backend points. Throughout, the speaker encourages research, listening to diverse opinions, and making an informed, individualized decision.
Chapters
Hi guys, today's topic is a little bit challenging because there is no right or wrong answer to it. It's what's best for each of you and it's a very personal decision that you're gonna make for yourself and it's about giving away tracks for free versus selling beats and we're gonna talk a little bit later about leasing beats versus exclusive sales of beats. That's not what I'm talking about here though. I'm talking about how many artists tell you that they have no money, they're broke, and they need beats. And I know all of you have had to put up with that, but each of you are at a different point in your career where you can— either you're at a point where all of your beats already are free, you're giving them away for free or next to free, or or you're at a point where you have just started selling beets, so your price is low and you want it to come up, or you're, you know, you're pretty well known in your area as a producer, and there are people that are coming to you that don't necessarily have the money to buy your beets. So that's what I want to talk about today, and again, This is an individual decision for each of you. This isn't something that I can really instill in you, you know. I can tell you that to build your career, no matter what level you're at, you want to have beats that go mainstream and that a large amount of people hear. So in order to do that, you want to work with artists that have the potential to go far and wide, and you want to be able to make money doing this, whether it's on the front end or the back end. I think we can all kind of agree on that. So my experience in this industry, and I've been doing it 28 years, I've been relatively successful at doing it for 28 years, And my experience tells me that the artists that go the furthest are— independently— are the ones that have a budget for marketing and promotion. So for me, if I was a producer, I would do two things. I would find artists that I feel are super duper talented, and I would produce beats for them, whether I got paid or whether it was for free, because I would want to attach myself to that person hoping that their talent helps them blow up. But at the same time, I would also find artists in the marketplace that have a budget, not just so that they could pay me for beats, but so that they could market and promote the songs that we do together. Because if somebody markets and promotes the song, there's a better chance that that song is going to blow up. And that— and I'm not saying that you should work with a whack artist because they have a budget. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying you should work with folks that have the ability to market and promote the music that you make together to get to the next level. And for me, I would probably do that whether I got paid on the front end or the back end. I mean, I would get paid either way. I would make sure that I had a deal with them where I would get money once they started to make money, a percentage of their income. I would definitely retain 100% of my publishing if I were a producer, but I might forego the advance, like the $500 advance or the $1,000 advance. And again, I can't tell you what to do. And I'm not telling you to just give away your beats for free. I'm saying to strike some sort of a negotiation where you get paid on the back end. When I get tracks for my artists, and it's very rare because I work on the business side, I don't work on the creative side, so it's very rare that I will go to a producer and strike a deal for one of my clients, but in the situations where I have, or if I were to do that more, I would make sure that the producer was taken care of not only on the back end, but in the, in case of a situation where the artist signed to a major label, because most of you know, when you're signed to a major label, the budget for production is bigger than when you're independent. When you're independent, you have a very limited amount of money and you don't want to spend all of your money on making the record because then you can't market and promote it, right? So you've got to have some marketing and promotion to spread the awareness and the popularity of that song. I can't think of any song that just takes off. I, I've seen them take off on their own, but I haven't seen them really explode. Like, Lil Nas X's song did take off, right? But Once there was a budget behind it, it really got to the next level, and there needed to be a budget in order to spread it effectively through TikTok faster than it was spreading on its own. Okay, so what, what I would suggest every producer do, or producer's manager if you work with producers, is ask for whatever price you feel is fair if they use that song to get signed to a major label, and if the major label wants to put that song out, maybe instead of getting a $500 advance or a $200 advance, or even if you give the track for no advance at all and you're collecting on the back end, maybe you get a $20,000 advance or a $5,000 advance or a $10,000 advance from the major label if the song is picked up by a major label. And maybe your backend should be a little bit larger. So, you know, instead of getting 1 point or no points, you would get 3 points or 4 points on the backend and a percentage of streaming income. So points is a slang term that we use for percentage points, and when you get points on the backend, it means you're getting a share of the royalty that's coming back in from the ownership of the master, the sound recording, and you want to share in some of that income because just getting publishing is probably not going to be enough money for you to survive and build a career. So every producer needs to have an entertainment attorney on their side, somebody that can negotiate the deal for them. And for two reasons. One, because you want to get the fairest deal possible. And two is because you don't want to negatively impact the relationship that you're building with the artist or the record label. So if you have an attorney that's doing the right thing for you, it really counteracts that argument that the artist or their label is going to give you of, "Dude, we don't have any money. Like, you gotta look out. You gotta cut us some slack." if you have an attorney that's negotiating for you, then you're not seen as the bad guy, even though you aren't. Standing up for yourself is never ever making you the bad guy, but the other side is going to make you feel that way because their goal is to pay as— pay you as little as possible. Your goal is to get as much as possible. But I'm also telling you, the point of this video is to consider the outcome. Look at the long term. Don't just look at the short term. If you're building a career as a producer, it is more important for you to have placements that succeed and get your music out there far and wide than it is to make that upfront advance. And you've already seen the video where you've learned that the money that you get paid upfront is not a flat fee. It's just an advance against your royalty. So don't screw yourself out of an opportunity because you're not willing to work with somebody for a smaller or no advance up front, but just make sure that the people that you're doing that with can get to that next level. Either they've got incredible talent and you want to be affiliated with them because of the level of talent they have, or you see them moving in the marketplace. They've got a movement., and usually that movement is created by a budget for marketing and promotion. So that's my best advice to you about making money and doing tracks for free. I'm not saying to do it. I'm not saying not to do it. I'm saying if you do it, just make sure you're getting something in return for it and make sure you're protected so that if they use that, that song to get signed to a major label, or if they do get signed to a major label, that you're getting way more money than what you've agreed to while they're independent and make sure you're getting paid on the backend, even if you're, even if you're doing the song for an independent or do-it-yourself artist. I hope this was helpful. Please go and do the research. There's a lot of folks out here that have a different opinion than I have, and I want you to hear all opinions. I want you to look at things from all sides and then make a decision for yourself based on what's best for you and your career. Okay guys, take care. See you soon.
