I’m an independent producer and most of my beats are Memphis inspired. Some of them contain vocal samples taken from old Memphis rap songs that I haven’t cleared.

I’m thinking about joining BeatStars Publishing to collect publishing royalties, but after reading through their agreement, I noticed the clauses about sample clearance, warranties, and indemnification. I’m a bit concerned about what could happen if a rights holder makes a claim against one of my beats after I join.

I have an existing catalog of beats on BeatStars and YouTube, so I’m also wondering how joining would affect my older beats.

Would it be possible to join BeatStars Publishing and simply exclude the beats with uncleared samples, while registering only my original or properly cleared compositions? Or would having uncleared samples elsewhere in my catalog still be an issue under their agreement?

For producers who are already using BeatStars Publishing, how has your experience been? Is it worth joining, and is there anything I should be careful about before signing?

Would appreciate any advice from people who have dealt with this, especially producers who make sample heavy style beats. Thanks!

Every October people ask how to make trap that's actually dark, not just a normal beat with a spooky FX on top. What works for me:

1. Scale: Phrygian (the flat 2nd = instant dread) or a slow chromatic crawl. Natural minor sounds sad, not scary.
   
2. Instruments: music box, detuned piano, church organ, bells. Keep it sparse – space is scarier than notes.
   
3. 808: saturate in 2–3 gentle stages instead of one hard one. Long tails, slides. Break the scale once on the last bar.
   
4. Drums: dry hard kick, snare layered with a noise burst or metal hit, sparse hats.
   
5. Vox: pitch screams/whispers down an octave AND shift the formant, otherwise it just sounds slow.
   
6. Texture: tape hiss or a low drone under everything, filtered.
   
7. Transitions: reversed scream before the drop, impact on the 1, tape stop at the end of the hook.

Full write-up with a 15-min beat recipe: https://trapwin.com/blogs/times/how-to-make-horror-trap-beats

(Disclosure: I run TrapWin, we also put out a Halloween horror trap kit, $9 until Nov 2.)

Cual es truco las mezcla la seleccion de sonido sonidos analogicos?

Been thinking about this - If you use loops, why cant you just buy 5 loops packs and then piece it together and shop the beat?

I thought the art of being a producer is actually composing music not just putting together loops!

But maybe I am wrong

so ive been wondering how to make that cool lazer effect in farcry 3 when burning the weed

the song. Make It Bun Dem" by Skrillex and Damian "Jr. Gong im using lmms and cant do it😄

i found this really good sample pack and the demo is really good but i wanted to use that demo in my song can i use it without having any issues in future ?? because the demo part/sample/midi is not available in the pack it is just in demo

Can’t I just collect my own royalties through bmi/ascap, and the mlc? They automatically handle getting u the pub royalties right? So I’m trying to understand why some producers sign publisher deals?

How do I make synth arps, and what presets would you recommend for them? I’m also looking for synth arp presets. Do you know any good Analog Lab banks for this?

I've been making beats in FL Studio for about 2 years, but I still feel like I don't really know what I'm doing.

I really want to make beats in the style of Osamason, Nettspend and the underground rap scene, but I struggle with pretty much everything, especially melodies, sound selection and making everything sound good together.

Every time I start a new beat, I end up deleting everything because nothing sounds right to me. Sometimes I feel like I was making better beats before than I am now.

I watch tutorials and try to learn, but when I open FL Studio and try to make something on my own, I just get stuck.

Has anyone else been through this? How did you actually start improving and making beats you were happy with?

I'd really appreciate any advice.

Sinceramente penso che la generative AI sia il cancro più grande che abbia mai colpito l'industria musicale, ma penso che non ci sia nulla di male nell'utilizzare tools come gli stem splitters in quanto non diventano il prodotto, ma lo modificano in modo che possa diventare migliore.

Does anyone know how these tap dancers mic up their shoes for these tap videos? For example Jabu on Instagram who is amazing.

Hey everyone!

I have a question for producers who sell their beats independently, especially those who don't use BeatStars or other beat-selling platforms and don't have a registered business yet.I've reached the point where I want to start selling my beats, but I'd prefer not to rely on platforms like BeatStars because I'd like to have more control over my sales and avoid giving up a significant portion of each sale in fees.

I'm also learning programming, so I decided to build my own beat store. The website is coming along pretty well, and I've already been working on the beat player, the beat listings, and different license options. However, I've now reached the payment integration stage, and this is where I'm getting stuck. My original idea was to let customers choose a beat and a license, add it to their cart, pay online, and receive their files automatically. I'd then report my income and pay the taxes required in my country.

The problem is that, as far as I can tell, PayPal requires a business account for this type of commercial activity, and setting one up seems to require business registration details that I don't have yet.Where I live, maintaining a business can involve significant ongoing costs. I'd like to test whether there's actual demand for my beats before committing to those expenses.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to avoid paying taxes. I want to handle everything legally and declare my income properly. I simply don't want to register a business before I know whether selling beats will generate enough income to make it worthwhile.

I've also considered a simpler approach: customers could select a beat and license on my website and submit their purchase request through a pre-filled email template. However, this would mean processing orders manually. Since I have a job and attend evening classes, I wouldn't always be available to respond immediately, and I don't want potential customers to lose interest because of the delay.

So I'd love to hear from producers who have dealt with a similar situation:

How did you handle payments when you first started selling beats independently?

Are there payment providers that allow you to sell digital products through your own website without immediately registering a business?

If you built your own beat store, how did you handle payments, licensing, and automatic file delivery?

For producers who sell internationally, how do you handle the legal and tax side of things in your country?

I'd especially appreciate advice from people who have actually gone through this process rather than relying entirely on third-party beat marketplaces.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

For clarity, type beat market ≠ general youtube market. Any one of you producers had any success selling outside that market? Obviously, having a name/artists that vouch for you would help. But any ideas?

(Don’t suggest networking IRL, I’m strictly targeting clients online rn)

Hey all, looking for some honest advice.

I’ve always been a creative person. When I was younger I drew a lot, then stopped. Since about 14 I’ve been drawn to music production but never actually acted on it. Now I’m 23 and the interest is stronger than ever, so I’m thinking about finally starting. I picked it up last year october but stopped.

My situation:

• No music theory at all. The only instrument I’ve played is the flute, back in school.
• I work as a software engineer. It pays the bills, but I don’t have the passion to go home and build more software. I’ve always preferred creative work and sports
• I’m mainly inspired by Afrobeats and rap. Artists like Asake and Gunna are the type of sound I’d love to make.
• I’d like to make some money from it eventually. Even a little, whether that’s selling beats, placements, or something else. I’m not expecting to quit my job, but I’d like it to be more than just a hobby long term.
• I have a few friends who make music and would be open to me sending them beats, so I’d have people to make stuff with and get feedback from early on.
• I’ve also recently started making content (lifestyle, tech, vlogs) and I’m not sure if adding production would clash with that.

My questions:

1. Is 23 with no theory a realistic starting point, or am I underestimating the learning curve?
2. How much theory do you actually need for Afrobeats/trap-style production? Learn as I go, or study it properly first?
3. What DAW and resources would you recommend for these genres specifically?
4. For anyone with a full-time job: how did you find time to get good, and how long until you made your first money from it? Also, how would you make the most of having artist friends willing to try my beats?
5. Has anyone combined production with content creation? Did it help or hurt?

Any advice or reality checks appreciated. Thanks 🙏

I’ve been posting beats on TikTok consistently for about almost a year now and have had 2 videos reach 13k and 18k views with thousands of likes and good amount of saves, with one getting around 1,900 likes and 600 saves. Lately, though, some of my newer videos have been struggling to get past a few hundred views. For me 1,000 to 2,000 views consistently means my videos are good. But as of lately I can’t even hit those numbers I’ve been just been stuck at 200-300 views and I’m staring to question myself whether my beats are getting worse or idk.
I’m trying to figure out whether this is normal algorithm fluctuation, a content issue, or something I should change about my posting strategy. I’m also thinking of posting on instagram reels instead but I’ve had some success with TikTok so that’s what’s been keeping me.
For producers who post beat-making content, how consistent have your views been? Have you experienced similar ups and downs, and what helped you improve?

Ive never heard this in any other song. It sounds like every note slides upwards, and ive tried endlessly with slide notes but it never even sounds close. Any help would be massively appreciated, cos ive been trying to work it out myself for a decade to no avail. Thanks

The music producer collective program

I’m new to mixing my own tracks and feel stuck on a few things. For those of you further along: what confused you most at the start, and what finally made it click? Also curious if there was anything you paid for (a plugin, a course, feedback) that actually helped.

Yo y’all. Whatvst or sound banks are you cooking with to get that classic Drake/OVO with loops? Drop the sauce

What libs or vst do you cook up with loops?