MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: 100 BEATS LATER
Earlier this month (November, 2020), I challenged myself to produce 100 instrumentals before December.
I’ve never made that many beats in a month and it honestly seemed impossible at first, but as I write this, I’ve already uploaded 100 tracks onto the backend of my website!
Now, you might be wondering why I would challenge myself to make so many beats in such a limited amount of days. I asked myself this same question many times throughout the process, which was by no means an easy task to accomplish. Honestly, there were several reasons.
First, I had just walked away from a miserable retail job which paid less than $12/hr. I was hungry and tired of selling all my capacity in exchange for a few dollars. I realized that if I really wanted to pursue music as a career path, I would need to shift my approach a bit.
Before this moment, I’ve never seriously considered selling beats online. I’ve always preferred to work directly with artists in live studio sessions because there is something special about providing space for folks to build new worlds through their imaginations… and being there to witness it all.
However, as the reality of COVID-19 ceases to fade, I’ve begun to let go of the idea that I need to be present for every aspect of production. In fact, I may have even stifled my own growth by holding onto this idea that if I’m not around to engineer, the end result will be trash.
The truth is that I can make beats all day, any day (#slapfactory) and there are so many talented artists in the world who’d benefit from better production.
In my research, I learned that selling exclusive licenses to lease instrumentals doesn’t have to mean that I’m giving up all the rights to my music, either. Every lease requires a signed royalty split agreement, which states that earnings must be split evenly, a profit-sharing framework which actually aligns with my core beliefs.
Ironically, the most difficult part of this process was deciding how much to charge for an exclusive lease.
Beats are abundant on the World Wide Web, and without having to look too hard, anyone can log onto YouTube and find thousands of instrumentals for sale under $30.
However, I did the math on that and it just wasn’t adding up for me, personally. Even though I might only spend about 1-2 hours on each instrumental, I’ve been making beats since I was 13 years old, which essentially means that thousands of hours have gone into this craft over time (not to mention the costs of equipment such as computers, headphones, plugins, microphones, MIDIs, etc).
On the flip side, there are some producers who charge upwards of $25,000 for exclusive leases on average beats (no shade, just being honest).
I didn’t want to charge so little that I’d have to burn myself out trying to keep up with the demand, but I also didn’t want to start at a price none of my peers could afford. I outsourced this predicament to my Ancestors, who reminded me that I’m worth every penny I could ever ask for and more, but that it wouldn’t backfire to start at $111 and go up from there.
Now, enough about the business side of things (although it’s crucial information, I believe).
Creatively, I wanted to challenge myself to experiment with new sounds and techniques because, as with anything, it can be easy to cling onto what feels safe. For example, when I first started making beats, there were no rules, simply vibes. However, over time, I began to develop certain ideas about how an instrumental should be arranged or mixed/mastered.
This challenge inspired me to forfeit these limitations of the mind and get back to the feeling of it all.