Don’t Blow It – Get Your Music Heard
Here’s an example:
“ Yo! I got hot beats! Check them out at myspace.com/anonymous-producer “
I understand that everybody starts somewhere so I’m not knocking anybodies hustle – but is that really even hustle.
Let’s look at this from the other side of the conversation. Let’s say I’m a label head (which I am) and I’m looking for hot beats (who isn’t?) What about that comment makes me want to click that link?
The answer is nothing. That producer hasn’t given me ANY reason to think he has anything special or even worth my time. Industry cats get that “pitch” every day. In the beginning, before you have any contacts or connections, you actually click some of those links looking for gold. 999 times out of 1000 you just get dirt.
Before long you learn to get stingy with your time. You start to do what everyone else does and filter out the noise. That “yo check out my beats” comment is noise.
Here’s what you need to do instead. Think of what you’re up against. Every producer with a couple of beats in his catalogue thinks his beats are hot. You need to give people a reason to check you out and stop looking for handouts. There are no handouts in this business.
If you want in, you have to prove that you have something I want, something that will make my life easier or move me closer to my goals. Notice how everything I’m looking for is about me. That’s what everybody cares about, and that’s what everybody is looking for – what THEY need.
People in this industry are not surfing the Internet, going to conferences, and answering emails and phones calls to find out what they can do for you. They want to know what you can do for them.
Here’s the bottom line. If you don’t change your thinking and start to position yourself as a solution to peoples problems, you won’t change your position from aspiring to working. You need to build yourself up and have something to say that places you above the noise.
Don’t blow it when you have a real shot. Tell the person you’re trying to connect with why they should consider your music. What can you do for them.
Here’s an example:
“Yo – I make beats in the style of RZA and DOOM. I’ve placed beats on 6 mixtapes this year and local artists are paying $75 a beat for my production. I’d like to connect with artists like xyz and saw that you worked with him on his last album. Do y’all need tracks? I have examples online at (URL).”
That shows that you’ve got their interest in mind and you’re not just sitting at home making beats. You’re actually doing work to build yourself up which shows that you might be worth working with as a partner in some type of deal. On top of all that, THEN you also have to have hot beats and be persistent.
In other words, put some effort into helping the people you want to work with. In a best case scenario, you know what they need and can offer it to them. If you have no idea what that person wants, you shoul ask. Just trying to help them instead of asking for help will put you above the noisy 90% who are looking for handouts.
Don’t take a half-ass approach to this business and expect people to give you handouts. Do the work to build relationships and eventually partnerships.
Canadian Beat Makers Represent at North by Northeast Beat Battle
As many of you are learning as Canadian MC Drake blows up all over the world, Canada’s got talent. This is our first post on a beat battle up north of the border but I’m sure there will be more as we ramp up publication.
Here’s a recap of what went down and a good write up on the winner – Toronto’s own Rich Kidd
North by Northeast Beat Battle Recap
How Far Would You Go To Sell A Beat?
I got a call from a friend of mine that I’ve collaborated with on a few tracks. He was touching base after a while and wanted to know if the tracks we’d worked on were still available to pitch to artists. They were and I asked what he had in mind. Turns out he was looking to pitch the tracks to artists overseas.
Overseas?
This got me thinking about a bunch of different things really but persistence was a main theme throughout my thought process after we’d talked. I know this guy has a bunch of songs written and a bunch of time and effort into his quest. He’s talented and grinds away at the machine to try to make his mark but like many just like him, (myself included) fame and wealth haven’t come knocking. The cool part of the whole conversation was the energy he had. There was no sense of despair at all in anything he was saying. Some people might look at his situation and think that things must be pretty bad for him to have exhausted every stateside opportunity, come up with nothing, and now be looking to pitch tracks overseas.
Here’s the truth. Dude is pitching his tracks overseas on top of pitching tracks everywhere else. He hasn’t stopped knocking on doors or making calls ever since I’ve known him over the years. He won’t quit. He believes in his mission and he’s willing to go as far as the quest takes him. Right now that’s overseas. There may be an opportunity, there might not. But he’s going to find out.
This guy has no placements. Yet. No strong industry contacts. Yet. And nothing beyond his internal drive, passion, and belief in his talents keeping him going. And if you’re a songwriter or producer on the grind in the same position, he’s your competition.
So. How far would YOU go to sell a beat?
Should Beat Makers Worry About Piracy?
In keeping up with the entertainment media business these days you can’t avoid the many debates that break out on various sites concerning digital content theft and what to do about it. The many forms of this problem and the attempted solutions are, to me, wildly entertaining and full of valuable lessons as I position a growing content business to prosper through these and other challanges.
After discussing, debating, and reading about the argument from all sides, the only certainty I can predict is that the consumer will ultimately win. The content controllers who survive and prosper will be the ones smart enough to pan for gold in the stream rather trying to build dams and levies to fight a losing battle against nature. As a songwriter, musician, and independent label owner, I’ll be spreading the net far and wide to be sure my content is available whenever and where ever people look for it. Sometimes the folks looking won’t want to pay and I’m sure they’ll find a way to partake without doing so. That’s part of doing business in a changing digital landscape if you ask me. It’s only my problem if the seeker who’s willing to pay can’t find my work. Or worse, if my work doesn’t spark any seekers at all. For the folks intent on theft, I’ll leave their fate up to karma.
As songwriters and producers, one tactic proving popular is to take yourself out of the losing game being played by the major media companies. More and more creative people are marketing their music directly to fans and end users like the tv and cable networks to ensure the shortest path (i.e. least problems) between them and compensation. It’s also becoming standard procedure to pitch artists directly instead of going through A&Rs and other gatekeepers if you can get the access. The concept is the same. The path of least resistance is the one that will eventually prevail. The fans and consumers are simply employing that same thinking when they seek out and download content. We as content creators/controllers need to pick up on the obvious and streamline our paths to compensation where at all possible.
I don’t for a second think that there’s a single right answer or best way to move forward in this business. The fact remains that all of our digital content is becoming easier and easier to obtain for free. I think the key to surviving the changes ahead will be to keep moving forward and simply trying to give people what they want, when and how they want it. Do that and many will pay, some will not. That’s just the beat business of today.
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