What Does “Sold” Mean In Beats?

If you’re regularly shopping for beats online you obviously have come across “sold” beats. They usually be tagged for example as “*Sold* Rap Instrumental*”.

You may have wonder what “sold” actually means when it comes to such beats…. not to worry, this post has you covered.

So then, What does “sold” mean in beats?

When a beat is tagged as “sold” online, it usually means the exclusive rights to the beat have been sold to somebody and therefore it cannot be resold. These beats may be posted on social platforms like YouTube for the sake of promotion, as well to push for more sales because posting “sold” beats gives the producer more credibility as a person offering something that people want and are willing to spend money on.

Exclusive Rights

Exclusive rights to a beat arise when a music producer sells a beat to an artist for a certain amount of money. In exchange, the producer gives the beat to the artist as well as the rights which makes them the exclusive owner.

This means that the beat will not be resold or licensed by the producer to other people that may want to buy it.

Exclusive beats are the case with artists that are signed to record labels because the label will want exclusivity so they can distribute the music made with the beat freely.

Usually, exclusive beats will be of high quality and the producer will offer the stems and sometimes the actual project file to the artist/buyer.

It is for this reason that most exclusive beats are highly priced. It is not uncommon to find an exclusive beat being sold for a thousand dollars or more.

You can find exclusive beats on most beat selling platforms as well as YouTube. Its then up to you to negotiate with the producer regarding what price you can obtain the exclusive rights for.

With such arrangements, the producer may request to have a share of publishing as well as other royalties that may be generated from music made with the beat.

Non Exclusive rights

Non Exclusive rights to a beat are a common practice and they primarily work as leases….where the music producer specifies the price for the lease as well as the lease conditions.

Most producers will give you a time period within which the lease can be used before the non exclusive license expires.

The producer will also specify record monetization conditions. Which are pretty much strict…. most of the time the producer will not allow you as the artist to make money off the record at all which could mean no streaming platforms, no public performances etc.

Furthermore, the producer will usually give you the beat as an MP3 with no project file stems etc. This is really done to make it more Convinient for the artist to buy the exclusive rights.

Can I use a beat that is sold?

First of all, using a beat that is sold is illegal and infringes on the rights of both the producer and the artist that owns the exclusive rights.

They can easily use you for damages due to the fact that you do not have the permission to use their beat.

Which is why most artists may choose to do covers of songs using other peoples beats because it can atleast shield them to an extent when it comes to copyright issues.

Using another persons beat should be off limits to avoid any legal trouble that could cost you a lot.

Is it hard to sell beats online?

Selling beats online is not difficult at all but it is highly competitive because most producers have now adopted it as a key part of their business practice. This has made it become somewhat saturated because it is pretty difficult to break through when there’s of thousands of producers online selling beats.

You need a good strategy to be able to pull off sales as somebody looking to get into the online world of beat licensing. Most producers have opted to using effective marketing strategies like building email lists, ads, bundling etc. all in an effort to make sales….

This is a clear indication that selling beats online will require you to have good beats and an excellent sales strategy otherwise your beats will get lost in the noise and won’t be heard.

Can I make money of a leased beat?

Lease agreements are quite common in the music production world. Beats have now become affordable due to leasing which has now more than ever become more prevalent.

Depending on the deal you strike with the producer, they may or may not allow you to make money off the leased beat. Such restrictions are usually in place and will be part of the lease agreement unless you can negotiate your way out of these said restrictions to be able to make some money off the beat.