How BeatStars Built The Go-To Marketplace For Buying and Selling Beats

Before Abe Batshon started BeatStars in 2008, a handful of producers had a quasi-monopoly on selling beats, charging hundreds of thousands of dollars per song. Top producers still get paid well today, but the concept has become more antiquated with platforms like BeatStars democratizing beat-making. Creators can sell instrumentals — either under an exclusive license or not — to artists around the globe for a fraction of the previous cost. With $200 million paid out to creators to date, BeatStars has reset the entire economics of beats.

Abe started BeatStars without any VC funding during the Great Recession. This was also pre-steaming era, when the music industry was in its dark days. Bootstrapping the company, BeatStars would redefine the music landscape along with other DIY distribution platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube. Abe’s goal from the get-go was to break the relationship-driven nature of creating music and open opportunities for creators around the globe.

Fourteen years later, it’s safe to say Abe has created more opportunities and then som. Famously, Lil Nas X bought the beat for viral sensation “Old Town Road” on BeatStars for $30. BeatStars’ producers have also been featured on songs released by Drake and Ariana Grande and ads for adidas, the NBA, and many more. BeatStars’ fingerprints are all over media, not just the independents but the majors too.

Here’s a few noteworthy moments during our conversation:

0:52 Recognizing BeatStars Instrumentals Online
3:47 Starting BeatStars Amid 2008 Music Landscape
6:02 What Finally Changed Beat-Making Industry
7:19 Receiving Pushback When BeatStars Began
10:02 Resetting Economics Of Beat-Making
15:02 Typical Earnings Breakdown Of BeatMakers Creators
18:13 Focusing On Creators At BeatStars
19:56 Music Syncs In Pop Cultures
21:00 Music Catalog Sales Boom Effect In BeatStars
23:04 BeatStars Growth Trajectory
28:17 More Competition In Beat-Making Marketplace
32:55 VC Money Infiltrating Music Industry
38:03 Does Abe Own BeatStars 100 Percent?
41:28 BeatStars Roadmap For Future

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