BeatStars Review: The Best Marketplace to Buy & Sell Beats?

Whether you’re a composer, an experienced beatmaker or a new rapper, chances are you’ve already heard of BeatStars.

For more than 10 years, the famous platform has been one of the most visited sites by music creators of all kinds, eager to sell their productions or to buy beats.

Popular with do-it-yourself enthusiasts all over the world, the site allows young composers and other lyricists to get in touch and create more and more sounds.

Here’s a quick overview of a platform that has revolutionized the genre.

What is BeatStars?

A few years ago, Drake proclaimed “Started from the bottom now we’re here” in a famous hit.

While this undeniable phrase from the international star is now an anthem for self-made men around the world, it could just as easily have been chanted by Abe Batshon, the founder of BeatStars.

A native Californian, Batshon has been immersed in hip-hop culture from an early age. In the 90’s, Batshon realized he couldn’t afford to make the beats he wanted to perform on.

It must be said that at the time there is no internet and even less the famous type beats which are now legion in the world of the rap.

In 1996, he came up with the (revolutionary) idea of leasing an instrument with a non-exclusive license contract: he could buy a beat for less than the normal price, but other people could also use it.

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In 2008, armed with this innovative concept and his experiences in the music industry, he created BeatStars.

Mainly focused on rap, the platform allows beatmakers to sell their music, and rappers in need of instrus to find them, for a few dollars.

With more than 2 million creators in its ranks, the platform proudly displays its success on the homepage of its website: BeatStars is now more than 3 million monthly visitors and more than 70 million dollars paid to independent creators!

The platform even goes beyond the simple framework of hip-hop: Rock, Pop, R&B or Electro artists are all on the same network where everyone’s tastes are the only limit to creation.

The company is now in partnership with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which includes influential artists such as Drake (mentioned above), Kanye West, Travis Scott or Beyonce.

It has even contributed to the emergence of important artists such as Lil Nas X whose production of his classic “Old Town Road” was purchased on BeatStars.

For the record, the Dutch beatmaker YoungKio who is behind this hit was only 19 years old at the time of the sale. He is now a multiple platinum certified producer, signed on the label of CashMoneyAp, beatmaking star discovered on… BeatStars!

In addition to its usual services, the platform now allows young talents to also distribute their music on platforms around the world.

How BeatStars works

A real beat supermarket, the American platform allows you to buy and sell instrumentals.

Depending on whether you are a beatmaker looking to sell prods or a performer looking for an original beat, you will not necessarily use the site in the same way.

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We have summarized for you the different existing formulas according to your situation:

You are a beatmaker/composer :

1-Choose your subscription formula

If you want to use BeatStars to sell your musical productions, whether they are hip-hop beats or electro compositions, 3 different formulas are available to you:

Free package

Ideal to start on the platform without taking any risk, the “FREE” formula allows the beginner beatmaker to upload up to 10 tracks (as well as the tracks) and to be paid via Paypal or Stripe, without paying a cent.

A percentage is however taken on the possible sales.

Marketplace formula

Intended for more experienced beatmakers who want to make their business grow, this formula offers the same advantages as the previous one, with the possibility to upload an unlimited number of tracks, to sell your own sound kits as well as customer services (like mixing, mastering, etc…) and to exchange up to 20 private messages per month.

All this for 8,99€ /month.

Pro Page package

Finally, the pro package at 17.99€/month which, in addition to all the advantages of the two packages above, also allows you to exchange unlimited private messages, to customize your pro page by adding different widgets and especially to keep 100% of the profits generated by your music.

This formula also allows you to associate a domain name with your BeatStars account, in order to sell your productions under your own website.

Note also that if the FREE and MARKETPLACE packages allow you to sell a limited number of licensed beats (respectively 2 and 4 per month), this number is unlimited with the PRO PAGE package.

2-Define your licenses

On this part of the site, composers can define several formulas to sell their productions, in the form of licenses. There are two types of licenses:

Exclusive license

As its name indicates, this license ensures the exclusivity of the beat sold to the buyer. He alone has the contractual authorization to use this production.

Non-exclusive license

Several people can buy the same beat and use it according to the terms defined by the license in question. These licenses are also called leasing licenses.

Each category of license can then have several options added to it.

The seller defines one or more “packs” including different formulas, such as the format of the product (MP3, WAV or both), the number of physical copies allowed, the number of streams or the duration of use of this beat.

And of course he defines a price for his production, knowing that it can vary for the same instrument sold under a different “pack” (see our examples in the paragraph below).

But although exclusive licenses are generally sold at a higher price than a non-exclusive license, they may bring less money to their creator!

Indeed, an instrument sold for $100 to a single artist in exclusivity will bring in less than the same instrument sold for $20 to 10 different artists! Everyone is free to choose their favorite formula!

You are a rapper/singer:

If you wish to acquire an original production as a singer or rapper, there are also several formulas at your disposal, depending on the “pack” you choose.

You will not pay the same amount for a beat in leasing MP3 quality with limited use as for an instrumental in exclusive license in MP3 + WAV.

To better understand, here are some examples of “packs” for the same product:

Example 1: MP3 License

Beat in non-exclusive license MP3 quality + Physical distribution limited to 2 500 copies + 250 000 audio Streams (on Spotify, Apple Music, etc…) + 250 000 video Streams (on Youtube or Facebook) + unlimited duration of use = 34,99$.

Example 2: MP3 + WAV. License

Beat in non-exclusive license MP3/WAV quality + Physical distribution limited to 5000 copies + 500 000 audio streams + 500 000 video streams + unlimited duration of use = 49,99$.

Example 3: Exclusive License

Beat in exclusive license MP3/WAV quality + Separate tracks + Unlimited physical distribution + Unlimited audio streams + Unlimited video streams + Unlimited duration of use = $99.99.

However, contracts can be renegotiated if the success of a track exceeds the expectations of the artists involved.

This was the case of the famous Old Town Road that we talked about at the beginning of the article, which was sold in a package similar to example 1 and ended up squatting on Billboards for months.

However it can be complicated to buy a beat quickly on BeatStars when you have a limited budget. Victim of its success, the platform has as many different instrumentals as there are beatmakers!

Why choose BeatStars?

Since the creation of BeatStars, many similar sites have flourished on the web and offer almost the same services, but the leader in the field remains the site created by Abe Batshon.

Its popularity and its numerous quality services make it the number one site for buying/selling instrumentals.

The beatmakers can create a real business and develop their talents thanks to the various formulas proposed, as for the rappers/singers or lyricists in search of prods, the site offers them an incomparable range of choice.

The different filters set up on the interface of the site also allow you to choose the kind of tracks you are looking for: Old school, Trap, Drill or RnB for the genre, piano or guitar for the melody, and even the BPM.

The site’s feed also allows you to follow the news of the people you follow, like on a classic social network, and to see more easily the new releases.

Moreover, no other platform can boast of collaborating with artists as prestigious as those mentioned throughout this article.

Advantages and disadvantages of BeatStars

Advantages:

• Choice of sales licenses.
• Choice of subscription packages.
• Customization of sales packages.
• Payments via Paypal or Stripe.
• Private messaging.
• Wide variety of beats.
• Large potential of buyers/sellers.
• Partnership with Sony/ATV.
• Pro account that can be linked with a domain name and/or a Soundcloud account.
• Possibility of digital distribution.
• Possibility to earn money by offering services to customers like mixing, mastering, production, etc…

Disadvantages :

• Strong competition to make the first sale if you are a newbie

A platform at the service of music creators

If you are an MC or an author/performer and you are looking for varied and quality instrus, the platform will meet your expectations.

If, on the contrary, sampling, composition and BPM have no secrets for you, if you master FL Studio and other ProTools and dream of getting into the music business, BeatStars could change your life.

Designed for both buyers and sellers, BeatStars is definitely the right platform for music creators around the world.

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