Thursday, July 17, 2008

How To Make Platinum Rap Beats

Many up-and-coming music producers struggle with achieving a top notch radio-ready sound like Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Lil Jon, Timbaland and many other top producers. This is because many of the top producers in the industry have a catalog of music from multiple genres that most music producer would never consider listening too.

Since the late 90’s music has shifted primarily to a digital format making it increasingly harder to get some of the oldies that our mothers and fathers you to party too. But don’t let this discourage you, if you start now within less than a year you can have a huge collection of oldies.

I started about 10 years ago and I have collected over 10,000 LP’s in every genre. So anytime I want to switch up my production style I simple pull an old LP from the catalog.

I also suggest building a major catalog because eventually music will go back to a more musical sound where you will here more instruments and drums.

Below is a list of steps that can help you enhance your production style.

1. Start build a catalog of music from the early 1990’s back to the mid 1930’s by buying old LP’s.
2. Get your hands on the following genres: Soul, R&B, Old School Rap, Rock, Country, Classical, Bachata, Merengue, Hindi, Soca, Calypso, Reggae & Dance just to name a few.
3. Search for music in other languages. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the language just find bits and pieces of music that cause you to listen to it over and over again. Remember music is universal.
4. Buy drum kits that are inspired by some of your favorite music producers.
5. Try to re-create beats made by your favorite producers. This is a good way to increase your production style and get familiar with what instruments they use to make most of their hits.
6. When mixing your music compare your mix to a genre that is most similar to yours. So if you are producing a west coast track you want to listen to how Dr. Dre mixes his snares, kick high hats, etc.
7. Listen to how your favorite music producers layer their instruments.

Here is a list equipment I recommend you purchase to achieve a quality sound.

Akai MPC2000XL, MPC3000
E-mu Vintage Pro sound module
Novation SuperNova synth
Roland XV-5080 sound module (2)
Soundart Chameleon audio DSP engine
Studio Electronics SE-1 sound module
Yamaha Motif synth
Digidesign's Pro Tools

If you would like to get more information on how to enhance your production go to Mix Me Entertainment and register for free drum kits, beats and other useful information.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Some Free Rap Beats Are Top Level

Rap music is something that has been around for a long time and people are looking at the ways that it has changed over the years. When you have a taste for this style of music then you are going to be able to target the entire process in the right way to make a change. You must be sure that you are working it all out and then moving on. We can see that most of the people are spending more and more time getting the free rap beats out there on the internet. This is a good thing for those that want to have some kind of starting point for their own music.

All over the internet people are posting their free rap beats in hopes that someone will use them. This is due to the fact that they are getting some credit for the entire song and they are getting some attention that they have been looking for. However, you have to be careful when you are using the free rap beats because some of them are put up by people that have fewer morals then you might have. They like to come back and say that they have wrote something when you get successful and that is not all that great when you consider the results.

Most often you will find that the free rap beats are placed on websites that have a great disclaimer that keeps them from being in trouble from the content. Overall you have to be sure that you are working it all out and then you can see that working with the free rap beats may be more trouble then you want. However, you can actually get some great ideas from the whole process of the free rap beats. There are many people out there that have a lot of talent and they are willing to share their knowledge.

This is exactly how some of the biggest names in the business managed to get their start. They have put themselves out there and made sure that they are giving away some of their music to be the best that they can be. This is all part of marketing themselves to the people that are going to matter the most. So you need to be sure that you are working it all out in the right way. Most often the people are going to have the best chance for success when they work directly with the person that has posted the free rap beats they like.

By: Hilary Mujikwa runs a free music review site designed to help people get their hands on legal free music downloads so that they can download music for free without having to worry about law suites flying their way.

You can also check out some of the hottest beats on the internet by clicking this link.

9 Ways To Sell Beats To Record Labels

If you are a music producer that specializing in Rap Beats, Hip Hop Beats and R&B Beats and would like to make money from your catalog then I suggest taking bold steps to creating the right relationships to get you closer to your goal.

With the marketing machine of radio, television and internet many music producers outside of the industry think the people running record labels are the same people they see in videos and hear on the radio. I hate to burst your bubble but this is not the truth. The Bentley’s, Jewelry, Models and Mansions are mostly rented for the video shoots. It’s like watching a 4 minute commercial to get you to buy something.

Most record labels are huge corporations that are publicly traded on the NY Stock Exchange just like Ford, GM and Nike and the artists signed to those labels are just products on a shelf. Record labels have huge marketing teams, accounting offices, legal teams (in-house & contracted) and support staff. So decisions to release new projects are based on profit and loss projections not how fire your beat and raps are.

Many music producers still believe in the old fashion way of sending a CD full of rap beats to record labels hoping they select beat(s) for upcoming projects. This is like standing in line to get picked for the next episode of American Idol.

Let me be the first to tell you, this is an absolute waste of time. I’ve lived in both Los Angeles and New York for many years and have friends in VP of A&R positions and they’ve told me first hand that this is a waste of time.

So if you receive a letter back from a record label thanking you for your submission but declines to use your beats this is just a part of their job. Don’t take it personal.

Below I’ve put together a detailed list of problems associated with submitting beats to record labels.

1. Record labels establish their roster of new releases in advance based on past albums sells of existing artist and hot new artist they are looking cash in on.
2. A&R’s give producers who are in the loop and have a relationship with the label what’s known as a one-sheet. This one-sheet details the exact type of music the label is looking for their artists and the timeline of when the project is expected to be completed.
3. Many A&R’s have boxes and boxes of CD’s in their office that they never get a chance to listen to them…nor do they have the desire.
4. Many A&R’s have a Blackberry roster of producers they like to use and can call at a moments notice. Many of these producers are friends and people they see on a regular basis at industry events.
5. Record labels are losing tons of money from illegal downloads and bootleg cd’s and use in-house producers for projects.
6. Many times your CD is lost in the mail room.

Like every problem there is always a solution and despite what many people think, the record industry is not some huge maze to navigate. It’s actually a very small community.

9 Ways to Break Into the Music Industry as a Music Producer

1. Move to New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta or Houston.
2. Sign up with eSessions and create profile.
3. Post your business cards at all of the popular rehearsal spots where artists and bands rehearse. (This only works if you can actually play an instrument or write songs)
4. Hang out at all of the popular clubs, bars and restaurants where industry events are held.
5. Contact management companies that represent other major producers.
6. Contact law firms that represent other major music producers and artists.
7. Look for intern jobs at major record label, studios, management companies and law firms.
8. If you are really good at mixing and mastering then I suggest applying for a job or get freelance work with one of the major studios in the cities I named above.
9. Attend every seminar and event related to the industry.

If you want to learn more about how to sell rap beats and make industry connections click here.

When did piano teachers start making $3 million?

Hey guys,

Lately, there's been some talk about this guy who's made over$3 million dollars in the past few years teaching people how toplay piano by ear (...out of all things).

Normally I ignore earning claims and screenshots because I knowhow easy it is for people to take their best months and make youthink they're making that regularly.

Well, apparently this guy, Jermaine Griggs, is different. Heshows this video of his sales from 2002-2007. You actually seehim go from making $2000 to months of $112,000+... but I stillcan't wrap my mind around the fact that he makes this much as apiano teacher (and 80% of his products are focused aroundgospel music at that).

See video ==> Check Out This Powerful Video Now!

Urghhhh, I'm a little envious to say the least.

But this video is more than just 4 minutes of bragging. I got several things from it:

1) That everyone starts somewhere. Prior to this video(2000-2002), as you'll soon see, he talks about struggling tomake $300. $500 was a good month.

2) That it is possible to double and triple sales from onemonth to the next. In 2003, the video clearly shows him goingfrom making around $15,000 to $40,000 the next month. Thisisn't the only time this happens.

3) That it's possible to grow sales drastically year afteryear. His movie points out times when he "never made less than$10,000/month again" and when he "never made less than$20,000/month again" and so on... all the way up to $50,000+.Yes, we all have ups and downs but wouldn't you like toproclaim that you'll never make LESS THAN A CERTAIN amountagain?

4) That it doesn't matter how old you are or where you've comefrom. He was 17-years old when he started and came from veryhumble beginnings (more on this later).

See video ==> Check Out This Powerful Video Now!

So watch the video for yourself. He'll be launching somethingvery special on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 and trust me when Isay, it will be the talk of the season.

Click Here For More Details....

All the best,

Smosie Jones
Mix Me Entertainment

P.S. - As I get more about what he's doing, I'll keep you posted.

P.P.S -Grab your free beat membership now!