#1 Track On Beatport = How Much Profit??

[Elvis Gotta Gun]

Somewhat of a dross question where electronic music is concerned; No-one does this to become a millionaire of course but curiosity has the better of me so I'll ask anyway.

Does anyone have any first or secondhand knowledge of what sort of numbers these fellows make who hit the charts?

[Entrainer]

I don't know about Beatport specifically...

but I do know that 10,000 copies sold is a "hit" these days. Many labels do 2,000-3,000 TOPS... figure a 60/40 split, 1.99 a track (Label, Beatport). Then the Label will split their portion with the artist... so it's more like a 30/30/40 (label, artist, beatport) split.

And then there's Justice, The Jaguar, Higher State of Consciousness that spin out of control...

Justice got $200,000k for a 3hr DJ set NYE...

Then there is licensing and the Britney Spears remix...

I bet the bulk of their money came from performance, licensing, and remixes. Not "The Cross" album, which I doubt ever graced the Beatport #1 spot (any song).

but that's the exception to the rule.

I always laugh when I meet someone who's obviously
a tad high on themselves... who's big claim to fame
was selling 2,000 copies on Beatport. Too much
ego... a least the hip-hop/rap crowd has something
to have ego about.

Jay-Z could wipe his ass and flush the toilet and in those
10 seconds, he'll have sold 5,000 copies of his record.

Puts it all in perspective...

[digital 1010]

Originally Posted by Elvis Gotta Gun

Somewhat of a dross question where electronic music is concerned; No-one does this to become a millionaire of course but curiosity has the better of me so I'll ask anyway.

Does anyone have any first or secondhand knowledge of what sort of numbers these fellows make who hit the charts?

It's more the gigs they get off the number 1's that give em big bucks

Plus its being able to produce countless tracks and also playing countless venues a week.

Also depends on the contract they have how famous they are already etc etc.

A 1 off number 1 might make you a few hundred but if you are already big and it puts you back under the spotlight and gives you a load more gigs in the diary it will make you even more big $$$$$.

Ben

[crufty]

@Entrainer,

sobering. and since profit = sales - cost of sales...doesn't sound like beatport alone drives a label into hot blonde and ferrari territory :)

If I was a small label I would make sure I had a good accountant. In the us, a business that suffers a loss for 3 out of 5 years may not be a business at all. Running a business vs running a hobby can have huge tax implications. After five years, one would hate to have the IRS decide your label was a hobby and then hit you up with taxes on all the deductions you lost.

If I was a beatport only label, the only way I could figure it penciling out and doing it right (proper mastering of each track etc) was if one had some kind of in house mastering capability. If a label did, a group of artists and a few djs at a well known club could form a label as a co-op of sorts for a given locality; the whole point would be for artists to drive dj compilation sales to local fans/regional clubs at the end of the night, and if they put money back into the studio, at least make music for relatively free while keeping their day job. Is that reality?

[msl]

Things ain't what they used to be folks. On a slow week 600-700 sales will get you in the no1 position on the beatport electrohouse top 10. Friend of mine did that last year. With 250 sales you just cover costs (mastering, etc) 2,000+ sales is considered a success these days, the days of 10,000 sales are long gone, though I'm sure some tracks sell that much and more (Justice, etc). The money is in performance and licensing, charting on beatport is just a way to get that.



.

[Entrainer]

Hopefully those days are just taking a break.

Although, the MP3 blog is really killing the
independent artists I've spoken to.

The difference between 2,000 copies and
600 copies is BIG for those artists...

[Elvis Gotta Gun]

Beatport gets 40 percent? That's a little much.

[Entrainer]

Last I heard it was 30-40%...

It's not all doom and gloom though.

The time to build is now... recession
will end.

If you figure Energy Flash came out in
1993, then 16yr olds were just being
born.

[axm311]

Originally Posted by Elvis Gotta Gun

Beatport gets 40 percent? That's a little much.

they get 50% for our label, and from every other label I know thats on there.

perhaps some of the big boys have sweeter deals

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by axm311

they get 50% for our label, and from every other label I know thats on there.

perhaps some of the big boys have sweeter deals

that's pretty lame... especially if you go through an aggregator like IODA... then IODA gets their cut as well..

i've found IODA only takes a tiny bit.. itunes (love it or hate it) is actually WAY friendlier than beatport in this respect as well.

i wonder what bleep does?

[Entrainer]

It's almost impossible to get on Beatport without
an aggregator these days...

50% isn't that bad. A 12" used to be sold to a
distributor for $1.80, distributor would sell to
a store for $3.25, the store would sell that
to the public for $5.99 (all domestic).

Figure the bulk price to create a 12" with
artwork and lacquer cutting was $.80-1.10...
you were talking $.90 profit a record.

That record had 2-4 songs... now w/ beatport
you can make $1 a song.

Not bad.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by Entrainer

It's almost impossible to get on Beatport without
an aggregator these days...

50% isn't that bad. A 12" used to be sold to a
distributor for $1.80, distributor would sell to
a store for $3.25, the store would sell that
to the public for $5.99 (all domestic).

Figure the bulk price to create a 12" with
artwork and lacquer cutting was $.80-1.10...
you were talking $.90 profit a record.

That record had 2-4 songs... now w/ beatport
you can make $1 a song.

Not bad.

good points.

but.. sell a CD for $8 or $10 and you make a lot more.

all that being said... going into electronic music to make money is a bad idea. make the music.. put it out but don't expect it to put your kids through college or anything.

and breaking even on vinyl is a pipe dream these days for most small labels. i guess sonic youth and the black keys can make it worth while to do but...

i wonder about the 'digital shelf life' of music. it's interesting to think that in 50 years a person might or might not be able to purchase some random detroit techno single form the 90's from an online digital distro.

i hope everything stays on line.. back catalogs etc. for future generations.

[smallisbeautiful]

That's completely untrue as regards cds. If you make even 30 cents from a single song, that means 3 dollars from a 10 song "album" which is way more than you would make from selling a 10 dollar CD (unless you make the cd yourself and sell it through your own website, but then again you could sell the MP3's through your own website and still make more). The issue is that people don't buy in anywhere near the numbers they used to, plain and simple.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by smallisbeautiful

That's completely untrue as regards cds. If you make even 30 cents from a single song, that means 3 dollars from a 10 song "album" which is way more than you would make from selling a 10 dollar CD (unless you make the cd yourself and sell it through your own website, but then again you could sell the MP3's through your own website and still make more). The issue is that people don't buy in anywhere near the numbers they used to, plain and simple.

6 of 1... half dozen of the other.

[Damien Heck]

It depends how long you're on the chart for. A friend of mine sat on #1 for quite a few weeks and pulled in just under 5K. He runs the label it was released on though, so his share was juiced.

[jduffy]

My college tutor was at number one spot in the 'ambient charts' hes always rattling on about it!

& as if beatport take so much! my song arn't really number one material atm so never really though about putting em on there!

[smallisbeautiful]

Originally Posted by ignatius

6 of 1... half dozen of the other.

Do you mean that selling CDs is equivalent to selling MP3's? The actual profit margins on digital sales are significantly higher than for traditionally distributed CDs. I haven't dealt with beatport, and if they actually take 40% then that's totally out of whack with what's standard but still well above the margin you see after the store and the distributer take their cut from your CD.

Your other points I agree with completely.

[Entrainer]

Beatport spends A LOT of money
on advertising, which draws people
to the site. I think the split is fair.

[crufty]

@ignatius, same here.

so many small labels, esp artist owned labels--low print runs. and if the artist dies w/out sending a copy to the library of congress...end of the road.

[Entrainer]

I'm even having problems finding
CDs from the 90s that were lost
or stolen... out of print now.

[crufty]

yup. I had an entire lifetime's collection of cds stolen in 1999. I didn't realize then that most of that stuff I'd never find again.

I have been on the prowl for realistically priced copies of SpaceGirl and early Etnica stuff for a long time. Not that SpaceGirl was some musical genius, but I heard a few tracks and liked what I heard. Would like to actually listen in context of an album.

Saw on a forum she supposedly died of a heroin overdoes a few years ago? Have no idea if thats true or not. Giving up on the search. I keep hoping to find some kind of Etnica compilation of early hits on beatport. I guess it must be tied up in some kind of studio dispute.

Digital downloads are the wav of the future (pardon the pun). I love the fact I can get a bucket of wavs each month w/out going to the store, special ordering, waiting 10 weeks, having it trickle in after I completely forgot what I ordered, or buying off Amazon and having the package show up like an elephant used it in a game of kickball.

[JayPee]

Dennis Ferrer, please answer to this question now you are N°1 ;o)

[Patrice Baumel]

you would be looking at 10,000 plus sold copies and could probably make in the region of 10,000 euros.

since most number one hits are stupid remakes of famous hit records they would have to pay the original artist a sizable cut.

[aof21]

Originally Posted by Patrice Baumel

you would be looking at 10,000 plus sold copies and could probably make in the region of 10,000 euros.

since most number one hits are stupid remakes of famous hit records they would have to pay the original artist a sizable cut.

Patrice, nice to see you on here... love your music, man! much respect.