This is probably one of the biggest questions beat producers ask. I have some ideas on why artists are not buying beats or "appear" to not be buying beats. Let's share some reasons and in the process help those that on the fence of becoming a producer or scared they can't make it in this line of work.
Be blunt, Be real.
Quality music is harder to find these days. It's not that artists are not looking for music anymore, it's because the market is full of crap beats made by young wannabe producers with a cracked version of FL Studio.
Not knocking the hustle of some of thee young guys, you have to start somewhere right? But too many of them don't have the desire to be quality producers and learn. If you have quality or exceptional beats they sell themselves and you should have zero problem having artists buy.
Music is a billion dollar industry and there will always be artists looking for music.
#1 Make sure you have quality beats (music). You know the kind of beat when you listen to it and you and a few things happen. 1. Smile on your face 2. Goosebumps 3. Tapping on the beat
You just know when you produce something special, these are the types of beats that sell
#2 Brand. Be a trusted brand, have a good website, logo have a decent reputation. Nothing worse that going to a producers website and see "Free website from Wix"
Let the quality of your music speak for itself. There is DEFINITELY artists looking for music.
I see how it would be tough for a music producer to cover point #2 (Brand) Most music producers don't know how to market, brand etc. All they know and probably most importantly just want to produce music.
It seems like in order to make it, you have to wear all kinds of hats. I don't mean to change the subject a bit but it goes in line with artists buying beats from people that look reputable.
This is why Soundgine's VUE takes the guesswork from the producer. Let Soundgine take care of all the technical parts of your business, but you still have to market yourself. Do we have an official **marketing** thread? Someone should start that.
Anyway, You also need to keep in mind their are artists looking to get crazy stupid deals too. Basically wanting beats for free or some type of recognition in exchange for a free beat.
Not all producers can price beats for an immediate profit right away. In a perfect world, you can price your your beats at say $39 for a lease but what if you're just starting out? There are endless formulas I guess but one I used to use was to price beats where if you reach your bare minimum of sales you just make enough to break even paying what you need to (hosting, domain name, etc)
Like everybody is says, let the quality of your music dictate your price.
But here is another question, do artists know a quality beat when they hear it?
Keep in mind just as there are different kinds of producers with different levels of quality, there are also different kinds of artists. Some artists are looking for the cheapest beats on the market, while other artist are looking for exclusives and money is of no concern.
There's plenty of artists buying buying beats and if you a producer that hasn't sold a beat in months, chances are you are not putting in the marketing work and getting your name out there. This is of course if your music is of good quality.
Out of curiosity' @Soundgine' do you guys have stats of people buying beats on a daily basis? For example, how much money was spend today of all your subscribers. Not sure if that type of information is private but it would give us a sense of people buying.
Sundays are usually very slow in terms of sales, but as of 7pm sales have reached $9,348. Sales usually go up between 7-12 every night, we think it's because people tend to settle down for the night, turn on the PC and do some late night shopping.
Purchasing trends seem to always to higher in the evening, but it obviously varies due to individual promotions and sales.
A good day for producers reaches 15k+ and 25k for an exceptional day overall for producers. Since the start of the company we've seen an increase of sales on average per producer.
We also see a solid trend of people that put in the most work have greater returns. We can't legally release who is doing this well, but you can get an idea of going to the charts and clicking on "Top Producers > Top Producers All Time"
LoonyBinBeats, Helix , Sound Variety and 6 others like this.
@Soundgine' Sundays are usually very slow in terms of sales, but as of 7pm sales have reached $9,348. Sales usually go up between 7-12 every night, we think it's because people tend to settle down for the night, turn on the PC and do some late night shopping.
Purchasing trends seem to always to higher in the evening, but it obviously varies due to individual promotions and sales.
A good day for producers reaches 15k+ and 25k for an exceptional day overall for producers. Since the start of the company we've seen an increase of sales on average per producer.
We also see a solid trend of people that put in the most work have greater returns. We can't legally release who is doing this well, but you can get an idea of going to the charts and clicking on "Top Producers > Top Producers All Time"
great insight! Do you have information about where the most purchases are coming from? I guess the USA is leading here, but what are the follow up countries? That would be interesting to know!
Ranking in order (Month of August)' @SkillyMusic'
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
4. Mexico
5. Germany
6. Brazil
7. Spain
8. Jamaica
9. China
10. France
United States, United Kindgdom are very close in terms of stats. Latin countries has recently making a huge move recently. Perhaps that's the reason of the surge of latin based beats in the last few months.
Here's what I see around my circle of producer friends. I, myself is the most disciplined out of the group but here is the typical schedule for a "producer"
Wake up at noon and play Playstation until 5. Get on the phone and text message girls for a few hours and then go see a movie with money they shouldn't be spending. They bitch about not having money but seem to get enough money to buy weed and beer. Then they get online with the wifi their mom pays for and complain about artists not buying beats. Get the **** outta here.
I have fun too just like any mid 20's guy but I do it after putting in my time daily 8-5. I don't know about you, but I feel like shit when I dont work because I feel like I just opened the door for somebody else to kill me on sales.
If your beats suck, work on getting better, if your website looks like ass, make it better. This forum is filled with good information so this is a great place to start.
Check this out. 2 years ago I was living at my moms, no shame, you gotta do what you gotta do and thats what family is for. I am grateful for that. I worked everyday usually from 8-5 getting my empire up. I borrowed money from my grandparents $300 to get a website up and get the beat store and stuff in line. You have to invest in yourself and it takes money to make money.
It's Aug 2015 and no joke, me and my girlfriend are living in a house that I rent living well. I'll make a guide of what I did later but my bills are about 2.5k a month and have no problems paying them with enough left over to take my girl out.
I don't believe in the whole, there's too many producers out there selling beats and nobody is buying beats anymore bullshit. What I see there too many producers not knowing how to start a business.
I just started with Soundgine and just today I made $209 and made $1600 plus in beat sales. I do work a graveyard shift at 7-11 two nights a week, but at this rate I will be able to quit my job and do music full time.
I used to get frustrated telling my friends the roadmap I took and a few of them are MUCH better than me at making music but they care more about looking good, getting girls, smoking weed, such a waste! You can lead a horse to water....
Maybe some producers will overlook my post, but maybe, just maybe a kid or anybody will read my post and understand if you want to make money like a grown up you must put in time like a grown up. Wake the f*ck up.
Dont believe me? Cool, that leaves the door open for hungrier producers.
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'@SkillyMusic' No problem, I asked the same exact question earlier. Just copied and pasted the answer.
Real talk' @Kid V'
But just know you can smoke weed and still be successful as hell. I mean, I know producers that make better music when they are high. Anybody else agree with this? Maybe? Maybe not?
Relationships, Relationships, Relationships. I posted a video about this here:
I have customers that I've built quality relationships. These guys have families, they work 9-5's they have children, wives, girlfriends but they still find time for their music. Over the years, we would email or message (over facebook) back and forth, sometimes daily. I know these clients as individuals and not just artists or customers. There are times when we don't talk for months and then all of a sudden, they contact me requesting for new beats, usually custom. These are the clients that I always give discounted pricing to because they are the most valuable to me.
We have a relationship where I can produce exactly what they need at the price that works with their situation. I love these type of customers more because These customers come back over and over paying the same price with no hesitation. Recurring customers are the best because they already have trust in you and especially if they make good music it's even better! Now you can build your catalog based on their needs or you can use their finished tracks with your beats as advertisement of your work.
Yes, it comes down to quality of your music, but also quality without the relationship and branding means nothing. No one will know you exist and even if someone buys your beats once, it's like being in a location where there are always flash floods, but you don't have a boat lol. So relationships help you build that "boat" so your always floating on top of the competition. (I like that lol).
Hope this helps.
#BeYouBeLegendary
Legendary Beatz
I just think most producers nowindays spam the f*** out of potential clients giving them nearly zero chance to shop their beats. Then they wonder why they have no luck getting sales.
PLEASE use the Aweber & Mailchimp feature Soundgine just implemented and write creative emails to them. Go old school like' @royal' has done and get leads like that.
Artists are in high demand of music, there's plenty of money is beat producing just ask' @ThisIsTheLegion'
read his success
Hey' @Razor' I guess the next question is, what type of content do artists really care about? What content would you email them that will help them feel more comfortable with your brand.
'@godlike' I don't think' @Kid V' was dissing weed in any way, I think the point he was trying to make was that some people would rather waste their money on parties, and doing nothing all day rather than work on themselves and their business which is so true. I've seen it with my own friends and family, but of course if Michael Phelps could win I think 8 olympic gold metals while smoking weed then you can definitely kill some music and be a successful music producer.
@Razor' I just think most producers nowindays spam the f*** out of potential clients giving them nearly zero chance to shop their beats. Then they wonder why they have no luck getting sales.
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This is exactly what producers are doing wrong, sending copy and paste messages of "hey check out my beats" clearly doesn't work. And don't comment a link to your beats on someone elses post because their getting more attention then you. Not only that but please don't tag people, I get tagged in posts on facebook all day long and it's so annoying. Everyday it's "Whats his name" tagged you and 99 others in his post, then you look at it and it has 3 likes on it. There are much more important things you should focus your attention on, like getting better at making beats in general (better beats = easier sales), building relationships ect.
