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We're excited to announce a major update to Promote – the bidding system. This is designed to empower users to more effectively reach potential buyers and optimize their promotional strategies.
Advertisers set their bid amounts in terms of what they are willing to pay for every 1000 impressions.
Currently the minimum bid is $2 per 1000 impressions and the maximum bid on Promote is $100 per 1000 impressions.
When you place a bid, you’re only charged $1 more than the next highest bid. This ensures you pay just to outbid others without overpaying.
PRO TIP: Since you can schedule campaigns to go live at any time of day, consider experimenting with different launch times to see what works best.
Let’s pretend you’re running a digital ad campaign for your track with a total budget of $5. You decide to set a maximum bid amount of $100 for every 1,000 impressions (CPM).
Impressions:
Since you’re bidding $100 for 1,000 impressions, your cost per impression is:
Potential Reach:
With a $100 CPM and a $5 budget, you can achieve 50 impressions of your ad.
This is just one example of how bidding could work. We encourage you to experiment with a bidding style that works for you and your needs. Some users will opt for much lower bid amounts around $2-$5 per 1000 impressions while others may opt for higher bid amounts.
Let’s pretend you’re running a digital ad campaign for your track with a total budget of $5. You decide to set a maximum bid amount of $25 for every 1,000 impressions (CPM).
Impressions:
Since you’re bidding $25 for 1,000 impressions, your cost per impression is:
Potential Reach:
With your $5 budget at a $25 CPM, you can expect to reach a total of 200 impressions before your budget runs out.
With a $25 CPM and a $5 budget, you can achieve 200 impressions of your ad.
With your $20 budget at a $2 CPM, you can achieve a total of 10,000 impressions before your budget runs out.
With a $2 CPM and a $20 budget, you can achieve 10,000 impressions of your ad. This is just one example of how bidding can work. We encourage you to experiment with a bidding style that works for you and your needs. Keep in mind: this is your maximum bid. Due to the nature of auction ads, you may pay less than $2 CPM for a given impression, but you will never pay more than $2 CPM.
Let’s assume you’re running a digital ad campaign with the following details:
Winning the Auction:
Cost per Impression:
Total Impressions:
Total Impressions=5/.091≈ 54 impressions
Additional Resources:
Whether you're aiming to reach a specific audience or trying to understand your data better, these updates and tips will help you maximize your ad spend and manage your expectations.
What’s New in Promote?
1. Targeted Campaigns by Genre and Location
One of the most significant upgrades to Promote is the ability to target by genre and country.
2. Option to Promote Sound Kits
You can now advertise your sound kits on BeatStars. This new feature expands your audience beyond artists to reach other producers interested in sound kits, broadening your potential customer base.
3. Expanded Analytics Dashboard
Your dashboard now provides more in-depth insights, including:
These insights offer a more comprehensive view of your campaign’s performance and audience engagement, allowing you to make data-driven decisions.
Define Your Goals Before You Start a Campaign
The Creator Success team emphasizes that BeatStars Promote is a powerful tool for gathering data—not just driving sales. Before investing in Promote, take the time to understand what you want to achieve.
Define your end goal:
Our Recommendation for Running an Effective Campaign
To get the best results, test different strategies to see what works best for you. Here’s our Creator Success team’s guide to using the new Promote system effectively:
1. Test Different Tagging Strategies:
2. Experiment with Location-Based Targeting:
3. Launch Campaigns with Multiple Beats and Review Results:
4. Stay Aligned with Your End Goal:
With these tips and new features, you’re set to make the most out of BeatStars Promote. Whether you’re working on visibility, sales, or data gathering, these updates are designed to help you reach your goals effectively and efficiently.
To a certain extent, the success that Eeryskies had early in his career was accidental.
“I stumbled into making beats and then stumbled into putting them on YouTube,” he remembers. “Even my name was supposed to be temporary. My logo said, ‘Eeryskies. Temporary. Change soon.’ and I never changed it.”
What has been methodical, though, is his consistency. Eeryskies, 23, is extremely intentional with his business, including his branding, his output, and how he goes about building relationships. When he began his journey, it started out without knowing he wanted to make music full-time. At 17 years old, he was making music with his friends. Buying beats was expensive, so he made beats to help out the group. He quit in three months, however.
But it was after some coaxing from others that he got back into making beats. He sold his first beat over email for $50. Then, a friend told him that BeatStars could help him automate his selling process. It was off to the races from there.
How He Created Consistent Sales
He admits his path from making beats for fun to making a full-time living off of it was pretty linear. There wasn’t too much friction with getting his business off the ground, mostly because he had friends in his circle helping him navigate how to sell his music online. The one thing he did find challenging was how consistent he would be in his uploading schedule.
At the time that he began taking his music career seriously, he was a college student. A full course load, homework, and socializing tugged him away from focusing on his craft. Because of that, he resolved to answer a simple question for himself: “How often can I handle putting beats out?” His answer was roughly every other day. Once he figured out how consistent he could be in creating his music, he packaged it in a way that made sense to him.
Once that was complete, the second question he would often ask himself was: How can I get my music in front of as many eyes as possible? For him, it was an Instagram story, posting on his feed, and posting it on YouTube. From there, he would create calls to action to his beat store, then let the sales come in.
“I didn’t want to complicate it,” he claims.
Branching Out Through Multiple Channels
When it comes to putting out content, Eeryskies has a simple philosophy: “You shouldn’t feel like you have to second guess or lay in bed at night [thinking], ‘Why did I put that out?’”
Of course, you have to embrace a phase of trial and error until you find a content style that feels right to you. There may be times that you put out content that flops, but at the core, it needs to be authentic. For Eeryskies, he first found an aesthetic that he liked, then permeated that across his beat store, social media profiles, and even a vlog channel.
“Marketing should be as fun as your music,” he claims.
Beat store
For years, Eeryskies has relied heavily on being a go-to for Mac Miller-inspired beats. However, if you browse his store, you won't find any beats explicitly labeled as "Type Beats." Instead, he chooses straightforward and minimalist titles for his tracks. His pricing reflects his value, with the most affordable lease starting at $60.
Vlogging
In addition to making music, Eeryskies embraced another passion: video production. This medium allows him to express his creativity in new ways, offering fans a glimpse into the daily life of a producer.
Social Media
On social media, Eeryskies' Instagram profile reflects the same carefully curated aesthetic found in his vlogs. While his profile picture features a skeletal headshot, his posts offer enough personal glimpses to maintain a human connection. He balances his image as a producer with content that invites followers into his lifestyle, creating an immersive experience that goes beyond music.
Navigating Change and Growth
Though it may look like Eeryskies has it all figured out now, it wasn’t always that way. He admits that there was a time when he felt immense pressure once his sales started growing consistently. There were moments when he wanted to refresh his sound but worried about losing his audience by doing so. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. This was largely because he had invested years in building strong relationships with his customers.
"It's like, if these people are going to take the time to listen to me, leave a comment, then I should answer every message, every comment," he says.
Change is inevitable. Artists need to constantly reinvent their sound and introduce new versions of their products to keep their existing customer base happy while also attracting new customers. For Eeryskies, making consistent money through online beat sales was a great goal, but he soon shifted his focus to long-term thinking.
Understanding Publishing
Eeryskies admits that he doesn’t fully understand everything that goes into publishing, but he knows enough to be dangerous. It became an important pillar for him and his business when some of his records, like $not’s “Once Upon a Time,” started earning millions of streams, and he realized he hadn’t seen any residuals from them.
To be fair, he’s like many others when it comes to this complex subject. His advice for any new producer is to, “Keep a catalog of your music and understand where your beats are going, and try to find every placement, whether it's small or big.”
Using platforms like Muso and Content ID helped him track down songs he had produced that he wasn’t aware had been released. He now relies heavily on the BeatStars Publishing service to help him keep track of his royalties.
Building for the Future
Eeryskies' journey is a testament to the power of persistence, self-discovery, and adaptability. What started as an accidental foray into music production has evolved into a disciplined and thoughtful business, guided by the principles of consistency and authenticity. His story reminds one that success in the music industry is not just about raw talent but also about learning to navigate the complexities of business, from marketing to publishing.
As he continues to grow, Eeryskies serves as an example for aspiring producers: that by staying true to one's vision and embracing change, it's possible to turn a passion into a lasting and meaningful career. His journey may have begun with a temporary name, but his impact on the industry is anything but.
But in reality, there’s no secret code, no quick hack to secure a place to the Top Charts.
Those who make it to the top earn their spot through consistency and a deep understanding of the Marketplace. While the exposure from being on the charts can be significant, it’s not the only path to success, and it's certainly not the only marker of accomplishment.
Rather than setting your sights solely on landing on the Top Charts, focus on creating a sustainable foundation that could eventually lead you there. Charting should be the byproduct of your hard work and smart strategy—not the ultimate goal.
Think Beyond the Charts: Building a Lasting Presence
The Top Charts should be seen as inspiration, not as the end-all-be-all of success. There are countless ways to grow your presence and sales on BeatStars without charting. Leverage social media, engage your followers, and cultivate a strong brand identity that resonates with your unique sound. Just because you’re not on the charts doesn’t mean you’re not making an impact or driving sales. By focusing on solidifying your brand and delivering consistent value to your audience, you’ll naturally build momentum over time.
When you look at the charts, approach them as a resource for understanding what’s currently trending rather than a strict formula to follow. Each producer on the charts has their unique approach, reflecting their authenticity and hard work. Avoid falling into the trap of copying someone else’s strategy. Instead, consider how you can bring something fresh to the table.
Develop a Buyer’s Mindset
The marketplace can feel crowded, with many beats using similar visuals and captions. If everyone is incorporating the fire emoji into their titles, that should be an indicator to avoid that approach. Your brand voice, visuals, and music style should reflect your individuality. By creating a presence that is distinctly your own, you’ll attract the type of audience that values your originality.
At the end of the day, you should put yourself into the buyer’s shoes. How do you feel when you see a new ad for a beat? How do you perceive someone whose titling is cluttered with words? Are you compelled to click? Understanding what buyers experience can offer profound insights into what works and what doesn’t. Every time you encounter a profile or ad that makes you pause (for better or worse), ask yourself why. This feedback can guide you to fine-tune your approach and create a profile that attracts others as much as it does you.
Building a Foundation First
Your journey shouldn’t be defined by a single milestone like the Top Charts. Focus instead on creating a foundation built on authenticity, consistency, and strategic engagement. By steadily working toward a strong presence in the marketplace, you’ll set yourself up for long-term success that goes beyond the charts. The exposure and visibility will come naturally when you have a solid brand, unique voice, and an understanding of your audience.
Additional resources:
Whether you’re selling on Marketplace or from your Pro Page, we have a few tips for you to get ready to take advantage of this year’s rush.
Leverage Canva Integration for Eye-Catching Artwork
When uploading your tracks, it's important to ensure your cover art reflects a consistent and recognizable branding style. With our Canva integration in Studio, you can easily upload Black Friday-specific artwork that promotes the sale you're running. Canva offers a variety of templates that can help spark unique ideas that align with your brand identity.
Here are some ideas for using effective Black Friday templates to jumpstart your creativity this season:
Discounts and Coupon Codes
One of the best ways to show appreciation to your customers—whether you're serving a handful or hundreds—is by offering discounts and coupon codes, especially for Black Friday.
This year, BeatStars is offering an opportunity for you to join our Black Friday campaign by using the code BLACKFRIDAY2024 in any of your promotions between November 27 and December 2. By using this code, your beats will be featured in a dedicated Black Friday section on the Marketplace, giving your work extra visibility.
If you plan to use the Black Friday code, or any other discount codes, keep in mind that last year most Black Friday discounts on the platform ranged between 40-70% off.
When you're ready to incorporate these strategies, go here in Studio.
Maximize Your Email Campaigns
Now is the perfect time to start informing your audience about the exciting deals you’ll be offering. To streamline your email campaigns, you can easily use MailChimp to help you here.
But, before you dive into email marketing, here are some essentials to keep in mind:
Understand Your Email Expectations
MailChimp reports an average email open rate of around 34%. Use this as a benchmark to set realistic expectations for your campaigns. Below are a few key strategies to help you craft more effective emails and improve your open rates.
Craft Compelling Subject Lines
Your subject line is one of the most important elements for boosting open rates. Personalizing subject lines using merge tags (like the recipient’s name or location) can make your emails feel more tailored and increase engagement. Keep your subject lines concise—no more than nine words or 60 characters—and limit punctuation to three marks or fewer, as too much can make your email appear spammy. Emojis can be useful but use them sparingly and only when they enhance the message.
We’ve put together a few potential Black Friday subject lines to hopefully help your emails land in the “Primary” folder in Gmail instead of the “Promotions” folder:
PRO TIP: Use ChatGPT to brainstorm additional subject lines. Try a prompt like, “Generate 5-10 Black Friday subject lines that will help my emails avoid landing in Gmail’s promotions folder.”
Segment Your Audience for Better Results
Audience segmentation is key to effective email marketing. Instead of sending the same email to your entire list, divide your audience into smaller segments based on factors such as location, purchase history, or genre preferences. This allows you to craft messages that resonate more deeply with each group. For example, offer exclusive discounts to loyal customers who’ve purchased more than five beats, or send targeted promotions to those who only buy during sales events. Tailoring your messages builds stronger relationships and can lead to higher sales.
Focus on Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
The goal of any email is to drive action, and your call to action (CTA) is how you guide your readers. Whether you want subscribers to visit your store, check out a specific sale, or explore an educational resource, your CTA should be clear and actionable.
A common best practice is to follow a 2:1 ratio for emails: for every two emails that provide value without pushing a sale, send one that promotes a product or service. You can also A/B test different CTAs and placements to determine which approach yields the highest click-through rates.
Amplify Your Reach with Strategic Advertising
To ensure a successful Black Friday, start utilizing digital advertising tools to get your beats in front of the right audience. The goal is to make sure your tracks are everywhere, targeting listeners who are most likely to purchase. Understanding your target demographic, or "customer avatar," is essential for crafting effective ads that speak directly to potential buyers.
Experiment with ads across various platforms, using insights from your top-performing tracks. By gathering feedback on what tracks are the most popular, you can focus on promoting those successful styles and create similar beats to meet demand. Here are a few key platforms to consider:
By diversifying your ad strategy across these platforms, you can increase your visibility and drive more traffic to your store in the lead-up to Black Friday.
Additional resources:
Yet, for many artists, capturing that inspiration on the spot has often been a hassle. The typical workflow involves finding a beat on BeatStars, writing down lyrics in a notes app, and recording ideas in a separate voice memo app—an experience that’s disjointed and stifles creativity.
Today, however, there’s a seismic shift happening in music creation. Artists no longer need a professional studio to capture ideas. Mobile devices have become essential tools for recording inspiration the moment it strikes. This new, on-the-spot recording capability has allowed artists to create from anywhere—whether at home, on the road, or in the middle of a spontaneous recording session.
Take ThxSoMuch’s track “Spit in My Face” or 310babii’s “Soak City,” for example. Both were recorded using mobile apps, proving that high-quality music can come to life outside a traditional studio setting. The flexibility and ease of having a digital audio workstation (DAW) in the palm of your hand are groundbreaking, allowing artists to seamlessly record vocals over beats from anywhere.
Apps like Voloco have been instrumental in making this possible, empowering artists to record vocals over beats instantly, wherever they are. This is a game-changer for those looking to capture raw, unfiltered creativity in the heat of the moment.
For producers, this shift offers a tremendous opportunity. By encouraging artists to embrace mobile recording apps, producers are helping artists overcome the barriers of time, space, and equipment. Most importantly, they’re empowering artists to be more creative and productive, unleashing their full potential.
At BeatStars, we’ve recognized this evolution and taken it a step further by integrating directly with Voloco. Now, artists can seamlessly record over beats they discover on BeatStars, creating a smooth, all-in-one creative experience. This integration also gives producers valuable insights into which artists are recording with their beats, making it easier to identify potential collaborators and foster meaningful connections.
Producers should encourage both new and seasoned artists to explore the benefits of mobile recording. Not only will this enhance their creative workflow, but it also establishes you as a forward-thinking producer who understands the power of modern recording trends. By supporting artists in this way, you’re cultivating deeper relationships and creating an ecosystem where music can be crafted and shared with ease.
Additional Resources for Voloco Users
How Do I Create a Voloco Account?
How Do I Find My Statistics for Voloco?
How Do I Find My Voloco Customer List?
The Importance of Warm Leads
When it comes to generating sales, not all leads are equal. The best leads are warm leads — people who have already shown interest in your music or reached out to you. Warm leads are more likely to convert into paying customers, as they've already made some form of connection with your work.
Platforms like YouTube are a great starting point for exposure, but they often produce cold leads. While you might have a large audience of listeners, you don’t always know who they are or their purpose for listening to your tracks, making it harder to directly engage with them.
How to Find Warm Leads
If you want to build warm leads and stronger connections with potential customers, focus on platforms that help you engage directly with artists, singers, and songwriters. One platform to consider is Voloco — an on-the-go DAW where artists, singers, and songwriters can record music on the go. This app is home to creators who are actively looking for beats to use in their recordings, making it an ideal place to connect with potential customers.
One of the biggest advantages of using Voloco is that you can see who’s engaging with your music. Whenever someone records over your track, you can view their Voloco username in Studio. This feature, available through Studio, allows you to instantly identify who’s engaging with your music. Rather than waiting for listeners to find you, Voloco acts as a direct lead generator, connecting you to artists who are already interested in your work.
Building a List of Leads
Once you’ve been notified that someone has recorded over your track with Voloco, here’s what you should do next:
If you’re not sure how to start the conversation, here’s an example of a message you can send:
"Hey, I saw you recorded to my beat, and I’d love to hear what you’ve created! Feel free to share the track with me, and let me know if you’re looking for more beats to collaborate on."
This simple, friendly message opens the door for further communication and helps you establish a personal connection with the artist.
Strengthening Relationships and Increasing Sales
Building relationships with artists who use your beats is key to growing your business as a producer. By consistently reaching out, you’re not only increasing your chances of making more sales but also creating opportunities for long-term collaborations. These relationships can turn into repeat customers, referrals, and increased exposure for your brand.
By leveraging platforms like Voloco and focusing on warm leads, you’ll set yourself up for success and see your sales grow over time.
Additional Resources
How Do I Create a Voloco Account?
Key news, stats, workflows, agreements, and terms are our gift to you in our 1st Annual State of the Industry Scouting Report.
Before you read this, it would be great if you could fill out this survey for us so that we can better understand how to help you in 2024.
This year, there were so many stories that really caught our attention and here’s our top 5 stories with the significance that they have for music creators.
After reviewing and surveying 150+ Producer Deals from 2023, here’s what we found.
Average Producer Advance:
Average Producer Royalty:
Average Publishing Split:
Average Amount of Time it takes to Negotiate a Placement:
Highest Negotiated Non-Exclusive Placement of 2023:
Non-Exclusive License:
Master and Composition Sample License:
Exclusive License:
Writer Split Sheet:
Session Musician Agreement:
Producer Advance:
Master Points:
Music Publishing:
SoundExchange:
Letter of Direction (LOD):
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Highlights
0:52 - Intro
2:35 - Role and experience at Beatstars
6:05 - Beatstars Publishing’s impact
7:50 - Beatstars’ customer service
8:35 - Partnership with Sony
10:40 - Why producer’s need a publisher
12:30 - What producers need to register their publishing
14:05 - Should producers hire a lawyer for EVERY placement?
14:20 - THIS IS A BIG DEAL!
17:10 - How lawyers add value
20:00 - Selling samples to multiple people
21:40 - Artists don’t need to OWN beats
24:15 - People don’t VALUE producers
27:15 - Why lawyers don’t like working with producers
27:45 - Making legal work more efficient
29:45 - Systems for getting producers PAID
33:55 - Why producers should REGISTER copyrights
36:40 - How to efficiently register copyrights
37:45 - Filing song TAKEDOWNS
40:45 - Strategies for taking down songs
43:15 - Who’s responsible for clearing SAMPLES?
45:00 - Getting paid for songs with a sample
46:50 - How to clear samples
48:25 - Advice for future lawyers
50:20 - How to become a MUSIC lawyer
52:50 - Closing, THANK YOU KYLE!!
Instead of waiting for a publishing deal to come your way, you can easily sign up with BeatStars Publishing to collect your music royalties and protect your music. As a music creator, you should register your works to ensure you have the most control over your music rather than leaving it in the hands of a record label. This will give you leverage in the long run.
Once your song finally releases, you’ll want to properly register it so you’re earning all the money you’re owed. Before you do that, though, it’s important to understand the difference between master royalties and composition royalties:
Here is a visual to give you a better understanding of how everything works:
For a full breakdown of best practices, watch the video below featuring one of BeatStars’ top producers, KXVI, along with members from our BeatStars Publishing team!
This day isn't just for retailers selling gadgets and apparel – it's a golden opportunity for beat sellers on BeatStars as well.
But how do you make sure your beats don't just join the chorus, but stand out as the lead melody? Let’s dive into a few expert tips to help you hit the right note this Black Friday.
Black Friday is synonymous with deals. Bundle your beats in a way that offers real value. Think of packaging your beats by genre, mood, or even artist type. This not only makes purchasing simpler for your buyers but also gives them more at a better price.
Example bundles:
Learn more in our tutorial video below on how to create beat bundles:
Your social media channels are your stage. Use them to tease your upcoming deals, share snippets of your beats, and even showcase testimonials from artists who've made magic with your music. Remember, authenticity resonates with your audience, so keep it real and engaging.
Instagram’s features can be your friend! Make sure you use things like countdown timer stickers on Instagram stories to build hype. You can even create an event on Instagram that allows your followers to get reminded via an Instagram notification when your sale starts!
If you haven’t already, create your broadcast channel on Instagram so you have direct access to share announcements like Black Friday with your followers.
Email isn't old news; it's your direct line to your fans. Send out a newsletter with exclusive previews or early access to your Black Friday deals. Make your subscribers feel like VIPs with special offers just for them. Utilize email features like countdown timers to build anticipation.
Even better, identify your most loyal customers and create a bespoke message and offer just for them. If they’re the most likely to convert, they’re the best audience for you to prioritize.
Another way to increase your open rates is to only send your offers to email subscribers who have actually opened an email in the last 12 months. Using BeatStars integrations like Mailchimp can help you accomplish this.
First impressions count. Make sure your BeatStars profile is up to date, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. Your profile should not only showcase your best work but also make it simple for buyers to explore and purchase your beats.
In the rush to offer more, don't compromise on quality. Ensure each beat you put out is something you're proud of. Quality beats will always attract more attention and retention than a large number of mediocre ones.
Be smart about how you balance demand generation and demand capture. Before Black Friday, try running a free beat promotion to capture more leads, which you can target with your offer when Black Friday launches.
Build relationships, not just transactions. Engage with your audience through live streams, Q&A sessions, or even beat-making tutorials. This personal touch can convert a casual browser into a loyal customer.
Who are your main customers? Tailor your Black Friday offerings to suit the needs and preferences of your core audience. Whether they're aspiring rappers, indie filmmakers, or content creators, make sure your deals resonate with them.
Use the data from previous sales and engagements to understand what works. Which beats sold the most? What type of promotions got the most traction? Use these insights to tailor your strategy.
You can also use these insights to make your email campaigns smarter. If you know that a buyer has already purchased that beat before, why tell them about it again? Focus on beats they don’t have but are similar to beats they’re purchased before. In marketing, we call this ‘next logical product’.
Black Friday is more than just a day of discounts; it's a chance to amplify your brand, engage with your audience, and showcase your best work. By implementing these strategies, you set the stage for a successful sale and long-term relationships with new clients.
Remember, it's not just about selling beats – it's about creating connections through music. Let your beats be the soundtrack to someone's creative journey. Happy selling, and let the beats drop!
Are you ready to amplify your reach this Black Friday? Here’s an exciting opportunity. We are launching an official Black Friday email and social media campaign, and we want you to be a part of it. This is your chance to get your beats in front of a larger audience, increasing your visibility and sales potential.
To submit your interest, simply fill out the form below. We’re looking for unique, high-quality beats that will capture the attention of our diverse community of buyers. If selected, we’ll include your beats in a special Black Friday promotional campaign.
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Before anything, think about what your “theme” or inspiration will be for creating your music. You’ll want to define what makes these different from other tracks you might’ve heard to ensure your music stands out on the BeatStars Marketplace. Solidifying your branding is ideal as well, so you can create a memorable identity that your audience will quickly recognize.
Fun Fact: Using a signature color can increase your brand awareness by 80%
Next, determine your audience. The better you understand your target market, the more relevant your product, content, and marketing will be. Doing this will give you a much better chance of reaching the most likely audience to convert into customers. Questions to ask yourself can be:
✔️ Who are you making music for?
✔️ Age, gender, location?
✔️ What platforms do they use?
✔️ What other brands/creators do they admire?
After that, write out the top 5 goals you’d like to achieve. Think about where you are and where you want to be. When you are intentional about setting goals and commit to doing the work it takes to achieve them, anything is possible. We recommend having both short-term and long-term goals.
Now that you have direction and your target audience has been selected, it’s time to put things into motion. This is what we recommend doing to get started:
We recommend you review your licenses and prices before going live to ensure you’re receiving proper compensation for the right license. This is SUPER important!
As a music creator, having a custom domain will help to establish your business’ level of professionalism. Using a domain specific to you will help to boost reputability, build trust among potential buyers, and ultimately help drive traffic to your site by ranking you higher on search engines. Learn more about setting your custom domain as your Pro Page URL here.
Email marketing is a great way to stay engaged with your customers and keep them informed on new releases, sales, and more. Not only is it a cost-effective way to market your music, but it also gives you a chance to speak directly to customers, via their inbox, at a time that is convenient for them. Learn more about our trusted integration, Mailchimp, here.
Bulk discounts are a win-win for both you and the customer! They win because they're getting more music and saving money. You win by making a sale with penny pinching customers.
Fun fact: “Old Town Road” was sold as the free beat in a buy 1 get 1 free bulk deal for only $30!
When merch is done well, it helps fans feel connected to your brand and your community. It is also another source of revenue that can help fund your business and make more people aware of your music and brand.
Here are some terms you should know:
Print-on-Demand: An order fulfillment method where items are printed as soon as an order is made, often, and in printful’s case - without order minimums. With pod, you can create customized designs for a variety of products and sell them under your brand. Learn more about BeatStars’ print-on-demand integration, Printful, here.
Drop-Shipping: This means there is no need to think about inventory or storage. With drop-shipping, you can sell products in your online shop through a product supplier. So you as the owner don’t have to worry about inventory or product storage, simply ship your orders on-demand from your supplier.
Finally, you're ready to get your music onto the BeatStars Marketplace! We're just as excited as you are, but before you publish, we advise that you organize your music catalog. This ensures you use the correct genre tags, BPM, and other metadata information. You'll also want to ensure you upload a WAV file of your track since this is higher quality than an MP3 file. BeatStars will automatically convert your WAV file to an MP3 file for FREE! If you want to sell stems, we recommend uploading those too, since more licenses will be available based on file type.
It’s also crucial that you have a release strategy for reaching the most amount of buyers on BeatStars. You'll need to decide where your music will be available, how often you will be releasing it, and how many tracks will be released at a time. Planning ahead will allow you to track your progress and analyze what works.
According to DillyGotItBumpin, one of BeatStars’ top members, this was his strategy when first starting out:
“I was uploading every other day, or maybe 3-4 times per week, before I made my first sale. I told myself I would upload for a year like this to see what happens.” - DillyGotItBumpin
Here are some other features we recommend you take advantage of to unlock your full BeatStars experience:
Promote is an advertising tool exclusive to BeatStars creators that works to boost your music's visibility and increase brand awareness with the 10 million+ creators on BeatStars. Whether you want to gain more followers, or increase your potential track sales, our Promote tool is the quickest way to get you there. Learn more about BeatStars Promote here.
We offer key administrative services on behalf of our members, including registering copyrights with global collection societies and performing tracking analysis to ensure that all music consumption is being collected and distributed accurately. This will be available to you the moment you sign up!
Here are a few reasons why you should join the community:
Learn more about joining the BeatStars Publishing community here.
BeatStars regularly creates opportunities for our community to get their music heard. Our curated playlists are seen by thousands of artists and are meant to not only showcase the best of the best music coming from our creators, but help inspire collaboration and music that may otherwise not have happened. Learn more about opportunities here.
Before diving into the world of music publishing, it's essential to understand copyright. Copyright is the legal protection that safeguards your original work, such as a song or a beat, granting you exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and license your creation. Keep in mind, though, that copyright only protects the expression of your idea, not the idea itself.
With your copyright in place, you're now ready to explore the business side of your music – royalties. Royalties are the payments you receive when your music is used commercially. There are several types of royalties:
A music publisher is a company that manages the copyrights of your musical works, ensuring you're fairly compensated for their commercial use. Music publishers can help with:
Now that you have a grasp on the basics of music publishing, it's time to elevate your career by partnering with BeatStars Publishing. By joining the BeatStars Publishing family, you'll gain access to a team of experts who will help you navigate the complexities of music publishing while ensuring you maximize your earnings from mechanical and performance royalties.
As a BeatStars Publishing member, you'll benefit from a variety of incentives, such as worldwide royalty collection, 100% ownership of your songs, 1 year admin agreements, and more. Don't leave your music publishing journey to chance – partner with BeatStars Publishing to unlock your full potential as a music creator!
Whether you're uploading twice a week, or daily, stick to a schedule you can commit to and stay consistent. Do this for one year, and you are almost guaranteed positive results.
To give yourself the best opportunity to convert sales, offer a license tier for all budgets. MP3 licenses are typically the cheapest, offering the lowest quality file and smaller streams and downloads. You can utilize file types, streams, downloads, and more to scale your licenses up. Outside of an exclusive license, the most expensive non-exclusive license includes MP3, WAV, and track stems.
You can brand your store and music with titles. One to two-syllable words are the easiest to remember usually, plus they only take up a little room on desktop, mobile, and other platforms when you promote.
It's easier to find a common theme with your artwork for your beats, loops, kits, and more. Whether that's a particular color scheme you use or an aesthetic in your designs, this imagery can help people relate to your music even before they hear it.
Using our features (playlists, albums, sound kits, etc.) gives you a better chance of being found. Take playlists, for example; if someone searches for your name in the playlist search bar and you don't have any playlists created, nothing will populate for that search. You are losing traffic and potential sales. There are searches for every feature, minus tracklists (blaze player + Pro Page only) and memberships.
If you want to drive more engagement for your tracks, gain more followers, or increase your potential track sales, BeatStars Promote is the quickest way to get there. Promoting a track, album, or profile through BeatStars Promote unlocks the attention of millions of potential fans and buyers. Promoted content on BeatStars cuts through the noise and appears at the top of 'Trending Searches,' 'Who to Follow,' 'Recommended Members,' and 'Top Charts.' That way, your art is the first thing BeatStars site visitors see.
Your beats, samples, and songs are probably generating more opportunities than you know. For just $2 per track for one-time tracking or monthly for ongoing tracking, use Beat ID to discover placement opportunities, track illegal use of your music, and unlock other historical data to learn where your work has been used. Sign up for the BeatStars ‘Professional’ plan here to receive FREE monthly Beat ID credits!
This can bring numerous benefits to your business. Here are some key advantages:
- Increased Brand Awareness: Engaging with your audience allows your music to reach a wider audience on Marketplace, exposing your music to their network of connections.
- Customer Loyalty and Trust: Responding to customer inquiries, comments, and messages shows that your business values its customers. This builds trust and fosters loyalty, as customers appreciate a brand that listens and cares about their needs.
- Feedback and Insights: Marketplace interactions provide valuable feedback from customers about your music creations. These insights can be used to improve your offerings and address issues promptly.
- Community Building: Active engagement helps in creating a sense of community around your business. By responding to comments and encouraging discussions, you can create a space where customers feel comfortable interacting with each other and your business.
- Increased Website Traffic: Engaging content on BeatStars Marketplace can drive users to visit your online storefront, potentially leading to increased conversions and sales.
Make your storefront full by adding all features and set licenses for Playlists, Tracks, Albums, Sound Kits, and Services on BeatStars. As well, using specific hashtags for your music on Marketplace can help it gain more exposure when customers search up those specific tags when shopping. Lastly, we recommend checking out these marketing integrations to help level up your business: Canva | Mailchimp | TubeBuddy | Printful
That’s it! Follow these tips for best practices on BeatStars and to set your business up for long term success.
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