If you are a producer, you have more than likely asked fellow producers, artists, friends or family for some feedback of your beats. You would like all of the feedback you receive to be positive, of course, but this is not always the case. Your friends and family will most likely compliment your work to spare your feelings, but a fellow producer or artist is bound to be critical of your work, offering either a derogatory comment, a simple “I don’t like it,” or some kind of valuable criticism.

I remember when I first started posting my beats for review on the internet, I would sometimes get hundreds of positive remarks (on forums, instant messenger, email, etc.) about a beat, but if I got just ONE negative comment about it, I would be hard on myself and lose confidence. Through the years though, I’ve learned to accept the fact that you can’t please all the people all the time! Once I grew as a producer and understood this concept, I no longer stressed over pleasing every single person with one piece of music.

To put this into a simple perspective, just consider this: Take 10 different people you know personally, and think about what kinds of music they prefer. Odds are, everyone doesn’t listen to the same artists. One may prefer classic rock, one may prefer hip-hop, another may prefer country….and so on.

Well, this same exact concept holds true for your beats….

Some people may love your piece of music, while others simply do not like it because it is not their taste in music. To make this example even more targeted, let’s look at just the Hip-Hop genre. Let’s say you make a Club-style hip-hop beat. Artists and producers who enjoy club hip-hop may love your beat, but those that listen to raw, gritty hip hop may hate it. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to accept, and move forward.

So remember this: If you are getting a lot of positive feedback from valuable sources (fellow producers, artists, sound enginners, etc.), do NOT lose confidence in your music if you receive a few occasional criticisms or negative comments!

In the next motivational article, I will talk about Utilizing Feedback about your beats.

Until Then, Thanks for reading!

Tim Adamek
Open Minds Entertainment LLP

A set number of Master Recordings: A Master Recording is defined as the audio file created after the artist records his or her vocals to the beat. Most leasing terms allows for the profitable distribution of one Master Recording. Although the artist may record as many takes of the song as he or she wishes, they may only distribute ONE of these recordings for profitable use.

A set number of profitable distributions of the Master Recording: One factor outlined in almost all beat-leasing terms is a limit on the amount of profitable distributions of the Master Recording allowed by the artist. For the sake of an example, let us say that the producer’s contract allows for 2500 profitable distributions (that is the amount that we allow at our site)of the Master Recording. This simply means that the artist may record their vocals onto the beat, place the song on 2500 CDs, DVDs, cassettes, or any other form of recording media, and sell those for profit. If the artist were to sell any more than 2500 copies of the song, they would be breaking the contract. If the artist would like to further distribute the beat for more than 2500 copies, he/she must purchase an extended beat lease.

A set length of time for profitable distributions: Another term you may run into with the beat lease is the overall time span of your allowed profitable distributions. Some common lengths of time are 1-3 years, depending on the producer. If the terms allow for one year, the artist can distribute his/her 2500 profitable copies over the course of one year. After this time, the contract runs out and the artist loses his/her right to distribute the song for profit, even if they have not reached their 2500 copy limit.

The producer retains ownership rights of the beat: Leasing a beat is almost like borrowing or renting the beat from the producer for a period of time. The artist has the right to record over, distribute, and make some money off of the producer’s work, but the producer retains ownership of the beat. If you lease a beat, the producer keeps his/her right to continue leasing the beat to other artists (hence why leasing grants “non-exclusive rights”).

The artist must give the producer credit for his/her work. Most beat lease terms include that the artist must give the producer some form of credit for his/her work in creating the beat. This usually includes either verbal or written credit. Verbal credit would be a “shout-out” in the song where the artist verbally states who the track was produced by. Written credit is usually included in the CD booklet or on a website where the song is located.

These are the main terms of agreement you will come across when leasing a beat online. Every contract is different, and you will more than likely come across different terms when reading through beat lease contracts online, but these are the ones that you are sure to come across most frequently.

That’s all for now…I hope you understand the beat lease a little better now!

-Tim
Open Minds Entertainment LLP

I am Tim from music production company Open Minds Entertainment, and me and my fellow business partner Kyle will be using this blog to post our opinions, advice, news/updates, and more.

There is a ton of info out there for producer’s and artists, so we just wanted to make some things a bit simpler for you.

Enjoy!