April 15, 2009

5 Things to Look For When Purchasing Rap / RnB Beats From Producers Vs Beatmakers

If you are a singer, songwriter, or rapper, you are always looking for new and great music. You constantly need to keep your skills on point by writing new material. You should always be continuing to grow your catalog and get passed that same 3 song demo you have been passing out at the same open mic sessions the last 4 years, right? I know it's true. Seriously, if you have been pursuing your dreams of a publishing or record deal, you should know by now that you can not achieve this on your own. You need a team around you to reach that goal and the most important team member that you need now is a MUSIC PRODUCER.

A real Music Producer is much more than a beatmaker. A beatmaker can only put sounds together and that's it. A music producer can not only create your music for you, he or she will be able to develop your style, co-write and produce your songs, provides arrangement tips, teach you the music business (music and business), setup and overview recording, mixing and mastering sessions, understand music theory, vocal harmonies, have released recordings in the past, take your career to new heights and more.

Unfortunately, most people tend to label 'beatmakers' as 'producers' in the urban music genre, but as you can see, there really is no comparison. On the internet, beatmakers are a dime a dozen but there are very few music producers available for up and coming artists. Producers such as Timbaland and Tricky Stewart are not affordable or available for up and coming artists so where should you look to find your producer and which will really benefit you?

1. Find a site that offer tips for you to further your career. A music producer will offer music business tips for you. Beatmakers pages usually do not offer any tips for you because they primary focus is selling you a beat and not furthering your career. Look for a producer that will offers tips and is a giver not a taker.

2. Look for an official site not a free social networking page. A music producer is a businessperson and they will have invested the time and money into quality equipment but also a professional website. A producer will not rely on free sites to sell beats on. Perception is reality so if someone has invested in the image of the business, they are someone to consider investing in.

3. People oriented, great service! Some producers online pretend like they have the schedule of a Timbaland and never reply back to emails, phone calls, etc. If someone doesn't reply back within 48 hrs, move on! For example, I know someone that I will consider a producer who has been online for a few years who has promised to give everyone who signs up for his newsletter on his site a free e-book. Well, after personally signing up and knowing a couple of people who also signed up, we never received the e-book. All we received was an immediate email stating that the e-book was in the final editing phase. This has been over a year now and nothing. Unfortunately, he still uses that same tactic to get people on his email list to this day! In addition, he never replies back to emails. See #5 below.

4. A music producer will not give you music that has samples in it and not disclose the consequences you could face by selling it with your vocals. Beatmakers sell beats with samples in it quite often and that is illegal no matter how long the sample is or how many CDs you intend to sell. A music producer understands the music business and copyright law and knows that you can not sell any music that contains a sample and not disclose that to you to get sample clearance. Don't be deceived!

5. Look for someone with integrity! Integrity is consistency of actions, values, methods, measures and principles. Integrity may be seen as the quality of having a sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one's actions. Remember, everything that quacks isn't a duck!

BONUS: A music producer will offer songwriting or have songwriters in their production company! Sometimes you need help making that hit!

Bottom line: You can get beats from anyone but if you plan to make it in the music industry, you need a music producer. I highly suggest you invest your time, money and talent with a music producer. Why not get your music and guidance from the same source? Less headaches and less pending legal issues.

If you would like to check out a great one stop music resource site, go to HotBeatsandHooks.com. You will find an award winning producer and a great songwriting team available plus e-books, videos and more for artists!

Get the Free E-Book "How to Make the Bedroom Artist Sound Pro" at HotBeatsandHooks.com and view the Indie Artist Success Pak at MusicIndustryTips.net today!


About the Author
Black Music Award winning producer/songwriter/speaker of Kontagiouz Soundz Producktionz, Christopher Harold (TRILL NOTEZ), has won the Black Music Award, launched MusicIndustryTips.net, and HotBeatsandHooks.com. He has been nominated for the Sounds of Soul award, produced signature jingles for the Sacramento Kings, Calfornia Dept of Health Services, television, film, singers, songwriters, rappers and more!

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