Music Entrepreneur Club Podcast

Our FINAL episode: DJ Pain 1 shares who to avoid making beats for and why after a conversation about eliminating middle-men and sticking with the people you came up with. LaRussel claims middle-men should NOT be a part of your career. The MEC team responds. Dame, Erinn and Pain all share their gratitude for each other and the podcast's supporters and reveal how Raedio has taken over the Music Entrepreneur Club.

Russ recently tweeted that managers need to work harder for their commision and compared manager fees to equity. Erinn and Dame respond. Selling beats with exclusive rights comes with confusion for both rappers and beatmakers. Pain shares a story about a rapper demanding a buyout, what this says about the music business and how artists can do better.

AI beats are trash right now, but when the beats get better and AI-generated samples become usable, who will own those copyrights? We are already seeing AI content being flagged for copyright infringement. Will copyright laws change? Also, why would a rapper sign to a major label in 2023? We discuss why and what artists can do to best maximize on their success.

Is the music producer community embracing ignorance over music business knowledge? Is the music business really hard to learn? We explain why we believe the music business is easy-- certainly easier than many other professions. We also debate whether or not there are actual gatekeepers in the music business. The episode begins with a conversation of getting "put on" by other artists and whether signing to an artist or producer is a bad idea.

Do producers understand sampling and copyright law? Many producers believe sampling is "Fair Use" or that short samples/one-shots are automatically copyright-free. But these are myths that have been spread long enough. In today's episode, we talk copyright and IP law and why it's important. We also discuss whether managers should be paid for the money they save their artists. Erinn also asks what music industry professionals should do when they become burned out with the business. 

The producer community, rapper community and record label community all have their problems, and we discuss and debate these problems often, right here. In today's episode, we talk Spotify's new discovery mode-- which Erinn reveals she loves using, DJ Pain 1 being impersonated by scammers on YouTube, and whether all unsolicited opportunities are scams. Spoiler alert: There's a lot of disagreement. 

Is selling beats online-- or in general-- too saturated? A tweet by RA the Rugged Man about producers not correctly labeling their beats when they send them to artists inspires today's conversation on why some succeed and some don't when it comes to beat selling. Dame asks the team to name artists who work 40 hours and week and gives advice on structuring your life for music business success. We end with a conversation on Hip-Hop/RnB NFTs.

Taz Taylor revealed that even producers are the level of Internet Money aren't being paid their advances on time by labels and offers an explanation as to why this happens regularly. For some reason, there was a backlash to his honesty. Dame talks fake friends in the music business who switch up for clicks and likes and Young Guru is concerned about an AI-generated Kendrick Lamar voice clone.

Instagram is offering blue checks for sale. After Twitter Blue, is this a good idea? The Ghetto Boys are beefing over Scareface's solo Grammy performance. What went wrong? If you sell beats online, there are ups and downs. When sales are down, the impulse to vent about rappers or even treat reluctant beat buyers poorly becomes high. Resist that urge and instead try finding a community to vent to, as we discuss in today's episode.

Do real producers manage an artist's marketing campaign? If producers are selling beats, shouldn't marketing and promo services come with that? Let's get real about this rather odd narrative. Also, are managers the CEOs of their artists or is it the other way around? We discuss in today's episode of the MEC Podcast.  

Should you stop dropping so many beats and/or songs and stop saturating the market with low quality music? Russ says, "Drop music consistently," but some people disagree under the "quality over quantity" battle cry. The MEC has its own opinion on this debate. Also, what is one thing YOU would change about the music business? We share ours.

Is the best music promo free? Do bigger rappers lease beats? Katori Walker joins us to discuss signing a major label deal, what went wrong, how he leases beats and why he doesn't always buy exclusive beats, and why he hasn't spent a cent on music promo in years.

Getting beat and song placements in television and film takes a certain skillset and process different from making and selling beats or songs for traditional listeners. Barii explains how he gets synch placements and how making beats is different from scoring. Also, we talk TikTok's so-called viral secret that was recently exposed and why platforms have always been able to make music go viral.

If you make beats, will you be replaced by artificial intelligence in the near future? Will beats be automatically generated at the click of a button? Pain and Dame debate the future of AI and discuss the copyright implications of AI beats. Dame and Erinn discuss the necessity of connections in the music business and why Dame's Guapdad interview received such a backlash.

Learning how to sell beats? Pricing your beats, especially exclusive beats, is tricky. We discuss how much beats should cost, when it makes sense to give away free beats and how rappers can scam new producers for free beats. We also discuss how managers should vet opportunities for their artists, Errin's apology to her record label and Phillip Payne's winning social media strategy.

Selling exclusives beats became a hot topic after Beatstars posted a tweet asking how much exclusive beats should cost. We discuss prices, problems and why most people don't even understand what an exclusive sale involves. On the subject of copyrights, we also discuss whether or not record labels are greedy for offering bad deals and how desperate producers and recording artists should react to a bad deal.

Your beats are getting stolen and apparently many artists and producers think this is a good thing. When Grammy-winning producer Knxwledge complained about rappers stealing an monetizing his beats, the internet ganged up on him. What do YOU think? Also, we discuss whether or not artists can be slept on. Are your favorite artists slept on or are there simply other factors at work that keep them in a certain corner of the music business?

If you're a musician, watch out for more scams coming soon via Twitter's new Blue feature. Should musicians find a new social media platform to replace twitter? Also, would you take the job as Glorilla's assistant? Will it help you with your music career? The MEC crew debates this point and more in today's episode.

Sending beats to managers is a bad idea? Male managers being condescending to women collagues is common? In this episode, we discuss the good and bad of management-- red flags to look out for, what managers should certainly not be doing, and what managers should be doing to grow and develop as professionals. Special guest Yan Snead of Pandora.

Knowing how to sell beats also involves knowing your rights and understanding intellectual property law. When you're selling beats, are you also selling your copyrights? Should you be? Also, we discuss fans attacking artists, but end on a positive note: Actionable steps and expectations for building your music career from the ground up.

Making beats is too easy with FL Studio and other DAWs? That's what DJ Khaled said, which caused controversy. We discuss technology and how the producer community is being targeted and used for clickbait. Also, Quentin Miller is speaking out in frustration of being treated as a ghostwriter for the biggest rappers.

If you're learning how to sell beats, you may wonder how much you should charge. Today we explore whether producers want too much, whether individual artists demand too much of their beatmakers and how not to react in these negotiation scenarios. Also, we cover why teams split up and what you can do to make sure your team stays strong and unified.

Selling beats and releasing music in the future will be more profitable in the future with Web 3, according to Brandon Tory, founder of Formless. He explains how beat selling/music streaming will be much more profitable by using his platform.

Some producers can't figure out how to sell beats and unfortunately turn to scamming their own community. Why do we continue to fall for this? Also, will these scams increase in frequency because Twitter Blue allows anybody to be verified? We discuss the changes in Twitter, social media strategies for successful music releases and we respond to the "top 6 places to sell beats online" article.

Whether you're selling beats online or releasing a single as a recording artist, you may be considering paying for advertising. Larussell recently spoke on losing money when investing in ads and in all likelihood, you will lose money too. We discuss ways to learn from these losses. Also, we discuss whether or not managers should have to "prove" themselves before collecting money from an artist they represent.

If your beats aren't selling, what is your reaction? Some producers will vent their frustrations on social media. What happens next? Also, why do some artists think low-price beat leases amount to them owning the beat? Erinn discusses communication and why she has started to record conversations between her and the artists she works with.

When you make a beat for a song and that song becomes a viral hit, who owns the song? This is a complicated conversation and unfotunately, Glorilla and her producer HitKidd are both letting this problem play out over social media and they blame each other for selling the rights to their collaboration "FNF." What could have gone wrong? We discuss. We also cover why Steve Lacy fans don't know his music as seen in a viral concert clip.

If you're selling beats online, make sure to upload beats to this website, with twenty five million users waiting for your music. Our guest DJ Z explains the benefits of using Audiomack over other platforms. Also, over 100,000 songs are uploaded every single day and Spotify is moving away from supporting music. Labels are panicking. What are ways an unsigned artist can succeed in this climate? We explain.

Selling beats online? Want to know how to advertise your beats the smart way? Learn from the mistakes and successes of others and catch a few gems in today's episode. Also, Russ claims rappers are NOT getting blackballed in the music business. We discuss. Finally, are one-hit wonders all broke? Why or why not?

Are music festivals dying? The recent Rolling Loud problems bring up some uncomfortable questions for festival organizers-- do rising insurance costs, post-pandemic crowds and higher prices mark the death of the major music festival? Also, are loop and sample makers stealing sounds and potentially getting producers in major legal trouble?

Trying to sell beats? Do you need industry connections to be successful as a beatmaker who sells leases online? We explain why this narrative is harmful and wrong. Also, there's a rapper who is doing everything right-- steal some ideas from him and apply them to your own music career. Listen to the full episode to learn exactly what these lessons are.

Your beats could be taken down or monetized by somebody else, all because of contentID systems. In fact, two people stole over twenty million dollars from musicians just be abusing the YouTube contentID system. Now there's a lawsuit. Also, Ice Spice recently cancelled shows she had contracts for simply because her price has gone up. Is this right? Let's talk about it.

Are you selling your beats? Some people claim you should give the beats away for free in exchange for 50/50 ownership of the song. Pain explains why he doesn't agree with this. Dame asks whether or not artists should know what their managers are doing and Erinn shares her management horror stories and what artists and managers can do better.

If you make beats, do you deserve 50% of the song? If you know about the music business, you'll know this is a trick question, but these types of questions mislead us into making career mistakes. Be careful who you trust in the music business education space. Also, many rappers including DaBaby, are cancelling their shows because of low numbers. We explain why this could be a bad idea.

If you make beats in your own studio, by yourself, you may be making a mistake. Pain explains how to stop this mistake and learn to make beats that people actually like. Dame and Erinn discuss FN Meka, the fake AI rapper that was recently dropped from his label. Also, there's a huge argument over whether or not R&B artists are talented anymore. Don't miss the fireworks.

If you make beats with samples, this happens, and this cause some twitter beef between Beyonce and Diane Warren. What are your thoughts on sampling and sharing writer's credits? Also, Dame talks Triller, Fanbase and TikTok's latest controversies. Pain explains why so many new social media apps designed for musicians are failing.

If you're selling beats online, why should anybody pay for them if they're not making money off of their music? If the answer seems obvious, well, it should. We discuss risk-taking in the music business. Dame asks the group if they'd sell their catalog and master rights in exchange for a million dollars and Erinn shares her TikTok strategies and struggles.

Making beats with royalty-free samples should be easy, but it's not. Not only are contentID systems allowing for mistaken copyright claims, but now some producers are using this system to steal money from producers by claiming ownership of royalty-free samples and loops. What should be done? Also, Fivio Foreign and Ma$e both went public about their deals. Is Fivio's deal with Ma$e unfair? What is a fair record deal in 2022?

Producers are selling beats, but not getting paid by major labels, even after the labels have released the music-- this is unfortunately a reality for many producers getting their beats placed. Why does this happen? Also, how solid is your team? With the breakup of so many teams-- including Desus and Mero recently-- what can we do to make sure our teams are solid, effective and loyal?

If you're selling or leasing beats online, who owns the beats? There's a lot of confusion about this, but Pain has a strong opinion on single-ownership and why it's a problem that all musicians should fight. Erinn discusses consistency and praises Dame for recording the podcast on his Honeymoon. Erinn and Pain both have a therapy session, right on camera.

Are your beats being taken down from Instagram? Why are social media sites targeting people posting or selling beats online and what's the solution? Pain offers some solutions. Also, let's talk TikTok. Are the numbers fake? Are they silencing black creators? Why do successful TikTok'ers have so few followers on other social platforms?

Are your beats unoriginal? Do unoriginal beats sell well online because rappers are making unoriginal sounding music? Let's talk originality in the music business. Also, Dame is running a record label once again. How can artists actually get signed to labels and what should they NOT do when trying to get signed?

Do producers charge too much for beats? Whether they're selling beats online or trying for major placements, are beats unaffordable in 2022? Bobby Shmurda's recent rant about beat prices has only fueled this ongoing conversation. Also, do artists and producers have an obligation to work together "for the love" at any point? We discuss this and more.

Producers selling beats to Bobby Shmurda are holding up the project. Why are producer collaborations causing problems? Should Bobby Shmurda pay thousands for beats? We discuss. Russ recently gave advice to artists, but is it going to be taken the right way? We debate and eventually agree.

If you sell beats online with Beatstars, do you lose your publishing? No, and here is proof. Why is there Beatstars hate spreading around the internet? We discuss. Also, was Lizzo changing her lyrics a positive step? We discuss this, plus much more about producer rights, beat leasing and music business scams in today's episode.

If you're selling beats online, you've heard the narrative that rappers don't buy beats. Why do so many producers perpetuate this narrative and what harm does it cause to their own brand and to the producer community at large? Also, are artists still pretending to be independent in 2022? Why has Erinn quit touring and what should YOU quit in order to make your music career run more efficiently? Listen and consider.

Should you be selling beats via email? Ever see artists asking producers to "send beats" via social media? Let's talk the benefits and drawbacks of this beat selling method. Also, why is a producer mad at Erinn? Finally, we discuss the fiasco between Monique and DL Hughley and how you can avoid similar situations.

Selling beats that contain loops-- especially royalty free loops-- shouldn't result in copyright problems, but it does. Pain explains how he has worked around this problem. Also, Halsey is upset that her label is forcing her to use TikTok in order to release her music and she's not the only one. The MEC has mixed feelings on this topic.

If you're selling beats online and want to collab on a beat with a top beat seller, is it worth paying for a collab? Pain outlines some business inquiry approaches that can make or break your networking efforts. Dame talks Spotify selling NFTs, questions selling beat NFTs and goes deep into artist/management relationship problems.

Selling beats online or just uploading them on YouTube? Wonder why you're getting copyright strikes for using royalty free samples? The problem is ContentID systems and they may be violating federal copyright law. Will platforms like Splice eventually sue YouTube and other platforms? Also, many good managers do way too much for their artists. This sounds like a good thing, but it can be a major relationship killer. Listen and learn why.

Are you selling beats online? You've probably experienced many beat selling problems including chargebacks, stolen beats, copyright disputes and contentID claims. Are NFTs the solution to fixing beat selling problems? Should you sell beats as NFTs to get rich? We discuss. Also, Drake recently signed a new deal for $400 million. Should he have stayed independent? Probably not, no.