By Christopher "Soleternity" McGill

We’re all out to make a dollar. You don’t create money, you make money. The marketplace is a science--it's defined by the limits of human nature. Especially in an industry as under the radar as selling beats (ahem). There are no laws. No rules. We are only limited by our own potential (or lack thereof).

I recently saw an interview given by one of the most successful soundclick producers (posted at beatcreators.com). When I say successful, I mean that he has gotten over 20 million plays on soundclick. That’s damn impressive, especially since I had never heard of him before this year. There’s still a dope producer roaming around the rapmusic.com forums claiming that he is the only website online with over 8 million plays. Times have changed!
 

I was shocked at the staggering new developments in online production. I started researching. I remembered the mp3.com times, when 22 million plays would have equaled $110,000 in royalties (calculated at half a cent paid for every play - it was called the “pay for play” system and it existed for almost 4 years). There are myspace accounts that generate 22 million plays within months! I was so fascinated by the apparent growing popularity of online production that I purchased a $30 E-Book (it was about 60 pages long). I didn’t learn much new, except one interesting section about programs that constantly click and refresh websites on a computer. You install the program on your computer, program it to constantly refresh and download music from your website, and let it run on your computer all day. In theory, I suppose that could generate enough traffic to get one onto the charts, which in itself generates exposure, and the snowball starts rolling down the hill, picking up both mass and momentum as it continues. Soundclick.com also provides relatively inexpensive promotional options, which makes it accessible to most. You can place your ad on the front page for a couple bucks. Not bad!

As I glanced at the Soundclick charts, I noticed that the most popular band was called “One Dollar Beats.” I got a little upset. Professional producers are selling tracks to labels for 5 figures every day, but the most popular producer website on one of the internet’s premiere music hosting websites is selling beats for one figure. And the lowest one figure at that. One American dollar. Which is worth approximately 3 blades of grass compared to the Euro right now.

I got over it. I listened to the beats. They were good, but not jaw dropping. I can only remember a handful of times that a producer captured me and made me remember them (Illmind, Dj Hitek……….). Having the best beats doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best businessperson. Being the best businessperson doesn’t mean you have the best beats. Making beats and selling them are both forms of persuasion: the goal of making a beat is to convince people to dance, write music, feel good, reflect, etc; similarly, the goal of selling a beat is to convince people that the beat will make people dance, inspire lyrics, etc. Some of us use our melodies and chords to do the convincing, others use words and ideas.

Ugh.. All this analyzing and I come to the same conclusion as always: it is what it is. So what if someone is selling beats for one dollar? When I first started, I gave them out for free! Just ask Robert Greene about his favorite law of his book ““48 Laws of Power”: assume formlessness. Be like the water--you take on the shape of whatever container you are in. We must constantly adapt to our environment. Make it work for you.

Producers, if you talk with your melodies, stick to what you’re best at. When you start talking business, you sound like an amateur. Kind of like when a businessman tries to talk melodies--stick to what you know best if you don’t want to be humbled when in the presence of a real producer. Knowledge is power.