5 Measures On How To Sell Beats Online Successfully

Though beat makers worldwide have been able to make a decent living because of the Internet, they are few and far between. There's so much competition that it's vital that you make yourself stand out from the crowd.
1) Perfect Your Beat
For the average singer and rapper, they may not know how to select their beats properly and will choose any average sounding ones. But you don't want that, you want to aim for the serious music artists.
In order to do that, you must focus on perfecting your beats before you showcase them, otherwise they're not going to pay any attention to your work, especially if your beats have a messy arrangement and are poorly mixed and mastered.
When you purchase sound kits, make sure that they've been mastered to the highest quality. If you're new to the game of music production, it's a good idea to start off with a basic DAW (Digital Audio Workstation / beat making software) such as Dubturbo. As you advance, you should use professional ones such as Cubase, Reason and Fruity Loops.
2) Market Your Music Online
To become a successful producer you must cater to a wide audience by doing effective marketing online. If you want people to easily identify your work, you must create a recognisable brand.
Just by building a good website, you're already further ahead than the hordes of amateur beat makers that only produce beats, but do no marketing. Your website will allow you to command a higher price if you decide to sell direct instead of using a third party platform.
In order for people to find your website, you need to get the word out to as many people as possible. This is possible by utilizing social media websites such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. It won't be an overnight process but the key is to be clever in your approach and be consistent.
3) Lease Or Exclusive?
When you sell your beats online, you'll come across two methods of sale.

Lease: You can sell/loan your beat out for a low price to as many different music artists as you wish.

Exclusive: Or you can sell your beat to just one music artist in an exclusive deal and command a much higher price.
As you're selling beats online, it's much easier to lease beats because the price is lower and you can supply the same beat over and over again.
So for example, you may decide to lease your beat to 10 different artists for $30 each, making $300 in total. On the other hand, you can sell your beat exclusively for $300 to one artist, which is much more difficult if you're virtually unknown and/or you don't have a direct working relationship with your clients.
4) Listing Your Beats
When you're happy with your beats and you've made up your mind about how you want to sell your beats, now it's time to find the best platforms to sell them. Beat selling websites such as SoundClick and SoundCloud are popular and have good reputations, so find ones that are similar.
I recommend that you list your beats to at least 3- 4 different places. You'll find that every website's commission structure and target audience may be different, so do some research to see which ones suit your music the most.
You can list your beats on your website if you have a shopping cart installed, which means you won't have to pay commissions but it may take time attract visitors depending on how well you do your marketing. You can just use your website as a showcase tool instead if you prefer.
5) Maintain Your Connections
Building long term relationships is one of the most important things you must do in the music industry. If you want to spend more time doing what you love doing, which is making beats, then you need to have a shortlist of loyal clients.
Work on your social skills and start networking. Try to seek out different music artists that are serious about their careers and contact them by Skype, email, Facebook or any other method.
It's repetitive and not smart to just produce a beat, list it, sell it to someone randomly and repeat the process. You'll likely never hear from them again, so it's best to use your efforts catering to your list of clients.
Conclusion
A lot of people give up their attempts to sell beats online simply because they didn't think it required much effort. Granted, it's not easy at all to make a good living from selling beats online but it's more than possible, and loads of people have proven it.
The most important aspects are to be consistent and persistent, and to be smart when it comes building your brand. If you do it right, then you'll get the recognition and financial rewards you earned.