Growing up, Pieper didn’t have a blueprint for becoming a producer. But he had YouTube and BeatStars.
In Phoenix, Arizona, far from the quiet farm town in upstate New York where he grew up, 23-year-old Pieper Beats is carving out a career that at one time may have felt unattainable. For many, a small-town life often means small-town ambitions, and the idea of pursuing music full-time seems more like a pipe dream than a possibility.
Growing up, Pieper didn’t have a blueprint for becoming a producer. But he had YouTube and BeatStars. Both platforms served as his creative laboratory, allowing him to experiment with styles, genres, and keywords. What started as a hobby quickly became a passion.
“Through that process, I found what I enjoyed making the most, what fulfilled me, and also what resonated with artists and garnered the most attention,” Pieper recalls. “When I started creating Mac Miller and Kota the Friend type beats, I noticed that not many producers on YouTube or BeatStars were catering to that audience, and I found my niche.”
Starting with a $20 beat
Finding his niche was just the start. For two years, Pieper uploaded beats to YouTube with remarkable consistency, taking feedback from artists and fellow producers to refine his craft—a piece of advice he frequently shares with up-and-coming producers.
His persistence paid off with small victories, like his first sale—a $20 beat purchased while he was out with family. That moment was a revelation: his passion had the potential to become a sustainable career.
“Once I started fully uploading beats consistently, I was maybe uploading beats once every few days. After doing that consistently for probably two years, I started getting some sales. I wasn’t getting a crazy amount, but I was making enough to call it a part-time job.”
Elevating Quality and Value
As Pieper’s skills grew, so did his confidence in pricing his beats. While many new producers assume that selling beats at a lower price will attract more buyers, Pieper discovered the opposite: increasing his prices to reflect his quality brought him greater success.
However, the feeling of imposter syndrome that can come along with charging more for your tracks remained a challenge. “It’s something I still face,” Pieper admits, acknowledging a struggle shared by many creatives. To combat this, he focused on elevating the perceived value of his beats through meticulous branding and marketing.
Pieper’s branding is deliberate and cohesive. His Instagram, for instance, features a consistent theme: Pieper playing guitar as the foundation of a beat, paired with a simple overlay of his DAW. While it may not be the flashiest approach, it’s one that he can implement authentically and consistently.
Email Marketing, Publishing and Negotiations
As his customer base expanded, Pieper turned to email marketing to safeguard his business. It was a strategic move to ensure he could maintain contact with his audience, regardless of changes on social platforms.
“Let’s say Instagram shuts down, you can’t contact [any of your customers]. But if you have an email, you can. You always have that, and you can always get in touch with them if you have to.”
With email marketing in place and steady sales rolling in, Pieper set his sights on publishing—a step many producers overlook until they land a significant placement. For Pieper, that moment came with Diego Gonzalez’s “You and I,” a song that sits at over 115 million Spotify streams.
“Before [the placement], I didn't have any big songs out. I would get royalty checks every once in a while. It took me getting one big song out, and then I realized just how much publishing can be a passive income, basically. If you have these big songs coming out that consistently get good streams, that can feed you for a while.”
Still, getting to the point of knowing terms to negotiate when an opportunity like this came along wasn’t always intuitive. A key lesson came from BeatStars’ Director of Music & Creator Development, Mike Trampe was: “If a label hits you up about a beat, instead of giving them a price, ask them to provide the terms for masters, publishing, and an advance, so that way they give you the offer first.”
What’s Next for Pieper Beats?
Looking ahead, Pieper dreams of sync placements in films, commercials, and video games, alongside releasing more beat tapes that blend his producer identity with his artistic ambitions. At the heart of it all, his mission remains rooted in purpose.
“To keep myself at peace. As long as I’m making music that I’m happy with, and people out there are happy with it and are still supporting me, then I know that I’m doing something right.”
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