How to Sell Beats Online


I constantly see producers asking how to sell beats online. Type "how to sell beats online" in google and you'll get links to all kinds of videos and articles/products. I've even written ebooks in the past about selling beats, but I'll never write another one. The information I and many others have provided is legit but the main problem is not sales strategies. So for any producer who is having a hard time getting beat sales, I'm going to answer the question right now honestly for FREE based on my real life experience. You can learn every beat selling strategy ever invented and buy all the promo in the world but the core of your success all boils down to one thing: your CRAFT. Unfortunately, this area is not prioritized most times in the beat selling game. Producers simply copy whatever sound is on the radio to the letter with the primary goal of making money. It may seem logical, but it's not the way to go if you're trying to build your own unique sustainable brand. By developing excellence in the FULL art of music production and finding YOURSELF musically, you'll become empowered to create uniquely valuable music that naturally breeds demand. Create phenomenal music! 

Now I know a lot of producers don't want to hear this. You want to hear about secrets to making a KILLING online. You've probably even paid for that type of info. In reality, sales strategies should come last in the big picture. Yes there are sales products out there that really work but they're not going to work to there fullest potential for YOU based on where your craft is at currently. Save your money at this point and worry about that later. Rather than sell you a dream I'm going to tell you the truth. The value and importance of stepping up your craft is immensely more crucial than any sales product you could buy at this point. Your craft should always be your first area of examination when your sales aren't doing well. You never get too good to step up your craft. There is always a next level to attain. Creating music that breeds demand will cause people to look for YOU! Word of mouth spreads very fast when a product is phenomenal. I hate to use this for an example, but look at the economics of the drug game lol! Before folks start trippin, I'm in NO WAY condoning drug use lol, but rather using it's business model as a point of reference. From a business standpoint, drugs are a very high in demand product. Nobody has to drag customers down and make them buy drugs. People DESIRE the product and actively search for it! As a music producer in general, your goal is to develop your music to such a level of excellence that when you put your music out there, word of mouth spreads and people actively search for you! 

So how do you do this? FORGET about selling beats for a while and focus on aggressively improving your craft. Dedicate your time towards striving for excellence in musicianship, engineering, songwriting, arrangement, producing vocals, etc. Search for videos on youtube, read articles, get advice from producers you admire, get critiques of your music from seasoned ears (don't start sending a bunch of unsolicited emails to people though lol), and do tons of trial and error. Learn, implement, grow, and repeat. When your potential customers see and hear you putting strong effort into your music, you become valuable in their eyes. In addition to learning the technical aspects of these things, you also have to learn how to create music that authentically resonates with you. This doesn't mean that you have to be stuck to one style or genre, it just means that no matter what kind of music you make, people can feel YOU through your music. For more detailed instructions on how to find yourself musically, read about the originality cleanse. When your music contains this authentic emotional element, people can literally feel that. That feeling is the spark that causes customers to be attracted to your music. Humans are emotional creatures and people can tell when you're just throwing something together vs creating music from your heart. If producers would learn and focus on these things first, then the actual "selling" part is ALOT easier because it's not forced. People will genuinely want what you have to offer and actively search for you.

After you begin to accel in the FULL aspect your production craft, the other side to this equation is marketing. Put simply, the process of putting your music in front of people. Utilize your own website, social media, and other beat hubs (beatstars, soundclick, etc.) to promote your music. Be creative and tactful in your approach. There are many different strategies for doing such, but I want to keep this article strictly focused on the craft aspect. A simple google search will give you plenty of marketing strategies and products to implement. 

So you're reading this and some of you will say "Well Tone Jonez it's easy for you to say that because you're very talented." Let me tell you something. Talent is like a seed. I believe we're all born with some type of talent seed. Development is like the sunlight, water, soil, etc that's necessary to make that seed grow. Talent means NOTHING without development. It takes WORK. I've put in YEARS of hard work and dedication to get my craft to the level that it's at. It's not simply "having talent" lol! You must give yourself adequate time to develop. I've been developing my craft since 1988. Musicianship was the first part of my journey, being a piano player. I built a strong foundation of chords and melodies by heavily studying gospel music. I started learning production in the 90's. I studied a lot of 60's and 70's records to step up my arrangement skills (intros, verses, choruses, bridges, transitions, surprise elements, etc.). You can learn ALOT by studying records in the Motown era. In the early 2000's I started learning about engineering by reading articles and ALOT of trial and error. Youtube wasn't around yet. I also made my first songwriting attempts around this time. I made ALOT of wack songs until I got better. 2007-2008 I moved out on my own and REALLY grew by practicing all the elements of full production on a daily basis. Youtube was around at this point so I was able to pick up on a lot more things. I experimented with all kinds of genres and styles. During that one year period I discovered my sound and strengthened the signatures that make me unique. After I moved to ATL in late 2008, my craft grew even stronger. So by the time I took a really serious Full-Time step into the online beat game in 2011, my craft was already very solid. That first year I didn't have a problem selling my beats. The beats literally sold themselves off of my Soundcloud profile I just wasn't putting out enough music to keep up with the demand nor setting the right prices to sustain a comfortable Full-Time income. Too much demand and not enough supply lol! As my output and business savvy grew, things dramatically improved the next year. These days I have so many people actively searching for me and contacting me that I couldn't possibly take every opportunity. I'm nowhere near a savvy internet marketing genius. It all boils down to me displaying excellence with my craft and people resonating with that.  

So to sum it all up and answer the almighty question about how to sell beats online, FIRST develop a unique and undeniable product. Not predictable and average, UNIQUE and UNDENIABLE. It takes work but it's possible! That is the core of selling anything PERIOD. From that point, it's just about using savvy marketing strategies to get your music in front of the right ears and having attractive sales options that work for a variety of budgets. There's your answer for FREE lol! Don't sleep on this info. If you take heed to what I've said, with hard work and patience you'll be on your way to a valuable and sustainable brand. Not just selling beats. Master this stuff first, THEN worry about sales strategies. You can do it! Much success to you! Grind time fam! -Tone

 

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