The Saint has been a long time presence here at Warbeats and several months ago, he took that step that most of you are dreaming about. He started selling his beats. Often seen on the top of the Soundclick charts, today he makes his living by making and selling his music. I wanted to ask him some questions about how he made the transition from having the dream to making it a reality.
Q. Please tell us a little about yourself, where you are from, age, etc.
A. Like to first of thank you for the interview will definitely help a lot of people who ask the same questions about the topic of selling beats and making a living. My name is Seth G. (The Saint) I'm currently 21 living in Mesa, Arizona. And as many of you may know I devote about 95% of my time to my music. Growing up music was never apart of my life, I played Football, Baseball, Basketball in my younger years, then it went to Football mostly then Golf took over in High school not until around the age of 18 did I touch my first instrument, the piano.
Q. One of the reasons I thought it would be important to interview you is because you are selling beats as primary way of making income. Can you briefly describe how this came about?
A. Selling beats was never what I thought i would be doing when i first started about 4 years ago. Like most it was just a hobby for about 2 years making beats here and there, while in high school and college i would make maybe 3 beats a month. I then found Soundclick around 2008 never became a part of it till April 2010 officially. I had a free page like most but didn't really post, Then I started to get good surprisingly and decided maybe selling beats is what i would like to do. I purchased a VIP page on Soundclick, for about 2 months i didn't receive one sell not even a lease.. Frustrated and a bit confused I knew it took money to make money so I started purchasing promotion. At this time i was still working a 9 to 5 while making beats but no money from them. It wasn't till about October of 2010 that i actually saw signs of profit. Then came December where i made pretty much half of what i made in a year at my regular work. That opened my eyes noticing it can be done through correct promotion and determination to prosper. That next month I continued with heavy promotion which cost a lot of $ just so you all understand wont state how much just depends on how much you can spend manage your money wisely and you will see growth. From then on ive been full time on beats just recently Flown out to Atlanta and sold a track to a upcoming signed artists being pushed by Anthony T.A. Tate manager of J. Holiday and Roscoe Dash.
Q. without getting to specific dollar amounts, can you describe some of your highlights selling beats on Soundclick (chart position, single beat sales, etc.)
A. Well my best notable sale has been with K'la the artist that is signed to Anthony T.A. Tates label. She just happened to come across one of my beats, it just happened to fit the album they were working on, right time right place sort of thing. Ive held the #1 position on Soundclick before, my first times on top 10 I was stocked, It kinda felt like I was on the billboards or something lol. Its kinda funny how it doesn't really effect me anymore just a regular thing now. People need to realize top 10 is nice, but if you make hot beats you don't need to be top 10 to sell them. You can be at #70 and sell more than a person at #5. top 10 is good for promotion but a lot of people get confused when they all the sudden don't see more sales. Its like any business, sales will fluctuate depending on how well the beat goes over on the charts.
Q. What service do you use for actual payment processing of sales?
A. My most used payment service for Soundclick is PayPal, I have however used Western Union and Money Gram. Both of which are useful since some people may not have a credit or debit card and or PayPal. About 90% of my Soundclick sales are processed through PayPal.
Q. When it comes to licensing beats can you describe what licenses you offer and what they are?
A. Like most every one on Soundclick I offer Standard Lease and Premium Leases and Exclusives. Exclusive is where they own the beat and no one else there forth can purchase it in any form. Where a lot of Soundclick sellers go wrong, they sign the beat completely over to the artists. Bad bad idea especially if the song goes big, the artist is not obligated to give you any credit or money if he wishes to keep it so never completely give the track outright to the artist. Standard leases are $25.00 without hooks (Vocals on Hook) $35.00 with hooks where they receive a HQ mp3 only and are limited to how many they can resell with vocals. Premium is just an upgraded Standard lease with increased rights and they also get tracked out WAV. files for mixing purposes. I can sell as many leases as I want till the Exclusive of that given track is bought, For Unsigned Artists my Exclusive price range is $400-$1,500. Signed Artists Exclusives can range from $2,500 and up depending on who the label is, who the artist is and there budget.
Q. Speaking of hooks, do you have a go to stable of personnel or do you do them yourself?
A. For hooks I have a few go to artists I work with just recently acquired one I'll be working with a lot so soon to have more hook beats dropping since they are the most popular for rappers. They record the WAV files and send them tracked out to me, and I arrange and mix it into the full song. Usually going back and making changes to make it fit even more.
Q. In your opinion do hooks attract more buyers?
A. Hook Beats are by far the most popular for Rappers singers of course there is no point to have one for. So just make sure you put a hook on a beat that is aimed for rappers, or at least in that genre.
Q. What is the average cost to get a hook done by a third party and how is the licensing handled?
A. Costs can range from $100-$350 or more just depends on the hook artists, my current one I'm just going to be working with were are working a different plan. Its either payed upfront or some may ask for % of sales. A lot of the times that is discussed person to person really no set % to go off of, just what you agree upon.
Q. Do you notice trends in the type of beats that sell? In other words, this month maybe more synth heavy beats are hot, last month it was more emotional beats, etc?
A. I really cant tell a difference the only time that something like that may be noticeable is summer time beats going into summer etc.. hard to place what sells more at what time etc.. Its really a hit and miss some sell a lot some sell little.
Q. Can you describe your creative process when starting a new beat? I know it may be different from time to time, but say Artist X wanted a beat tomorrow, what would your process most likely be?
A. Personally I don't usually have a mind thinking process when I start a new beat. Bare in mind I always have a direction I'm taking the beat before I start, I know what genre I'm going to be making the beat in and at times think of what artists I could hear on it. If I'm personally asked for a custom beat, that's the time where I go into specific dead on genre aiming and have to try and hit a desired mark. If im just making a beat from scratch and not custom I can completely change the track to a different direction from what it was originally set for.
Q. Can you briefly describe why having a SC VIP account is better?
A. A Soundclick VIP Page is mostly for the pure ability to create it to your most desired form/layout and be able to arrange things on your page, this all has do be done by a third party Graphic designer though. Soundclick does not supply the page designs. People always ask does it help increase sales? in the grand scheme of things, no it helps people navigate the page better and looks better which = More sales. But the sales will obviously depend 100% on the beats.
Q. I find that personally, the beats I make aren't marketable. Do you feel a pressure to make "commercial" beats over more "artistic" beats or does the marketable stuff just come to you naturally?
A. I have no pressure personally to make "Commercial" beats, I do however focus on keeping my stuff somewhat placed in that area yet I make my "Own" sound. What i create comes naturally most times, I do however have the days where i must force beats or a sound to come which is never fun. But once you start doing this for a living you will understand you will have to sacrifice some and do what you don't want to at times. But it in no way ever makes me want to quit making music just annoys me. LOL! Just because you think your music is not marketable does not mean its not, of course you need to realize the difference between when your stuff is ready to be marketable and when its not. And I don't mean if it sounds commercial, Just the overall material, how well is it mixed? was it made with the intention on vocals being added? I cant sing or rap, but when i make beats ill usually hum and sometimes even rap to see how it would sound with lyrics. Some of you may have seen some artists like to do a type of humming pre laying there vocals to just get a feel for the track vocally. That's the same thing I do just to get a feel for when and if vocals will be added.
Q. How many songs would you recommend that a person has ready to go before they start selling? In other words would it hurt a beat maker if they only had 3 or 4 beats?
A. When I Started selling I only had like 3 beats really ready for selling. You don't need to have 100 beats stockpiled and ready of course that would help sales.. but not everyone is going to go through 100 beats so what Ive found is better and smarter is.. Post beats slowly. Let everyone hear the new ones first then post new ones later, you post everything at once just doesn't work as well. But no it doesn't matter how many beats you have ready before you start selling. Yea its an advantage if you have 100 beats stockpiled but not a big deal if you don't.
Q. Can you give an idea of how much time is spent making beats vs. the business aspect (marketing, administration, etc)?
A. Time wise id Say 60% beat making 40% Promotion right when you start. Obviously this will be different depending on the above question. If you have 100 beats stockpiled you can focus more on the Business side so like 60% Business 40% beats. If you don't then it will need to be the other way around. Personally I spent probably more time Promoting when i first started my first two months then I did making beats. Now its more like 85% beat making and 15% Promo for me just being as I've positioned myself to were now less promo is needed.
Q. Speaking of the business side of things, can you describe what things a beat maker must have in place and/or be aware of? (ie. Bank accounts, tax consultant,etc??)
A. You should have a Bank account linked to your PayPal for transactions to electronically send payments to you bank account. Sing up as a business LLC. so you don't have to pay quarterly Taxes.. Working for yourself you must pay quarterly but if you are signed up as a LLC. correctly you for go the quarterly and do yearly taxes. Lawyers are not so needed as you just start it is good to go to one and get there number etc.. so if you do need one all the sudden you have a contact and they know you. I will also be having my taxes done by someone else at the end of the year just cause its such a pain and the time is worth how much $ it will cost.. I cant stress how much to keep everything you buy for the business written down to take of your taxes at the end of the year.
Q. My email box is always getting offers to promote my songs via SC, Twitter, Set up my own online beat making site, etc. What type of things (if any) would be a red flag for offers like this that might not work well and/or might be scams?
A. Never use any of these fake emails/ most are scams, unless you know someone whose already taken the risk and its not then forget about it. Most will just drop a bot or do other things that can get your Soundclick page put under review or banned.
Q. When putting tracks up on SC is there any tricks when naming them that help? I see a lot of people put in things like "Free DL", "Untagged", " style" etc.
A. Yes I do usually do free Non-profit use downloads, I am however testing the No freed ownloads at times and can help get more buyers sometimes. But in terms of the name of the beat, name it towards what you think will attract the correct audience. Obviously if its a slow smooth beat, or pop you don't want to name it I Got Money. So name it to attract the right listeners.
Q. Did your first sales happen after you did some promo?
A. No my first promos I did not receive any money at all, It was scary but i Pressed on and continued to pursue what I loved I knew others on Soundclick had to be making money. I pursued what I wanted and now Its paying off 10x.
Q. What was the first type of promo you did?
A. My first promo was a Soundclick promo song of the day and I didn't make any money off it ;( made me a little concerned at first like maybe i wasn't ready after all. But about 6 months later it finally turned around. I never gave up though which happens to a lot of people that's why they never see the return.
Q. Can you describe some of the less successful promo you did?
A. The less successful had to be some outside sourced promo Ive bought I wont say who just to keep there names from being compromised or devalued. But just don't purchase anything outside of what you KNOW can help increase sales. Stay safe in what you buy for promotion ask around if its something new and see if someone has tried it before.
Q. It sounds like the old saying - "It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up". What would you recommend as a lower cost method that might be effective for the first time promotion?
A. Yea its pretty much that exact meaning, Well of course you always have the option of searching and finding all types of forums to post in. But giving feedback to over 15 or more forums can be way to time tedious and at times its worth the money to just spend on promotion that only takes 5 minutes to pay for LOL. But again some people cannot afford it so the tedious of task of posting your link everywhere you can find while not being annoying must be done. But in terms of lower cost I would just say try something like Google Ads pay per click and maybe make it $0.05 a click, so one click only cost you 5 cents, although you do not get much traffic to your site this way it still may work. In the end its really all about how bad you really want what your doing and what your willing to give up, if that means not going out with friends to the movies or to party or whatever then that's what it must be.
Q. If you could improve the whole process of making and selling beats, what would you do?
A. Tough question, if i could improve it I would not do so many free Downloads due to the fact that many people steal your work and use it.. Its the sacrifice we make by posting online, its unfortunate but happens. Luckily I have my steady fan base of supporters and buyers so it doesn't have a huge effect on me. But there are many plus sides to free downloads it can get your music into hands you were not even aware of, you could be sitting at home drinking a glass of water and your track could be bumping in some huge record companies studio and they decide to get in contact with you never know.
Q. Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions! As a fellow Warbeats Family member I am extremely proud and happy to see your success and dedication living this dream. In closing can you gives us a rundown of your sites/links/etc?
A. Thank you for having me in this interview, I have been a proud Warbeats member since the end of 2007. Glad to help those that have helped me and those who are new. However I still have a long ways to go but I do have many big things happening that no one knows about at the moment that maybe ill be able to share soon. If you would like to hear some of my current music/beats and keep up to date on what I'm doing and making here's my links. All of them and more are also listed on my main website:
http://www.thasaintz.com
http://www.facebook.com/ThaSaintz
http://www.twitter.com/thasaintz