Selling Beats: “The Phantom Buyer”

For all my beat-makers out there… this should get you selling more beats…

So an artist has hit you up and expressed interest in a beat, but says he may not be able to buy it for a few weeks. If you want to try and close the sale sooner, use this beat selling technique I like to call “The Phantom Buyer”.

Basically, you email the artist back saying something like this:

Just so you’re aware, another artist has also expressed interest in purchasing this beat exclusively. He said he was gonna cop it next payday.
My policy has always been “whoever puts the money in my account first gets the beat”. I’m just letting you know now so you don’t think I sold it from under your nose if he ends up coming through.

The key to making this technique work is that you must convey that you’re looking out for his best interest. You don’t want to disappoint him if you sell the beat to someone else. You don’t want it to potentially mess up his project. See what I’m saying? Another key point is don’t make it a FIRM deadline (ie. “he’s buying the beat on Wednesday”), use vague statements like “he said next payday”, “once his label approves it”, or “once his settlement check comes in”. Just don’t overdo it or seem disingenuous.

This beat selling technique might only work once every month or two, but if you’re talking exclusives, that could be an extra few hundred dollars. I’d say it’s worth it if the opportunity presents itself!