The Beat Leasing model has been around for almost 20 years and shows no sign of waning. At its core, it operates on the principle of supply and demand. With more vocalists outnumbering producers, the demand for beats to use as backing tracks is considerable. This is where commercial beatmakers step in, offering a wide variety of beats catering to every musical niche. Want to join the action? Here’s everything you need to know to get started and lease your first beats!

What is a Beat Lease?

Beat leasing generally falls into one of the following two categories…

Non-Exclusive

A Non-Exclusive Beat Lease is a type of music licensing where a producer allows an artist to use a beat for a specific purpose and period. This is done without giving up full ownership of the beat. This means the artist can use the beat in their songs, videos, or performances, but the producer still owns the beat and can lease it to other artists as well. Beat leasing is an affordable way for artists to get high-quality beats while providing producers a way to earn money from their work.

Exclusive

An exclusive Beat Lease is a music licensing agreement where a producer grants an artist full rights to use a beat. This means the producer cannot lease or sell that beat to anyone else. With an exclusive lease, the artist gets complete control over the beat for their projects, ensuring it’s unique to their music. This typically comes at a higher cost, but it provides the artist with a one-of-a-kind track that no other artist can use. It is also worth noting that some exclusive licences are granted on beats that had previously been leased non-exclusively. For instance, a beatmaker may offer both options on a beat. In the event an artist buys the exclusive rights they have to accept that the beat may have been used previously although it will not be resold going forward.

Find your lane

When entering the Beat Leasing market, one of the first things to consider is what musical gap do you intend to fill? While Trap and Hip-Hop beats represent the majority of beat lease content, any musical genre where a backing track is required should be considered. Pop, Rock, EDM and even Country music backing tracks are all fair game within the beat leasing marketplace. In fact, specialising in slightly less popular genres means less competition as opposed to the highly saturated Trap/Hip-Hop arena.

When starting out it’s important to focus on the style of beats you are most familiar with and proficient in. The better the quality and originality of your music the higher your chances of success. It’s also crucial to make the sort of music that you enjoy producing as the beat leasing game should be a creatively fulfilling pursuit and not just a commercial endeavour.

Type Beats – It’s all in the Title

Due to the nature of Beat Leasing the name you give you’re beats can have a considerable bearing on its success or failure. The first thing anyone investigating the Beat Leasing market will notice is the prominence of the “Type Beat”. Type beats have become an established trend in the beat leasing game, where producers create and label beats that mimic the style of a well-known artist. For example, search Drake Type Beat on YouTube and sit back as hundreds of results are returned. Some Drake worthy and some not so much!

There are various reasons beatmakers employ the Type Beat title format. Firstly it is a way of aligning the style of your beats to a popular artist. Many vocalists looking for beats will aspire to be like their musical peers. Having your favourite artist’s name attached to a beat can therefore prove enticing. It can also help with SEO (search Engine Optimisation) as artists often use the names of their favourite musicians when hunting for beats. By labelling beats with these names, producers can improve their visibility and ranking in search results. Be warned though as the market for “type beats” is highly competitive, especially with very high-profile artists. This can have the opposite effect making it harder for individual producers to stand out due to Type Name saturation.

Audio Tag – A Watermark for Beats

One of the defining aspects of commercial lease beats is the infamous beat tag or audio watermark. These custom-created vocal samples will often name-check the producer or feature a catchphrase. The purpose of a beat tag is twofold. On one hand, it acts as a method of brand reinforcement and promotion while on the other hand it stamps your authority over a beat protecting its intellectual properties. Once a licence has been acquired the beatmaker will generally send an untagged version of the beat to the artist.

Overall, audio watermarks and tags are crucial for protecting the interests of producers, maintaining the integrity of their work, and ensuring they receive proper credit and compensation in the commercial beat leasing market.

Marketing your Beats

Selling beats online can be a lucrative business if you can get your beats in front of enough potential artists. Here are some key strategies to help you succeed in the highly competitive beat leasing market.

Beat-Selling Marketplaces

Beat-selling Marketplaces have played a pivotal role in the growth and prominence of the beat leasing industry. This is often the first avenue to explore when embarking on beatselling as listing your beats on established marketplaces can significantly boost your visibility. Currently, the marketplace is dominated by two major players- Beat Stars and AirBit. These sites have fine-tuned the bestselling experience but competition is high and getting your beats to stand out can be tough. It’s therefore worth considering listing your beats on smaller platforms as well as they may provide less composition..

Utilize YouTube

YouTube is a powerful tool for reaching a global audience and beatmakers are not blind to this! Create a YouTube channel to upload your beats with eye-catching visuals. Getting your beats found on YouTube can however be a challenge. Careful strategic use of keywords is essential. It is unlikely that a title like “Drake-type beat” will rank highly so experiment with other artist and title combinations. It may be worth downloading a plugin called Tube Buddy as it provides crucial data regarding the searchability and SEO potential of your YouTube videos.

Free Beat Offers

A tried and tested method to market your your beats is to provide some free offerings. This can help build brand awareness and attract new customers. It’s crucial that you include your producer tag and links to your website or beat store in the free downloads to drive traffic to your paid offerings. You can also stipulate that if a beat gets placed on a major label or eclipses a certain amount of streams, a royalty share should be negotiated.

Build a Professional Website

Having a professional website gives your beats and brand a home to showcase your wares, provide information about your services, and make sales. Platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace simplify the web design process alleviating the need for a 3rd party developer. E-commerce facilities like Shopify allow users to monetise their beats and products.

Leveraging Social Media

Harnessing the potential of Social Media can be an extremely powerful tool in the promotion of your beats. Take steps to build a substantial following on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. Aim to target the sort of people that may be interested in leasing your beats. Use social media to share snippets, behind-the-scenes content, and generally engage with your audience. Consistent posting and interaction can help build your brand and attract potential buyers. Be careful however not to bombard your followers with constant promotions. Instead, create a balance between promo and fun engaging and entertaining posts.

Collaboration

Work with up-and-coming artists and influencers to get your beats heard by a broader audience. This can include offering them free or discounted beats in exchange for shoutouts or features. Also, take steps to Join online communities, forums, and social media groups where producers and musicians hang out. Networking can lead to collaborations, advice, and opportunities to promote your beats.

Analyze and Adapt

It’s vital that you utalise analytics tools to track which beats are performing well. This helps you to understand and adapt to your audience’s preferences. Adjust your marketing strategies based on this data to maximize your success. For instance you may wish to experiment with paid promotions such as Facebook, Instagram or Google Ads. Start small, paying strict attention to the results. If you start to see success using a certain ad method then consider further investment.

Sales Funnels

Finally, Sales Funnels have shown a steady growth in popularity as a new method to sell beats online. The basic premise is that you guide potential customers through a structured journey from awareness to purchase. This strategy involves creating a series of optimized web pages that lead visitors through a process designed to convert them into a paying customer. You might start with a landing page offering a free beat in exchange for an email address. This is followed by an upsell page showcasing premium beats. By strategically nurturing leads, addressing their needs, and presenting them with compelling offers, click funnel marketing can be a great way of gaining sales and building a customer base.

The Legal Stuff

So you have followed all of the steps detailed in this post and have crafted a selection of must-have beats that’s sure to inspire a feeding frenzy amongst up-coming vocalists. Before unleashing your musical masterpieces unto the world, there are several legal aspects to consider.

Firstly and most importantly there is the small matter of your license agreement. These licence agreements will be determined by various aspects, most notably whether you’re offering a free beat/non-exclusive beat or exclusive beat. In the case of beat-selling platforms such as BeatStars and AirBit they will have their own guidelines regarding licence agreements. It is important to adhere to these. For custom licence agreements It’s recommended that you research the contents of other established beatmakers agreements. There are plenty of templates available online and these can act as a valuable resource.

If you have used samples in your beats you must ensure that these samples can be used legally. It is common for beatmakers to use Royalty-Free samples in their offerings but these samples must have been acquired legitimately. Check the sample licences for details on how the samples can be used commercially.

It’s also worth noting that if your beats contain sample loops they may be picked up on content ID systems as they could match to other beats. By composing original ‘sample free’ beats you will avoid any such potential conflicts. This factor is more relevant when selling beats exclusively as the artist may not be able to claim the copyright on platforms such as YouTube. Note* Content ID should not be claimed by artists if using a non-exclusive beat.

Summary

So there you have it, a brief rundown of the key aspects involved in creating and selling your beat creations online. So if you think you have the magic musical ingredients that a future Travis Scott is looking for don’t just hoard that fire on your Hard Drive. Get it out into the world where who knows, it may get used over and over again gaining you multiple payoffs in the process.

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