When you’re using YouTube beats there are a few things that you need to remember.

If you’re investing money in a recording studio to rap over illegally downloaded beats from YouTube, you’re wasting your money. You cannot make money on music you don’t own the rights to or have permission to use. I’ve talked to hundreds of artists that think because they wrote and recorded lyrics on a beat that they’re now the entitled owner. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. To make sellable music, it’s best to find local producers and avoid the hassle of dealing with internet producers.

Authorization for Use

Regardless of what splits you agree to with your producer, you still have to have authorization from ALL collaborators on the beat in order to operate within good business. If you upload a song to YouTube, Spotify, or any other DSP without consent, the producer has the right to issue a copyright infringement and have your song removed. Depending on how much traction the song got, you also may be sued for damages or reparations by not squaring this away in the first place.

Free Internet Beats Are Not Sellable

A lot of times when the title says “FREE _____ type beat,” it’s not actually free if you look at the fine print. It’s free for you to rap/perform on for fun, but not free for you to upload and make money on, especially without authorization from the producer/adding them to the splits.

In addition, many YouTube producers are unfamiliar with what rights they are even able to sell with the beat. Here’s an example:

An artist buys an “exclusive beat” from a producer on YouTube for $1,000. The YouTube producer used a loop from another collaborator who has placed the loop with dozens of other producers. The collaborator (loop maker) did not consent to give exclusive rights to his loop for that price. This pretty much means that no one else can buy that beat, but you will still run into issues with content ID because the same melody is used in dozens or hundreds of other beats. 

Sample and Licensing Trouble

Another interesting situation is when YouTube producers used uncleared samples in the beat. You’re buying a beat with a Paramore sample in it and you assume because they’re selling it to you that it’s ok to use…. WRONG. It is the job of the artist/artist’s team/label to handle any sort of sample clearance NOT the producer. This is a common misconception in the industry. It is understood that a producer operating in good faith will disclose any uncleared samples when shopping the instrumentals, however it does not fall on them to clear the rights for you. 

Lastly, when it comes to licensing, almost all opportunities want you to have complete ownership over the music otherwise they’re disinterested. Meaning if you don’t have an exclusive you aren’t eligible. 

The simple solution to making sellable music is to find local producers, lock in with them, and stay away from the hassle of dealing with internet producers.