For those who sell beats or anything else

[Mindset]

Just for information, as this situation has escalated ....

Most of you know that I've been working with Big Wheel Records. Those of you from TX, know who they are.

Anyways, so the deal went through smoothly as mentioned. Until an incident occurred. See, I dealt with Dough Boy when I was selling the beats. He bought some at a reasonable price. Dough Boy ended up being at the end, a thieving little son of a bitch.

OK, so I didn't talk to Rizzo (CEO Of Big Wheel Records) on the first deal. Second deal comes rolling along, and Rizzo still doesn't know who I am right... Since the first deal went through smoothly with Dough Boy, I figure well hey, I know this cat now, and can give him a beat CD with 15 beats on it, worth approx $15-20K. The beat CD was for him to pick out the beats (they were clips on mp3) and jacks them, and then turns around and takes some of Weatherman's beats that I gave him for Weatherman's album, and steals sections of lyrics, and laces them on the same beat. THEN, on top of that, he tell's Rizzo that he made all the beats (during a promotional show 2 weeks ago) and basically makes me non-existent to Rizzo (who knows better). So what does Dough Boy do?? Well first off, Dough Boy resigned with Big Wheel Records for 24 months (since his contract expired last month). Now on the side, Dough Boy is trying to start his own label called Low Life Records. Which I could care less about, except that he's now trying to use the stolen beats & lyrics to lace a "mix tape" because "mix tapes" allow a artist to use whatever he wishes for commercial use - so said him (which is BULLSHIT). SO in turn, Dough Boy just fucked me, Weatherman, and Rizzo (conflict of interest/breach of contract). He talked a good game, and got me. There will NEVER be a next time.

SO Just for information,

DO
NOT
SELL
YOUR
BEAT
CD'S with out a contract & cash money in hand. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING until you have the cash. It is the first and last time I hand a product to a client before accepting money, even if that client is establishing himself/herself in the industry already. Like I should have done what I said I usually do. Bring them to my house, let them pick out whatever, and exchange money, count it, and sign the contracts.

To sum it all up for those who don't like to read too much info...

First time sold 10 beats $5K + 3 points to Big Wheel Records in the best interest of Dough Boy. I brought Dough Boy to the location, let him hear it, exchanged money, and signed a contract

Second time I made a CD of beats so that he can pick out himself, thinking business will be a pleasure, and he takes off.

Third, he's trying to fuck his recording label by bootlegging his own shit, stealing products to be used in his own commercial production.

SO what is a guy to do at these times?? It's all gravy, EXCEPT that NOW I have to take time out of MY DAY, to call up my lawyer, and get shit rolling along instead of kicking back and banging out hits. My time & money wasted because my time and money taken. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. REMEMBER, THIS IS TO A LEGIT RECORDING LABEL WITH A CROOKED ARTIST.

I always knew the industry was cut throat, but it stayed in the back of my mind. So fam, proceed to success with caution.

 

[Mindset]

By the way, the other major problem, is Dough Boy....

Weatherman has known this cat for years, so basically I trusted him, and so did everyone else..... And so Weatherman helped me get more deals through Dough Boy, which in turn he put approx 100 instrumentals in the hands (computer) of Dough Boy.

I have 3 options

1 Legal way to deal with this
2 Take my K47 to his door.
3 There's not really any 3rd option.

 

[bknot1]

sorry to hear this bad news..you should never sell your rights to the beats..its better to license them out..

i never recommend anyone sueing any artist of label..cause in the long run it get you black listed from other projects..and it will usely cost you more money in the meantime to collect what you want..

what type of agreement/contract did you have with them..ie..who did the beat belong to,,,did you state you still retain copyrights to the beat or did you sell the tracks outright?

 

[Mindset]

sorry to hear this bad news..you should never sell your rights to the beats..its better to license them out..

i never recommend anyone sueing any artist of label..cause in the long run it get you black listed from other projects..and it will usely cost you more money in the meantime to collect what you want..

what type of agreement/contract did you have with them..ie..who did the beat belong to,,,did you state you still retain copyrights to the beat or did you sell the tracks outright?

Beats were created by Weatherman, Matt, and me that were sold. The ones that were sold are ok because those were then circulated with Big Wheel, the executive rights were sold for 7 years before renewal. Copyrights remain with Mindset. The extra 15 beats that were taken were made by me and Matt. I used a royalities contract, mechanical license contract, a production contract, payment contract, and a rec company prod. contract. The second deal didnt' go through, and no contracts were signed.

 

[bknot1]

ok..do you have a copy of the 15 that he has..

if you have send them in to be copywritten like yesterday..

 

[bknot1]

I have 3 options

1 Legal way to deal with this
2 Take my K47 to his door.
3 There's not really any 3rd option.

1. can lead you to being black listed and spending alot of money in legal fees and years of fighting in a courtrom
2. can lead you to prison..and no more knowlege from you..
3. you do have one..wait intil he press up 100,000 units and make a call to the RIAA...cause he stole from you and your Artist... of wait someone did that to DJ Drama and Them (not cool)
Gangsta Grillllz

 

[BillyBo]

dag. i mean - DAG. sorry to hear that Mindset. live and learn. i hope whatever action you take (legally, no guns haha) brings truth to the front and reparations are made.

 

[mentalattica]

Yeah Fam, it ain't worth going postal you just live and learn. If anything, take legal actions rather than showing up with the K.

 

[Mindset]

yeah I know fam... just hard for me to accept the loss and move on, though that's probably the best step to take at the moment. I'll leave a k out the picture now.

 

[bknot1]

smart move..now get to making hot tracks..do a few diss tracks about him..pass it around Texas..and you on your way to greatness..ooh what that what Cham did to MJ..ok..back on your grind..

 

[Fieva]

Mindset,

I know how you feel man, been there myself just nowhere NEAR that degree. Just remember, mistakes are made so that mistakes are learned from. Nobody's perfect and we all do it.

"The smart man learns from his mistake and does not repeat it. The fool continues a pattern" - Confieva

 

[BeatsBuY]

I'm Back!

I feel you. Sometimes it's easier to move on and learn from it. If it didn't cost you Millions of $$$$$$$$$$$$, then learn from it and don't do it again. If you have all you documentation right and the beats, wait until you are good money wise and they have sold a bunch of CDs.


DO TRY THIS:

Write a certified letter explaining what happened and that it's a letter requesting compensation on services rendered. Save that on file. That way if it ever goes forward, you have your basses covered and you reached out to them. Ya, you may have not had a contract, but at least you will have a paper trail.

Judges don't like people who steal and try to get over. If you have a paper trail and no one replies, it's as good as guilty. Cover your end and you'll be good down the road.. If you do it right you can also get damages/ loss of income.

 

[dirtyp]

1. On sum gangsta shit you know you going to see em one day and when you do let em have it. Had a problem the other day wit this kid I was going to lay em out but it was mid day and in front of a police substation. I caught that sucker last night in my pjs trying to cop sumthing so I got him and his 30 bucks.

2. Take whatever legal action you can on top of it. That shit takes forever and by that time hell be making money of it. Then go to every spot he peforms like a hagler go on stage and shit on em fuck with his hustle.

3. The label probaly knows just a good way to keep there hands clean probaly why they doing the mixtape cuz there linking it back to them.
Kind of like the enrons and world coms where everyone acts like its one guy and they dont know nuttin.

 

[bknot1]

LEgal action is only right if the guy is makin millions off your work..

it is a waste of time to sue someone that dont have any money..in the end you will be out of more money just tryin to take them to court..

chalk it up as a lesson learned, move on..do send a letter like BeatsBuy said..

but chalk it up as a lesson learned...

like i said before you dont want to be Black Listed as a producer for takin a label to court..thats career murder..

 

[dirtyp]

I think you should diss the hell out of him I have to much pride to turn the cheek, Do a whole diss cd with the beats he took and do the shows at the same venue turn his fans against him... THat will hurt his pockets and his rep..

Look at the tru life and mobb deep beef Tru paid them for a collab that they were going to do a single/video for. Mobb went and recorded the song on a soundtrack ruin tru's plan so they ran up in the studio and beat there ass made some diss songs and got mad respect. They later apoliged for it and now they beafing with dip set.

I wouldnt sue either unless they making big dough off it, But like I said I think the label played a part in this most the time they the ones paying for the beats and they going to play that lil guy vs the big guy bullshit.

I got diss songs on Mobb too just cuz they came out with a cd cover like mine it was on the same shit too, im posting my cd everywhere for exposure and the wrong dude sees it now people look at me like the copy cat.

 

[dnkygirl]

yeah I know fam... just hard for me to accept the loss and move on, though that's probably the best step to take at the moment. I'll leave a k out the picture now.

I think you should just let it go as a hard lesson learned. I know it's hard to accept, but you apparently have material that everybody wants... so you can also look at it like a marketing deal. Just remember to follow through your company rules on all your business transactions.. trust no one.. that fam bs is just that bs. Business is business and should be treated as such... if you think like wise you will continue to get screwed. Just my 2 pennies...

Demi

 

[Mindset]

LEgal action is only right if the guy is makin millions off your work..

it is a waste of time to sue someone that dont have any money..in the end you will be out of more money just tryin to take them to court..

chalk it up as a lesson learned, move on..do send a letter like BeatsBuy said..

but chalk it up as a lesson learned...

like i said before you dont want to be Black Listed as a producer for takin a label to court..thats career murder..

Yeah that's one thing holding me back is being black listed. What about as a record label taking his label to court? lol.

 

[bknot1]

Yeah that's one thing holding me back is being black listed. What about as a record label taking his label to court? lol.

see that should work..cause its a company suing a company...not a single person suing a company...

you should also i forgot to mention send him a seist and desist letter ..and make it so he has to sign for it..so you will have a record of you tryin to get your tracks back..and he received the letter..

 

[DavidK]

DavidK in the Hip-hop forum?? WTF??

Mindset, can you prove that you made the beats?? Hip-hop is a world of its own, and a classical guy like me knows zilch about the music or the business, BUT:

There is no bad thing as bad PR. At least I dont think so. What I am getting from this is that the hip-hop world is incredibly small on the business end, and if you mess with the wrong folks they will blacklist you?? I would consider the opposite. I have no clue what a Dough Boy is, I assume some prominent artist?? If so, PR about a prominent person stealing from YOU could really work for you.

If Bill Gates is caught stealing ideas from some computer whiz, people are going to say "This kid must be something special". If a legitimate lawsuit would get PR, they might settle with you to avoid embarrassment, if not, the PR FROM such a lawsuit might bring you more exposure than you realize. Sue his ass.

 

[Mindset]

DavidK in the Hip-hop forum?? WTF??

Mindset, can you prove that you made the beats?? Hip-hop is a world of its own, and a classical guy like me knows zilch about the music or the business, BUT:

There is no bad thing as bad PR. At least I dont think so. What I am getting from this is that the hip-hop world is incredibly small on the business end, and if you mess with the wrong folks they will blacklist you?? I would consider the opposite. I have no clue what a Dough Boy is, I assume some prominent artist?? If so, PR about a prominent person stealing from YOU could really work for you.

If Bill Gates is caught stealing ideas from some computer whiz, people are going to say "This kid must be something special". If a legitimate lawsuit would get PR, they might settle with you to avoid embarrassment, if not, the PR FROM such a lawsuit might bring you more exposure than you realize. Sue his ass.

What's up David, when I saw the post, I said the same thing lol.
But yeah, I have session data marked back to 1998, most are in archive except the 1 year before, which would be 2005 to 2007 are easily pulled up. Dough Boy is part of Big Wheel Records, which isn't really a major label, but they do have some regional power (TX area). If I were to persue this as a producer, most likely I would be black listed. As a recording label, I probably can do it easily. This will probably be a lengthy process before any settlement is agreed upon.