How to Get Exposure for Your Rap Music Beats - Exposure in the Music Industry

How to Get Exposure for Your Rap Music Beats - Exposure in the Music Industry
By Erick B Carlson
Getting exposure in the music industry can be tough these days. There are so many other artists out there that are working just as hard as you to make it in the industry. You need to have an advantage if you are going to get seen in the vast ocean of artist there are out there. Here are some exposure tips that will help you stay ahead of the crowd.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is fairly new to the music community. The old way of marketing is where artists used to pass out fliers or spread their information via word of mouth. The new way of marketing is Optimizing your webpage for Google. If someone types in the words "new artist" into the Google search engine, results populate with relevant results based on the keyword. SEO is simply optimizing your webpage for Google so that they know you are relevant to certain words. An SEO expert will make sure that your page is optimized so good that you will be the most relevant result. That's what SEO can do for you. SEO makes it possible for people who are already looking for new artists to find you.
Forums
Post on forums all the time. Just do a Google search for Producer forums and find one that you like. Make sure that you set your signature up with your website in it that links to your music. Getting a link from a producer forum can be a great addition to the SEO that you are doing for your website. Forums are great way to build back links to your website quickly and give you points with Google. If Google sees that you are active a lot, they will reward you with ranking.
Offer Free Beats
Offering free beats on your website can generate tons of traffic. So many people are looking for free beats every day. If you can SEO your site for the keywords "free beats", you will get so much traffic you won't know what to do with it. Free beats are also a great way to get artists on your beats. These artists are trying to promote their selves too and that means that they are promoting you at the same time by default. Make sure that you tag your beats with your signature phrase or producer name on it. That will ensure that every time that artists plays that track that people will hear your tag. That's free exposure for your beats.
Erick B Carlson is the owner and operator of MusicBeats.net where artists can download free music beats.
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Make Industry Sounding Beats In 10 Steps

Make Industry Sounding Beats In 10 Steps
By Erick B Carlson

1. Create a Melody - Create a catchy melody by using the note sequencer in your beat making program. Start with a simple 4 note melody. If you can't make your own to start with, listen to a couple of tracks that have melodies that you like. Don't copy the melody exactly but try to replicate it while giving it your own original flavor.

2. Make an Effective Bass line - Most of the time, you can create a bass line that follows your melody. The bass notes usually match the key of the melody notes. If you are using FL Studio, just copy and paste the notes from the melody section to the bass line section.

3. Add Drums - Create a drum line that flows with the song. You can practice by placing the drum notes on to the sequencer to hear what they sound like when you put them in different places. You can also use drum loops. A lot of sample selling sites will have drum loops that you can download for free or purchase. Make sure your drums already come equalized for a hard hitting kick.

4. Add Hi-Hats - Adding Hi Hats can be tricky if you don't know what you are doing. Most of the time the hi-hats can be placed on every other step or every step depending on the tempo of the beat. If you have fast tempo beat, you probably want to place them on every other step. Add hi-hats that complement the track. Don't make them too loud or it will hurt the listener's ears.

5. Add a Clap - The clap is one of the most important things that you can add to a beat. You want to find a clap that compliments the track and sounds natural. You don't want the clap to be too loud or too soft because it is one of the aspects that keeps the rhythm going. Nothing is worse than having a dull clap on a hard hitting beat.

6. Add Effects - Adding a great effect can really make your track stand out. Just listen to the most popular tracks in the industry. Almost all of them have some kind of special effect that happens at the transition from the verse to the chorus. Make sure you use an original sound for your transition, there are too many producers using the same effects and people buying your beats will notice.

7. Mixing The Sounds - Mixing the track is simply making the volume level throughout the sounds. Make sure that your kick, clap, hi-hat, melody, and bass line are not too loud or too soft. Most producers do this by ear and can hear the changes they need to make before they even tweak a knob. If you cannot do this part by ear just use the mixer channels. The mixer channels will have volume levels that will tell which sound is too high and too soft.

8. Adding Equalizers - Equalizers are very important because equalizing your track brings certain sounds into the mix that sound great. You want the best sounding frequencies to be peaking out of the mix. The low frequencies are usually around 100-200Hz. and the high ones are usually around 300-3000Hz.

9. Mastering The Beat - Mastering is not as hard as one might think. Starting off with a really good mix can make the mastering process almost none. Mastering is just tweaking the sounds into their final state where they will no longer be changed. Mastering is almost the same as mixing except you use head phones or small studio monitors speakers to do the job. The mastering process is simply fine tuning your mix.

10. Exporting The Track - Exporting is simply formatting the track into a mp3 or wav format. These are the industry standard formats for songs or beats. Most beat sequencers will already come with these formatting tools. Export your track to mp3 if you want to upload to a social network or producer site. Export your track into wav format if you want to record a song over it.

Erick B Carlson is the owner of the most popular website that has a wide variety of Piano Beats For Sale.

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5 Tips On How To Optimize Your Beat Selling Website For Search Engines

5 Tips On How To Optimize Your Beat Selling Website For Search Engines
By Erick B Carlson

It's tough to start selling beats online if you don't have your own website. It's even tougher to sell beats on your website if it is not optimized properly for the search engines. This article will serve as an optimization guide for any producer that is trying to sell beats online.

Step 1. Choosing The Right Keywords

The most important part of optimizing your website for the search engines is keywords. Keywords are words that describe your business. For a beat selling website you would want to choose keywords like, "buy beats" or "purchase instrumentals." These words are terms that artists are typing into the search engine to find beats to buy. You can find popular terms that people search for by using the Google keyword tool.

Step 2. Choosing Your URL

Use your keywords in your URL. For example, buybeats.com would be the perfect URL if your keywords are, "buy beats." You don't have to use your keywords in your URL but it does help.

Step 3. Adding Your Title

The title of your site and pages will determine what queries you come up for in search engines. You always want to put the most important keywords in the beginning of your title. For example, "Buy Beats at My Website". There are people out there that use multiple keywords in their titles. Some people will use separators to fit them all in, for example: "Buy Beats | Purchase Beats | Instrumentals for Sale".

Step 4. Meta-tag Description

A lot of search engines are moving away from using the meta-tag description but real people still read it. Having a good description of your site will help users determine if it is the right site for them. Sometimes search engines will pull content directly from your site and use that as the meta-description instead.

Step 5. Add Content

Content is the most important thing you can add to your site. This is one of the only ways that search engines can read your site. They don't look at the page like a human being would. They only read words and text, even pictures or video on your site show up as text to a search engine. Adding Alt text that contains your keywords to your pictures and videos can really help with optimizing your site and ranking.

Following these 5 steps will ensure that Google and others find your site and index you for the proper keywords. Take your time and do your research to find the best possible keywords for your business.

Erick B Carlson is the owner of the most popular website that has a wide variety of Piano Beats for Sale.

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Top 3 Places To Sell Your Instrumentals Online - Beat Selling Tips

Top 3 Places To Sell Your Instrumentals Online - Beat Selling Tips
By Erick B Carlson

Sell Beats on Sound Click

Sound Click is a great place to start out selling beats if you have no experience building websites. They have a platform that allows you to upload your instrumentals and put a price on them so that you can sell them. They also have a way for you to offer free beats to gain exposure to yourself. They have instrumental charts that keep rankings of the top producers and if you can make it into the top 10 spots you are almost guaranteed to sell a lot of beats. It's some pretty tough competition because Sound Click has over 1,000 producers that sell beats on their site. Some producers have spent thousands of dollars on Sound click promotion with nothing to show for it.

Sell Beats on Sound Cloud

Sound Cloud is very similar to Sound Click and it is also a great place to start selling beats if you have a tight budget. They allow you to upload your instrumentals and set a price on them for users to buy. They also allow you to offer free beats to gain exposure. Sound Cloud is a lot newer than Sound click and contains a lot of new features that Sound Click doesn't offer. They allow users to comment on your track and share it via other social networks. They also make it a lot easier to make connections with other Sound Cloud users. There are also a lot of producers that sell beats on this site but it is still possible to get noticed if you are practicing the right marketing tactics.

Build a Website

Building a website costs money and time but is well worth it if you want to brand yourself and have your own platform to sell your beats on. One of the great things about building a website is the fact that you are the only producer on your site. When users come to your site they will not have to sift through a 1000 producers to get to you. You will have to purchase hosting and a domain name but you can use whatever name you like. You will also have to purchase some kind of beat player that you can upload your beats to or use purchase your own shopping cart that allows you to sell individual items. It's worth the time and effort to invest in your business and having your own website is far more professional than selling your beats on the same site as a 1000 other producers.

It doesn't matter where you sell your beats, it just matters that you're selling them. Take whichever steps necessary to get your beats online and start selling them today.

Erick B Carlson is the owner of the most popular website online where you can buy hip hop beats.

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Top 2 Beat Making Programs Online - Pros and Cons

Top 2 Beat Making Programs Online - Pros and Cons
By Erick B Carlson

Fruity Loops Studio

Fruity Loops Studio or otherwise known as FL Studio is one of the most underestimated beat making programs online. It cost nearly a third of what the other programs charge and still has the close to the same output. There is also a free version of this program online that you can download from their website to try out and see if you like it. You will have to purchase a license to unlock all of FL Studio's potential but the free version still has a lot of useful features. One of the great things about FL studio is that once you buy it, you get the updates for life, unlike a lot of other beat making programs out there. A lot of users would agree that FL Studio is the best software's to purchase if you are just starting out making beats or want to try out something new. It's very user-friendly and there are endless amounts of tutorials online that will teach you how to use the program step by step.

Pros
• Cheap and affordable
• Great sound
• Easy to use
• Free updates for life

Cons
• You have to buy additional sounds and virtual instruments to reach FL's full potential
• Not the highest quality sound output
• Not for Mac users

Pro Tools

Pro Tools is normally referred to as the industry standard beat making and recording software. Almost any professional studio that you walk into will be using Pro Tools software and hardware. This is not software you want to buy if you are looking to make beats for free or for cheap. Pro Tools is the most expensive software online for recording vocals and making beats. The learning curve for this program is also quite difficult but you can find plenty of tutorials online that will help you navigate through all of its features. Unlike FL Studio, to get the new updates of this program you will need to purchase a new version of Pro Tools every time. Pro Tools is not for beginners, it's an expert program that takes a long time to learn and master. Pro Tools also has tutorials online that will show you step by step but the program in general is tough to navigate for some users.

Pros

• Highest quality sound output
• Used in professional studios
• Industry standard effects and instruments

Cons

• Expensive
• Tough learning curve
• Not fully compatible with all versions of Windows
• No free updates

Regardless of what beat making program you choose, they are all going to help you complete the same tasks. Find one that works the best for you and stick with it

Erick Carlson is the owner and operator of MusicBeats.net where you can buy industry quality beats.

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How To Sell Beats - 3 Tips For Selling Beats Online

How To Sell Beats - 3 Tips For Selling Beats Online
By Erick B Carlson

The beat selling business can be very profitable if you know how to sell beats well. A lot of producers think that all you have to do is upload your beats to a website and you will sell beats automatically. This is not the case most of the time. It's very tough to sell beats online because there is so much competition. Hence, the reason I put together this article, to help you sell more beats.

Build Your Own Website

Make sure you buy your own hosting and making up a custom domain name to build your website on. Build a site that is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly so that after you are done building the site, you can rank in Google's search engine. You will have to build links to the site but that's a whole other article. If you can rank on Google for the most popular beat buying terms people type into a search engine, you will receive so much traffic you won't know what to do with it.

SEO Your Site

Search engine optimization is a popular technique of wording your titles properly and building links to your site so that Google will see you as a relevant search when someone is typing in terms related to your site. Always use your most popular keywords at the beginning of your title so that Google knows that you are related to that term. Also, when you start the link building process, make sure that you build links using only high quality sites that are related to your business. There are all kinds of SEO tips and tricks online that people write articles about. Read those articles and become familiar with Search Engine Optimization, it will be your best friend in the near recent future.

Pay For Promotion

You could always sign up to a website that already has a bunch of producers on it. The process will be streamlined so that it is easy for you to upload beats without having to create an entire website. Honestly, if you can build your own site, do it. These sites that already have producers on them are over populated and it can be hard to get exposure even if you pay for promotion. Hundreds of producers could be paying for promotion at any given time and there is no guarantee that you will be rated highly.

If you want to be a self-employed producer that makes a living selling beats online, the best thing you can do for yourself is to create your own website and spend the time and money promoting your own site. Take the time to invest in yourself and your future, the potential is limitless.

Erick Carlson is the owner and operator of MusicBeats.net where you can buy beats or purchase Hip Hop beats and R&B Beats online. http://musicbeats.net/buy-beats-purchase-beats

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Do Your Own Mixing and Mastering - Pros and Cons

Do Your Own Mixing and Mastering - Pros and Cons
By Erick B Carlson

A lot of people think that with the technology these days that just anyone can mix and master their own projects from home without hiring a professional company to do the work for them. It is true that someone can mix and master and still come out with a nice but there are some disadvantages from not using a company.

Here are the Pros of why should do your own mixing and mastering

• The first reason is obvious - You can save a lot of money by performing your own mixing and mastering services and dedicated those funds to other areas, like marketing or promotion, which will also be high-cost projects to launch.
• You learn to refine your mixing and mastering skills and be able to offer your own mixing and mastering services. Having a side job while you are trying to make it in the music industry is an absolute must. If you can turn your craft into dollar signs, you have a better chance at lasting in the music industry.
• You can take as much time as you like and don't have to be worried about staying on budget. There no amount of hours that you are limited to.

Here are the Cons of why you shouldn't do your own mixing and mastering

• You never know if you are making edits that might harm the track in a way that can't be fixed, even by a professional
• It takes a lot of time and effort to learn how to mix and master. If your trying to save money by picking up this craft and don't plan on spending much time learning it, I would suggest not even trying. It takes years of dedication and ear training to be able to produce that industry quality sound.
• Professionals succeed in this business because they have experience. This is what they do on a regular basis, day in and day out. They have dedicated their lives to this craft and will have a much better chance at making your song sound like a hit. Not to say that beginners shouldn't try but industry professionals do this for a living and I would put my money on someone who has 10 years in the game rather than a newcomer.

It's really up to you whether you want to take the chance of your song not sounding like it could of if you were to of used an industry professional. Seriously think about your future when you are deciding where you are going to try to save money. If you want a quality sounding project, I would seriously consider hiring a professional.

Erick Carlson is the owner and operator of MusicBeats.net where you can find Professional Mixing and Mastering Services online.

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