28 Apr The Ultimate Guide to Market and Sell Beats Online
Beat producers are one of the most needed talents in music demand. A musical chemist who engages in writing, producing, and recording of beats or full-length songs. They know how to create an overtone, that brings music to life. A well-groomed producer knows how to sell these beats as a visual concept to recording artists.
With the ever-growing music industry all over the world today, beat producers have found themselves juggling between being sound engineers, studio owners, etc., so that they can remain relevant in the industry.
The traditional role of a producer is basically the composer/arranger of the track. They create the main melody or main theme. He comes up with the chord progressions if any. Then he arranges his own work and decides on what instruments he’s going to use to play the melody, chords (if any), what kind of drums, bass lines, sound effects, etc.
He produces the music, and he can as well be the composer of the song. The choice of performance from the instrument makes him the producer, the kind of effects he wants to use, and how he wants his overall mix to sound.
Although there is a lot of work that goes beyond a producer being in his studio all the time, he can now go out to engage in other activities such as rehearsals, meetings, going for shows, and even having writing sessions with others.
In today’s day and age, that role has expanded. Social media has now given the producers a platform to connect to more artists than ever, they get to connect, sign deals, enter the studio, and record songs.
How Beat Making Became Relevant?
The term beat making rose onto the scene somewhere in the late ’80s, early ’90s. The beatmaker is the urban composer/arranger.
A music producer doesn’t actually compose anything they direct. They come with creative ideas for how tracks should sound. They’re in charge of the arrangement, recording, mixing, and mastering of the song.
In a studio, there is usually a lineup of a lyricist and the music producer, and the beat maker (composer).
What beatmakers do is write, arrange, and record songs. They are into shaping the sound of albums of other artists or create beats for their personal needs.
Music producers work with Recording Artists, Session Singers, Recording Engineers, and Session Musicians, among others.
How Can Producers Market Their Beats/Songs?
The idea of marketing is important to start with brand awareness. Build an idea around your beat/music to your fans. Marketing can be done by various methods, like content creation, developing a good sense of community, and even spending money on digital ad campaigns.
Marketing should have some purpose. Marketing your beat/music is not only about posting music online or like statuses on Facebook, but it is more about consistency, dedication, engaging and bringing awareness.
How To Successfully Promote Your Beat/Music?
The foremost step in good marketing is to create a marketing strategy for your beat/music. There should be an inclusive understanding of the marketplace, your audience, and a plan to guide you in accomplishing every of your set goals.
Have you asked yourself the following questions?
- Why do I have to develop a marketing plan? What exactly do I need to accomplish?
- Am I getting started with my own online presence, thus the need to reach out to new fans?
- Am I ready to set on my tour and need to sell tickets?
- Am I on tour already and considering selling more merch?
- Can I do a tour online or virtual as a webcast?
- Do I really want to maximize your mailing list?
- Am I willing to put out a new album and re-engage your fans, thereby generating awareness of your recent projects?
All and many more of these questions are big reasons to get started with building your marketing efforts.
Here Are 5 Important Steps To Create An Effective Music Marketing Plan:
- Defining the audience for your beat/music
While trying to gain an audience for your music, it is the right thing to know your fans to achieve success. This will help you create engaging posts online for your fans just to acknowledge their existence.
You should also devise the best means to efficiently communicate and give great value to your valued fans, thereby making them happy and, in return, remaining relevant in the industry.
Ask yourself a few questions that will enable you to have a clear picture of who your ‘ideal fans’ are.
Here are two basic steps you should take with the subsequent questions:
- a) Now, you have to go through every question and then generate the desired by making use of your existing instinct.
- b) Go and do a few research, then validate your responses until you’re able to identify your fans specifically.
- Analyze the market
Having full knowledge of your fanbase will walk you through the right path of understanding the market. A general understanding of the happenings in your local environment and also an accurate global genre news update is always required to survive in the industry.
A basic understanding of all these will help you establish/create a unique value that you can always add to your fans.
- Establish goals
You must set your goals since we have stated already how important having a purpose is to your marketing.
Your goal should be very actionable, quantifiable, and timed. For this reason, you’re not meaninglessly ‘marketing’ without a clear understanding of how successful you are.
- Develop an action plan
With your actionable, measurable, and perfectly timed goals, the next thing you need to do is to create a great plan to achieve all your purposed goals.
There are various components to add in your action plan, including:
- PR
- Advertising
- Touring
- Content creation
- Social Media / Community Management
- Networking
- Create a budget
Making a career out of music is similar to setting up a new business in general. Money and time are required to experience adequate growth.
Before you start the setup process, you have to make adequate research on each required item to determine it’s a monetary cost and required time.
Ensure that your plan is a realistic one if you really want to achieve the goals. Many producers failed in this aspect because they set a standard that is way beyond them and at the end of it all. It rumbles.
How Can You Expand My Music Beyond Beat Producer?
While trying to make music in recent times, you have to understand that the only rule in music-making remains that there are no rules, just do any music and record for sample purpose. You can create any beat or effect that comes into your head even in a way that it has never been imagined.
Then go a bit further, creating new categories of music by yourself. However, the fact that you feel you can do anything in terms of music doesn’t mean you have to.
No matter the kind of music you make, your ideal goal is to see it come out as good music. Your aim should be for others to enjoy listening and vibing to your songs.
You will also want them to clearly hear the message and avoid having them being distracted by bad recording/weak playing.
The most important thing is the fact that you should understand all the processes and access to the required tools to make it easier for you to construct a quality track that will deliver your message as desired.
There are 6 basic stages involved in the process of music production. They are;
Songwriting
Songwriting can be said to be the process of combining music and melody while writing the music and words of songs.
It’s the process of brainstorming, which results in a beginning, middle, and endnote.
Good music in terms of content will depend on the listener and what he or she is drawn to.
It is subjective. However, good music in terms of craft can be seen more objectively and will have all the elements listed above (i.e., melody, harmony, rhythm, beginning, middle, and end).
When it comes to lyrics, I like to enjoy prosody. The lyrics and music work together to support each other.
It’s not enough to have good lyrics from a literary perspective; it also needs to sound beautiful when the singer sings them.
In all, you have to play the song with only one instrument and a vocal and see if the song will still sound good.
If it is not, the rest won’t really matter much because when the starting is good, the rest will roll out with ease.
Arranging
Arranging is the least understood and most neglected part of music production.
If a song has a very good sound and melody, but if it is too repetitive, then surely, after a while, there would be a great problem of the playlist. It’s only the playlist, which makes the song sounder able and interesting.
So to make it simple, the playlist of a song means the selection of instruction of good instructions playing in a particular section. The way the song ‘arranged’ and how the sections have listed plays an important role within the larger timeline.
If you have written an impressive song, then listing it on repeat is not enough, but you need to do more than that.
There is a need to buildup song of some sort, like the very first verse has only vocals and guitar, then the second verse adds the drums and bass, and so the first chorus adds the synth harmonies and the vocal.
This is what we called the arrangement of various instruments within a particular song. Moreover, if you have introduced an instrument at the first phase of the song, then it doesn’t mean it will be there for the whole time.
There is another question of how many and long the sections would be? Well, the answer is simple, if you feel a section has reached its final limits, or if you want to tune-up, then do it.
Again, the music should continue being played, even if it’s very subtle. Musical instruments should come in and out, bringing in energy, introducing twists and turns along the way.
You can also talk about the arrangement at the level of the unity and what kind of chord voicing you’re using.
To maximize the significant impact of a song, it’s needed to focus on each one individually.
While you push the record, perform your life, and think about nothing else.
Editing
The potential of digital editing has made apprehending a great performance easier than ever before.
However, it is ideal to use these tools for backup purposes, not a go-to. Whenever it’s time to kick off with editing sessions, it should be acknowledged as a different dimension for a few reasons.
Firstly, you don’t have to perform editing while writing or recording. Each stage should be granted adequate and separate attention, to avoid complications and mixups.
Secondly, you should never overdo editing; else, your songs may come without feeling, thereby sounding too “chopped up.”
And thinking about editing secondarily, your efforts will be channeled to giving solid performances and capturing what is needed to be live, somewhat than spending twice or more time trying to make edits. When it has to do with editing, treat it as a secondary option. If recording it sounds good, then there shouldn’t be room for editing.
Try to adjust pitches that aren’t there, or you can polish your songs by fading the openings and the ends of the individual part for smooth output.
This is to achieve good sound and accurate performances
Mixing
It takes a few years of learning and adequate practice to be able to mix professionally. Still, there’s no limitation towards achieving it because it presents endless opportunities for you to explore and create a niche for yourself.
Mixing involves the process of joining together the instrumentals or beats you’ve recorded into a stereo 2- track. A good mix will give your ear clear and more detailed instrumentals, which will have a great depth and motion.
Artists make use of various studios sometimes when they intend to record an album. They also use different sound engineers and producers, which in the end, results in each song having its own unique sound.
How Are Important Mixtapes To Beat Producers?
The mixtape is the act of compiling music, typically from several sources, recorded onto a medium, with origins in the 1980s.
It defines a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette tape, CD, or digital playlist.
Essayist Geoffrey O’Brien described mixtape as a produced or independently released record album giving free of charge to gain publicity or avoid copyright infringement.
The lyrics might be sequentially ordered or made into a continuous catalog by beatmatching the songs and creating seamless transitions at their beginnings and endings with fades or unexpected edits.
However, this has been applied to several releases published to the public for profit in the 2010s.
In this context, a mixtape is analogous to a studio album or extended play.
Beat producers are now into beat making as a way to promote their brand and make themselves sellable.
How Can A Beat Producer Build His Reputation From The Scratch?
It is not enough that a producer creates good beats. There is a need to ensure that the beats get circulated and at least reach a large number of people, we spoke about how you can build your reputation as a producer previously.
There are ways you can start marketing your beats and introduce them to artists who will, in turn, help you make it go viral, even to other artists you haven’t reached. Everything depends on how well you play your card as the producer.
- Start Small, End Big
You must understand that the level of competition is high, and for you to be able to create a reputation for yourself, you will need to start small or at least be the biggest name in your own locality.
You have to start in this way before you jump into the bigger scene and start competing with the big shots of the industry. This way, you would have started creating a niche for yourself before you can gain more relevance in the bigger scene.
By starting small, you can be able to easily establish a reputation for yourself before expanding out into the bigger picture where you can make a name for yourself and try to stand out so that before you know it, you are counted among the big names in your niche.
- Reach out to better Artists
This is for you, especially when you are new to the game. You don’t have to wait for artists to reach out first. You can be the first to reach out to them, especially when they are already established, artists.
You can ask them for a particular sound they want and help them produce it at a very minimal cost while they, in turn, can help you promote your brand and tell other artists about you.
This way, you are using their reputation to create a name for yourself since many of their followers want to follow you too. You will also use it as a form of advertisement for yourself by adding them to the number of artists you’ve worked with.
- Always be positive
There are many people already in the industry, and you will surely have so many competitors. Some people will want to push you to the extreme so that you get tired and back off.
They’ll insult you, lie about you and your work, and try to drag you into the mud. In this case, you do not need to bother or be worried because it is really part of the industry.
You do not need to engage anybody in any form of a tussle. What you should do is to separate yourself from amateurs. You must be seen as acting professionally. Nobody wants to work with a poisonous person, always remain positive.
- Make Yourself Accessible
You must drop a link on how artists can contact you in case they want your service. You need to make yourself visible and available so that you can be reached easily. Let people know what you do and the services you offer.
Make good use of the different social media platforms to do the advertisement. If possible, you can create a website for yourself where you display your beat collections, artists you’ve worked with, and your contact information for easy access.
- Organize free Giveaways
As a beat producer, you can decide to create 2 or 3 beats and decide to do a giveaway, you can tell your fans to do a song with your beat and whoever does the right song will win a cash prize. This way you gain more popularity among your followers
- Use audio tags and audio watermarks
Using audio tags is accepted by nearly everyone. Producers can tag the start of the beat with their alias; for example, you can start all your beats by shouting your stage name. This way, anyone who listens to the beat will know that it is coming from you.
This is a good move. People will begin to recognize your tag, and if they hear an amazing beat, they know they can go back to the start and learn who it was that made it. You should do this on free beats, lease beats, and exclusives as well.
- Remix for top Artists
You can meet the famous rappers, and so the singers, and can ask them if you can have their master tape, they did in the past. By doing so, you can create a free remix for them. Make them assure that you won’t share it until on their approval.
- Make beat making tutorial videos & more
If you own a good studio, and you know that studio is better than most producers out there, then it can help you increase your reputation. You can start with a challenge, like ‘show your beats.’ The best thing is yours will remain the first, and that thread will remain famous for a long time. The reason is to get everyone’s attention to your work.
Conclusion
Above all, you must always display your level of creativity whenever you are making your beats. This is because people like to watch out for something that is not already in the industry.
Once you are in control, you ensure that you stay relevant and don’t leave. The music industry is a growing one, and you must always be relevant to stay at the top. If not, there are smaller producers also waiting for the opportunity to rise to the top too.
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