It's simple. You tell people what they’re going to get, how it's going to go, and when they can expect what you’re providing to be delivered. Yet somehow, that seems to get lost between a producer and an artist. People have a hard time telling the other person what they would like to come out of a transaction or even a meeting and yet find themselves having conversations they don’t want to have. People are not mind readers. You have to tell people your purpose and your intentions.
Back in 2013 when I was starting to get my feet yet with being someone’s producer I would send a ton of beats to people that I personally knew. After about 4 months of not hearing back I started to wonder why no one was getting back to me. So I called one of the artists that I was sending beats to and simple asked “Hey, are you getting my emails and are these beats something that you are looking for?” Within 15 seconds I got the answer that I was looking for, ‘No.” Which is great because now I can move on and shop my beats to the next artist. This became a standard practice and has gotten me a lot further than my peers. It's the personal contact with the artist and finding out what exactly they are looking for that helps move things along. Some have a concept, album idea, or even samples they would like to hear themselves on. Others may prefer to hear something that’ll spark some inspiration. These situations are usually the hardest because there’s no direction and anything can pull the artist’s attention away from your sound. Benny the Butcher Type beat today, Chris Brown Type beat tomorrow.
When sending out beats I believe producers, now more than ever, need to tell the artist why they are sending them beats in the first place. If you are looking to get on someone’s album that you know they are working on, tell them. If you’re looking for them to record a verse and send it back to you, tell them. Too many times an artist’s inbox is full of fantastic music that will never see the day because no one thought to touch base with each other and set the proper expectations and intentions of those beats.
Relationships, relationships, relationships……..
