Music is something we all love. But, creating music and making people feel nice when they listen to it is a challenging process. Everything depends on a good beat. The best producers in the world will always strive to look for the most adequate samples for their beat.
If you ask us, that is a very wise decision, and we suggest you do the same. However, the biggest doubt music producers have is – where and how to find the perfect sample for a beat? Well, answering that question is not as easy as it seems and it requires a bit more analysis.
First and Foremost: Determine Which Type of Beat Sample Hunter You Are
We will start with explanations from the very beginning. The first thing you have to do is to understand which type of producer or beat hunter you actually are. Fortunately for you, determining is not difficult because there are two types of hunters – recreational and commercial. Based on type, you create criteria and features for each sample.
Commercial producers, as the name suggests, create beats for commercial purposes. If you are one of them, then you have to check the terms and conditions of each sample that you find. But, we have to admit that buying a sample will pay off in the end. If you have only one sale, or even somehow get placement with other musicians, the money will get back to you. On a long-term basis, you will even make a profit out of it.
On the other hand, if you are a recreational hunter, then you choose samples based on some other criteria. Purchasing samples should not be a problem at all. But, every penny you spend must bring some value to you. That means the options that are cheap or free are perfect options for you.
To conclude, people that plan to professionally participate in the music industry, then they should purchase premium samples. On the other hand, people that are doing it just for fun should focus on the budget. Fortunately for both types of hunters, there are many websites like r-loops.com where you can get some amazing discounts for almost every type of beat that producers commonly create.
Free Isn’t Always Free
We have to dedicate an entire subheading to this part because it is essential. Even professionals strive to find something cheaper in cases where their budget is limited. Their research usually lasts a bit longer until they find something affordable that meets their requirements.
But, even if you find free sample libraries, don’t expect everything will always be completely free. On the contrary, there are multiple ways you pay the price.
The first way of charging we already mentioned. You will spend a lot of time until you find something that deserves your attention. In most cases, completely free samples lack quality. They come with terrible sounds and other stuff. You will, generally, find only a small number of websites where good free samples are available.
But, the previous two issues are not the biggest ones. Unfortunately, with free options that you find online, there are many unclear things. For instance, let’s say that you found something that you like on a sharing site or in some other online community.
Do you know more information about the terms? Are there any strict rules that you have to follow? Do you even have permission to use the sample? Unfortunately, these pieces of information that you may not manage to find.
When you look closer, something like that is not going to be a big deal for recreational producers. They are doing this for fun and they do not plan to use their beat for commercial purposes. On the other hand, those that plan to professionally do this and earn money from it can find themselves in serious problems.
If they break the copyright rules, the best thing that could happen is that their song gets removed from the music streaming platform. In some cases, they may need to pay the penalties for something they have done. The outcome depends on the creator of the sample.
Can I Use Samples from YouTube?
The biggest streaming platform in the entire world is some sort of ocean that contains a huge number of music samples. If you are a recreational producer, then you won’t have a problem with using them. They can serve as a good practice in case you plan to improve your skills. On the other hand, downloading videos and using them for commercial purposes is against the Terms and Conditions of this platform.
Of course, we all know there are ways to download videos from there. But, if you use them at home, who is going to know what you did? On the other hand, if you took a sample from YouTube to create a beat, and you sell it to another author, this could turn into a huge problem.
Still, some people do not know how to use this platform to find the most appropriate samples. Generally speaking, all you have to do is to use keywords that are related to your vision of the beat. That way, you will find a lot of appropriate results that can be used later. For example, if you want to make a beat for soul music, then the keyword “soul samples” will finish the job.
Are all the results going to be good? Absolutely not! People do not have restrictions when we talk about samples. Everyone can publish everything that is not offensive. So, you may end up finding a bunch of bad samples that are not going to meet your expectations. As we said, the amount of time you spend certainly won’t be small.
Conclusion
Before we end this article, it would be good to make some sort of conclusion. If you are a recreational producer, then you have a lot of options in front of you. Using free samples can be a good option because you will not use them for commercial purposes.
On the other hand, commercial producers should focus their research on the websites that charge for sample downloading. If you are lucky enough, you will find promotional periods and get some good options for a relatively affordable price.