It’s 2021, you want to be a rapper, you write lyrics and they are good, so you book time at a studio for $90 an hour, you show up, and you hope to walk out with a song. The engineer asks “What are we doing today?”. And you tell her… (wait, did I just say “her”? Yes I did, because the time for stereotypes is over. But I digress.) So you tell her “I have a song I wrote, and I am hoping to lay it down today.” Your engineer asks if you have a beat, and you have no idea what she means. Your engineer loves music. That’s why she’s doing what she’s doing. She’s smiling. She’s happy. Don’t take this the wrong way. She doesn’t expect much from you. But she is willing to make you sound amazing. That’s not only her job, but her passion. So she asks you a couple of questions about artists who you want to sound like, maybe a song or two that you think your song will be similar to, and she goes on a browser and pulls up a beat that sounds just like what you had in mind. She’s amazing.
Fast forward ninety minutes and we are coming close to the end of your session. In another blog entry we’ll talk about your first experience in the studio. But our topic here is the beat (in other words, your song). What you have created in the studio is what is known as a “derivative work”. That’s because what you did was write lyrics that you performed and recorded over somebody else’s music. In the process, you created a brand new recording of the combined effort, and that is absolutely 100% your recording. But you do not yet have permission to make any money by selling your recording because you haven’t paid for the license you need to make money from the music you used in your recording. You can listen to your song in the car, on your phone, at your parties, with your friends. But as soon as you make that song public in any way that has monetary value, you are infringing the beat maker’s rights to make their cut from your derivative work. And this is absolutely fair. Think about it like this: The beat maker decides to make a new beat, and he likes your lyrics. So he records a new beat and includes your lyrics. He releases it on a well-known streaming service and it gets traction and now he’s making money on it, but you’re not. Why? He took your lyrics, made a derivative work, and didn’t secure any permission or license from you to use your lyrics in his new song. How’s that feel? Fair? It’s exactly what you were going to do, but with his music and your lyrics.
So why didn’t your engineer tell you this? Well, she should have. In fact, it would have been even better for her to tell you before you came down to your session to make sure you come down with a licensed beat. Or at least to tell you that if you plan to do anything with the song as far as uploading it to a streaming service, you will need to buy the license first. Here’s why she probably didn’t mention anything: Despite what you hope and dream, the music business is tough. The entry barriers used to be pretty high. You could play in your garage band, or perform at at couple of local clubs. By the 80’s you could record at a 4-track recording studio and make a cassette that you duplicate yourself on two tape decks at home. But if you wanted to make money, a good A&R rep from an established label needed to catch you at a show and sign you up if you wanted to get into the business for real.
Fast forward again to 2021, and your phone comes with a built-in multi-track recording studio. But that only means the entry barriers have moved. They are still there. They are just harder to find. It’s easy and cheap to record. Small studios know that everyone has a home studio now. So they have to sell you on some value you probably don’t have at home. For me, that’s a seasoned engineer, open-minded producer, good ears, love of music, great microphones, great preamps, great sound, and a totally laid-back atmosphere. But most engineers aren’t in the business of teaching you the business. Frankly, that’s not what you are paying them for. If you are lucky, like I was with my first professional studio experience, you’ll find a mentor, not just an engineer. But that’s rare. I digress again. Your engineer is thinking that if you are lucky enough to make it big, you can settle any issues you have with rights to the beats with all the money you’re going to make. And if, like most of her customers, you never make it past your own car stereo, it won’t matter. She makes her money either way for your session. Hopefully you come back for more if you like the way you sound.
Your “free” downloaded beat is only free to listen to. Expand the screen and you will probably see a link to purchase a lease for the beat, which comes with a limited license that lets you record something like 1 derivative work (your song), 1 music video, 5000 copies of a recording, and 100000 streams. (This is a rough guess at what most of them are like). After that, you have to buy another license, upgrade the one you have, or just pull the song off the streaming platform. Your beat maker wants the song out there. He also wants you to be successful so he can make his share of the money off your success. But he holds your song in his license, not the other way around. Want to impress your engineer? When she finds a good beat for you, ask her to open the licensing and lease options so you can buy it right there on the spot. You will see usually a “Basic” MP3 lease, a Limited WAV lease, sometimes some other options. Do yourself and your fans a favor. Buy at least the .WAV lease. If you really want to make the song sound special, buy a premium lease with Track Stems. This will provide you with all the individual tracks that make up the beat, giving you and your engineer much more creative control over the sound and the arrangement. You also usually get an unlimited lease at that level, so you won’t have to pull your song after it hits big and goes viral.
Let me lay out your typical options and a rough idea of cost:
- A compressed, limited, MP3 lease (that may or may not have audio tags telling you to buy the beat). (Typically $29)
- A high quality .WAV lease, still limited by time or plays, but a good basis for a DIY release. (Typically $59)
- A Premium Unlimited .WAV lease, takes the cap off plays and time, but still limits the beat mix. (Typically $159)
- Track Stem lease (usually also includes a mixed .WAV and .MP3 file) along with all the stem files, and USUALLY has unlimited terms for plays over time. (Typically $299)
- Exclusive Lease. This is basically a flat-out purchase that will take the beat off the market for the future. In most cases, the beat makers ask you to negotiate this price. Keep in mind that this will not mean that you won’t hear the same beat on somebody else’s song ever again. Other artists may have already purchased leases for the same beat before you, and those don’t end just because you purchased exclusive rights. It just means nobody else can buy into it after you. And if you do that, definitely make use of the stem files to remix and rearrange the song a little. Add some more parts. Make it your own so that you can avoid running into the identical beat somewhere else.
There are different views on what you should usually spend early on in your career. Tone Jonez suggests using lower cost leases to get started and build a fan base and following with less out of pocket. This is great advice! Even with lower entry costs overall, you don’t want to go broke just getting your first track up! But others suggest spending the most you are willing to budget on the quality of your music. MP3 is just not industry-standard if you really want your stuff to sound like a professionally produced recording. And if you are concerned about sounding like other artists, or even having your exact leased beat show up in another song, spend on the track stems if you can so you can really mix your own sound.
Now that you have a clearer idea of how this beat licensing thing works, your experience in the studio and in the streaming and distribution marketplace will be a whole lot better. But, read your lease agreement carefully. It’s written by lawyers for lawyers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t understand it. You can almost always upload to streaming services (with or without monetization), and sell your song digitally. But there may be restrictions on how you do that. For example, you may not be permitted to use full service distributors (like Tunecore and CDBaby). These are great platforms for distribution, if all the music is yours (or your band’s). But it gets complicated when there are leases involved for some of the recording. There are other distribution platforms like Beatstars and Distrokid, where you still have to list your splits according to the lease agreement, but without specific limitations. I won’t go into detail here as to why, but it comes down to the way the service handles royalty splits and publishing rights. Your head is spinning, and that’s okay. Lawyers are the only people whose heads do not spin when you talk about publishing rights. For now, stick to Soundcloud, Distrokid, Beatstars, and others like that, or go totally DIY on digital distribution. Just remember, your lease will be your guide. Most of the time, you will need to split 50/50 writing credit on your derivative song, and give the beat maker 100% of publishing rights on your derivative work. And pay attention! You always need to credit the songwriter (aka Beat Maker) somewhere. Your license will spell out exactly how you need to give credit.
So you have two other pathways to get beyond the beat leasing approach.
- Hook up with somebody who vibes with you and knows how to write music! Basically: Form a band! You do the words. They do the music. Now it’s all on you! Have fun!
- Learn how to write your own beats. If you have it in your ear, you’re already half way there. If you can tap it out on the table, you can tap it out on a keyboard in GarageBand or LogicPro, or any other DAW (free or otherwise), and bring it down to the studio. Let your engineer turn it into something amazing, and you now have 100% words and music and you don’t have to split anything with anybody. You are officially a singer-songwriter, and you have full creative control. If you don’t think you can do it, watch a few videos on how to and challenge yourself. *Note: Being a successful composer of music takes knowledge, practice, time, inspiration, editing, criticism, etc. Don’t expect this to be easy. But the only way to do it is to be fearless, free, creative, and willing. I encourage you to be all of the above! Who knows? Maybe you get so good at this that you write beats and put them up for others to lease, and add to your revenue stream that way as well as producing hit after hit in the studio!
Good Luck! Make Music! Write me at create@studio3lbny.com for more or to give me your feedback.
Pete Buckets
Studio3 LBNY 