If you are a music producer or artist, you probably have heard of free music beats that you can download from the internet. While this sounds like an amazing deal, the truth is that you will be doing yourself a great disservice. In this article, we tell you why it is a bad idea to go for free for profit beats.
What Are Free for Profit Beats?
Free for profit beats refers to rap beats that are available for download at no charge. The main reason why these exist is so that online producers can entice new customers to buy their beats. This is the music equivalent of a free sample. In most cases, these samples will come with a variety of conditions, which is where most of the cons of this kind of music are.
Having told you what these kinds of beats are all about, here are some of the reasons you should stay as far away from them as possible.
Generally Poor Quality
With very few exceptions, the quality of free for profit beats is generally very poor. In fact, many of these producers offering the free samples usually choose some of the worst beats to put up as samples. If you decide to base your music on these, the chances of improving your music become very low indeed.
Cannot Be Commercialized
One of the biggest drawbacks to using free for-profit beats is the fact that you are very limited when it comes to commercializing your music. Most of these free samples come with limited streaming amounts. This is mostly because the samples do not transfer any copyright privileges to you.
Unfair Terms
Even assuming that you ignore all our advice and try to renegotiate the terms of your free for profit beats, you will have to accept some very unfair terms. For example, if your song is to ever reach the market, the beat owners are probably going to retain the lion’s share of anything you make from the music. This is not just on sales but also on any licensing deals or similar ventures. Choose to purchase your beats so that you have enjoyed the fruits of your talent when you finally go big.
Limits Your Creativity
Most of the people who are likely to go for free for profit beats are upcoming singers because they think they are saving money. Unfortunately, these are also the kind of singers who are going to be most disadvantaged by free for profit beats. This is because if you base your career on the ‘cheapest resource available’ mentality, you are unlikely to go far. By choosing to purchase or lease top-quality beats, you are giving yourself the permission to be great.When you have decided to purchase your beats online, ensure that you are buying them from a top-notch producer. You should also read the terms and conditions of the lease/purchase contract to know how best to use the beats.