In a perfect world, everyone would be making the big bucks in the independent music industry. But the reality is, whether you’re an emcee, songwriter, audio engineer or producer, it’s going to take a long time to get to the point where anyone is willing to pay for the work you put out. At least, this used to be a well understood fact among artists and producers on the come up. However, those days appear to have come to an end.

There exists a growing number of “producers” who are calling for a stop to collaborating with independent artists for free. It’s not unpopular these days to see “producers” wearing “no free beats” merchandise and brandishing the said slogan all over their social media pages.

Yet, as good as it sounds to be able to make money on every project with a client, being overtly rigid about your prices will likely do more harm then good for independent producers on the come up. Here are a few reasons why:

It Cheapens Your Look

Why do you have to make it so clear that you don’t give out free beats? Is it because everyone asking to use your beats are unwilling to pay you for them? Maybe that’s because your beats aren’t worth the price tag. If you have plenty of clients that you’re making money working with then you shouldn’t have to waste your valuble time adressing the hanful of nobodies asking for freebies. Of course, this may not be the reason you feel the need to endorse the motto, but that doesn’t stop potential clients from making this assumption.

Musicians are making their own beats, or stealing them

One of the biggest difficulties that an independent artist will have in their early stages is finding a consistent stream of affordable instrumentals to write music to. Advancements in music production technology and publishing has allowed for things to become more accessible for the average person to buy production gear and start making and selling music. This has caused the industry to become saturated with so called “producers” with little to no formal experience in the field, who are nevertheless selling their mediocre beats for an arm and a leg. The good quality stuff is usually much more expensive than the average person can afford.

A common solution is for people to find a way to steal the beats if they are too expensive. Perhaps the more threatening reality is that a large number of musicians have gotten into making their own beats. Both of these scenarios are bad for anyone trying to make a living selling beats since both situations take away from your bottom line.

The best way to get someone who is stingy with their spending to part with their money is by making yourself appear flexible with your prices. Telling your audience “NO FREE BEATS” upfront is not the best way to do that. Instead, you can try to appeal to the frugal types by making some kind of buy X get X free bargain. Sure, you miss out on the money you could have gotten selling the beat to someone else, but you’ve gained a customer that would have otherwise been an adversary to you in the long term. The profits gained should offset any loss of giving away a few freebies.

Your resume suffers

The more music you can put your name on, the more chances you have to get exposure and make sales. Unfortunately, most of the artists you will have the opportunity to work with will not have an unlimited supply of cash to buy all the intrumentals they so please. So, in the beginning you will likely only be able to sell a few beats here and there. And out of those beats you happen to sell, a marginal amount of those productions will be something you’d be proud enough to add to your portfolio.

An easier way to build up your resume is by offering artists that you think are skilled a few free beats here and there. Not only will you have something good to use for your resume, but there’s a good chance that those artists will return the favour by purchasing something from you at some point.

It’s a poor advertising strategy

When customers hear “no free beats” what they really hear is “no discounts or specials”, which also means “less value”. But most of all, talking about money upfront will give customers the impression that you are going to nickel and dime them, which makes you a poor candidate to work with in the long run. Artists don’t like working with producers who seem to be all about the money upfront, which is exactly what you tell people when you put #NOFREEBEATS in your social media bio.

If there’s a plethora of wannabe rap stars asking you for free beats that’s a good thing, and you can use this to your advantage. The dialogue is open between you and a potential customer, giving you the opportunity to strike a deal with them, and now you’ve made yourself a customer you wouldn’t have otherwise had.