(View Part I - View Part II - View Part III)
Having the legal aspects of you business is essential to maintaining a high level of integrity in the eyes of your clients. But when you're just starting out, grasping the concepts of all of these different types of beat agreements can be a bit of a handful. After all, there are so many different options that you've seen other producers use during your research phase, that it's hard to figure out a starting point for your own business.
While there does seem to be a ton of different licensing options out there, in all honestly, it's mostly just producers taking a contract template & customizing it to fit terms that they're willing to offer their beats under. Most of the beat players that you'll have the choice of implementing into your website, will have several of these templates for you to use. Here in Part IV of your producer course, we'll go over some of the basic types contracts you'll come across.
Licenses We'll Go Over:
Free Lease
Exclusive
Synchronization
License Types
FREE BEATS:
Not much to talk about here. Generally speaking, you want to offer your free beat(s) (should you choose to offer any) under a strict promo use only agreement. Be sure to clearly state that no profits are allowed to be made from the song without your WRITTEN consent.
LEASING BEATS:
This is probably the most confusing out of the four. Leasing your beat can prove to quite rewarding tho. This option allows you to re-license an instrumental as many times as you want. I advise you to use the template contract included in your beat player & customize it to your needs. Be Advised: Since most producers tailor the terms of their licenses to their liking, you should be aware (& understanding) of the fact that many artists may not be familiar how the agreements work.
Although it does get frustrating at times, it is important that you make sure that they fully understand the terms of your agreement before allowing them to commit to a purchase. Encouraging your clients to contact you with licensing questions before purchasing is highly recommended.
EXCLUSIVE BEATS:
Exclusive beats are a bit easier to deal with because of the fact that the terms are a bit more concrete. Don't get me wrong, you still have the option of fully customizing your artist - producer agreements but the exclusive agreement is a one & done deal. The terms, pricing, royalties & all other particulars are negotiated up front & the artist will typically own the rights to use the instrumental indefinitely once it's all said & done. Since the producer can only monetize the given composition once, you'll typically have more ground should you decide to nudge the price up a bit.
SYNCHRONIZATION: Ever wanted to license your beats or music to be used in TV shows or movies. Synchronization licensing is how it's done. These are a great type of license simply because the pay out is usually higher than when working with artists (although there typically won't be much negotiating due to the fact that most TV shows & movies have budgets specific for music licensing). Depending on the deal worked out, you may even get royalties from plays you get by securing a placement on a recurring TV series.
Rapping Things Up
I hope this short guide was able to help you gain a relatively better understanding of the different types of licensing agreements & how they apply to various situations. As previously mentioned, most beat players come with custom license templates. If yours doesn't have contract templates already, we recommend using one of the airbit beat players (the beat players we currently use).
Thank You for Reading!
STAY TUNED FOR PART V
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