If you found this post you’re probably having trouble picking between leasing a beat and purchasing exclusive rights to a beat. Either that or you’re trying to understand what the difference is between the two. Lucky for you it’s a lot easier to understand than it might seem.
Leases – When referring to selling/buying beats is when you buy the non-exclusive rights to a beat for usually under $50. In other words it’s like renting a beat, except instead of blockbuster it’s a professional beat seller and instead of 2 days you can rent it out until you sell 3,000 copies or someone buys the exclusive rights to it. You pay a small fee for the beat but the producer can keep reselling the beat until the exclusive rights are sold.
People that purchase leases are generally up and coming artists/labels that want hot music but don’t want to pay such a high price. Usually by purchasing the beat the artist(s)/label come to a non-exclusive agreement with a producer stating the terms which both parties can abide to.
Tip:
You should buy a lease license for a beat when you want to make some money off of your songs. It’s always a bad idea to try to sell your music with unlicensed beats because it will come back to haunt you. You can find lease beats ranging anywhere from Soundclick.com to MySpace.com to My Beatshop.com. There are also private beat sellers that lease out beats through there own websites.
Exclusives – When referring to selling/buying beats is buying the exclusive rights to use a certain instrumental. In most cases you will find exclusives starting at $500 but there are exceptions where you’ll find beginner producers selling their exclusives for $25 even $50. An exclusive license basically allows the artist/label to be the only ones that can legally use the beat.
Only serious artists, labels, TV shows, movies should purchase exclusives. So if your not making big moves (3,000 + copies of product) with your career, then just purchase a lease license until you can afford an exclusive license. If you want to have a beat that no one else can legally use than an exclusive license is for you.
Why would I lease a beat?
You would lease a beat for the following reasons:
a) Your operating on a tight budget.
b) Your planning on distributing 3,000 copies or less of an album/mixtape.
c) You want to test out a beat at a show to gauge fan reaction.
Why should I lease a beat instead of buying an exclusive at first?
a) You will save money.
b) You can sell enough copies to later buy an exclusive beat which really ended up only costing you the price of the lease beat.
c) You don’t waste the producer’s time and money if you don’t do anything with the beat.
What happens if I lease a beat and someone buys the exclusive rights?
What usually happens when someone buys an exclusive beat is you are notified or a notice is posted on the site saying the beat has been sold. From that date you usually will have 6 months to use your license. So if your beat shopping make sure you don’t hesitate for very long because the exclusive right can be bought up any time. The sooner you buy the lease the quicker you can make enough money to buy the exclusive rights.
So which one is better for you? Here’s an easy guide:
MySpace Rapper/Singer = Lease
Local mixtape Rapper/Singer = Lease
Signed 2 Major Indie/Major Major Label = Exclusive
Tv Show/Movies = Exclusive
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