Knowing your licenses is important for buying beats online. Now, let's be serious, not many of us are lawyers, and that can make it a bit of minefield when it comes to buying beats online.
Fortunately, you're here now.
In this short guide, I'm going to blow the doors open on licenses... and I'm going to give you samples of my own licenses so you can see exactly what's up.
Let's get started.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEASING AND EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS?
One of the most common questions rappers who are new to buying beats online have when buying beats is this:
What’s the difference between leasing a beat and purchasing the exclusive rights?
So, let’s answer that question right now…
LEASING A BEAT
Artist thinks:
“I need a quality beat for my mixtape. I want to rap/sing over a beat, and I don’t really care if anyone else uses it.”
If this is you, go for the leasing rights for the beat. You’ll be able to upload your track to streaming sites and even sell your mixtapes/singles that use the beat.
A lease is like borrowing a car. You have limited rights to use a producer’s beat for a lower rate and for a limited time period (usually a year).
Leases also usually have other limitations. There may be limitations on how many times your song can be streamed, how often you can perform it live, how often it can be played on the radio and how many copies you can sell.
Also, when it comes to leasing, it’s quite rare that you get anything other than the MP3 or WAV version of the song.
Leasing is ideal for artists who want some high-quality production for their mixtapes, singles and promos without breaking the bank. But keep in mind, you can only stream/sell as many as the lease allows. After you go over the time period or the limitations, you will be required to purchase another lease for the instrumental.
If you want to have unlimited use of an instrumental, then you should consider purchasing the exclusive rights.
PURCHASING THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS
Artist thinks:
“I want to rap/sing over a beat for my single or album and I want to be the last person to buy it.”
When you purchase the exclusive rights to an instrumental, you are granted the sole ownership of the beat. This means that after you purchase the exclusive rights of a beat, no more leases of the beat can be sold. The other leases that are still within their contract period are still valid until they expire, however.
If you are an artist that is creating an album or a single that you expect to get a lot of sales and streams and you want to guarantee that no-one after you will be using the same beat, you should consider getting the exclusive rights to a beat.
Exclusive rights purchases are more expensive than leases, but they are necessary for independent and major label artists who expect to move a lot of units.
ALL licenses are bound by contracts.
FINAL WORDS
And there you have it - an outline of both exclusives and non-exclusive licenses. For most independent artists, a non-exclusive beat will suffice. They're more flexible and allow you to spend your money on other things.
An exclusive license is good, but is usually reserved for songs that blow up or get a mainstream release.
If you want more advice and information about purchasing beats online, I strongly suggest checking out my guide:
The First-Time Beat Buyers’ Guide To Leasing Beats Online
Below, you will find sample licenses that apply to any of the beats purchased through my store. Please use these as a reference if you are unsure about what you are able to do with your purchase.
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