Yo MEccAH,
LISTEN to what gec just shared with you. He has armed you with the information you NEED to SUCCEED.
gec said:
....
1a) How do I promote myself as a producer?
1b) Good question, can you make beats, can you track, can you mix down, what is your education on female vocalists? I ask this question because you sound like hip hop is your genre and if you wanna make it in that genre you best have an off the hook chorus wit a vocalist or you could sample, Have you ever sampled?
1c) What do you know about music licensing and obtaining licenses to sample?
2) Do I need business cards?
Your not in business until you have business cards
3) How do I make my own website?
Do you need one, last time I knew p. Diddy, trackmasters, Dre, The neptunes, and timbaland were making there own stuff and not crusin the net looking for it. However, its not out of the question bro certainly having a global connection to promote your beats is a plus but in order to promote effectively it is gonna cost ya...............
4) Should I sell my beats on mp3?
You could!!!!!!!!!
5) Now let me break it down with some math..............
6) I make a blazin beat, and I'm like Dave and sell it for $600 to a guy who works with other producers. 1st I have just sold all rights of ownership of that beat. Now this guy turns it over to timbaland or the neptunes who track it wit a mainstream artist. The beat is hot so it is released as a single off the artists record, Lot of airplay, featured in radio promo's, put in a movie.......Well Dave made 600 but probably lost 100K. So heres my advice...
7) 1. If you wanna sell a beat never do it for a flat fee, sell for a percentage of what the track its used on will make say 3% plus cash advance up front if its bangin...
8) 2. Secondly, it sounds to me like you wanna get noticed in the industry so selling beats for a flat rate is the WRONG way to go about that. This industry is based on credits, If you wanna get noticed you can not give up your right to ownership on what you use. Having your name as a co-producer on the credits to a hot song will definately help you make contacts with others.
9) 3. If you are a producer wit hot beats you need to find a hot lyricist. With out that forget it......... The only reason why you even no of producers today is because of the artists they tracked for its a 2 way street one needs the other.........
10) 4. Build a name for yourself in the underground
11) Now I was probably a little rough bro, but ya seem like you really wanna no, here is a link to some sh** I've done. Hit me back wit any questions
1a) You will need MONEY, which in turn, will buy you GOOD publicity (with a GREAT publicist).
1b) The Hip-Hop/RnB market is FLOODED with at least million artist worldwide. You will need multiple gimicks to set you apart from the rest of the pedestrian individual on the scene.
1c) You will have to "wear multiple hats".
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU LEARN THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THE MUSIC GAME!!!!!
You will get F*CKED, if don't take the time to learn about the business. Go to your bookstore and pick up a few books (I'll list them in my next post in this thread).
2) It is mandatory, if you are serious about making some money. It looks non-professional when you write your number down on a napkin or on the back of a matchbook.
3) Can your write HTML, JAVA, JAVASCRIPT, or Flash? You could try using Microsoft Front Page.
It is a good idea to create a website, if you want to reach an overseas market, but you'll need to get "high up" on the "search engines", and that means, more MONEY.
4) I agree with gec. You
could sell them online, but
I wouldn't. If your beats are "fresh", people are going to "jack" them. But then, you could sue them for some money.
5) gec, broke it down.
6) [size-9]Do not give up ownership![/size]
7) If you have to sell it, make sure you get some
POINTS! AND an advance! (The label will
recoup the advance fee from the artist sales).
8) AGAIN, DON'T GIVE UP OWNERSHIP!!!
9) gec, is ohh, so right.
10) It is
necessary that you have credibility. This is one reason why gec told you build yourself in the "underground" scene.
Do you think Eminem, just came out of nowhere? He was an ILL *ss rhymer in Detroit (on the underground scene).
P.s. You might also want to ask a few questions in the Marketing Your Music Forum, on the BBS.
Post, post script. You are selling your tracks for too cheap of a price.
peace ....
