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Using loops and samples instead of buying beats online

Over  the last ten years there has been an explosion in websites that sell beats or license 

music. These site will license a ready made track from 9 dollar to hundreds of dollars depending 

on how you are going to use it. Most stock music or beat selling site say they offer royalty free 

music. This seems like a perfect solution for aspiring artist, film producers, you tubers and game 

developers To many it appears to be a perfect solution. After all, as a video or film producer, you 

are not a composer and you don’t have a budget to hire a composer. As a rapper or a singer 

you want to focus of rapping, writing and singing, not beat making. So you go to a beat website 

and you buy a royalty free beat for 20 bucks. What could go wrong? 

  The first thing that can go wrong is that most 20 beats or stock music tracks have very limited 

usage if you read the fine print before you purchase. For unlimited usage, you could end up 

paying hundred or even thousands of dollars. The next problem is the biggest one and it really 

affects artists. What happens if you record what you think is a hit song, only to find out that 100 

more people licensed the same track you did? It could literally destroy your career. imagine 

several hundred people streaming songs on spottily with the same beat? Now, there are some 

producers that sell exclusive beats, but there are expensive and not nearly enough. This is a 

problem that most stock music sites and online music producers don’t have a answer to. After 

all, the only way selling 20 beats are going to be  profitable if you can sell the same beat over 

and over. 

     So what is the answer? The answer has always been there. Most artist, film producers or 

game producers would get a much better deal buying loops and samples. Music loops are the 

foundation of modern music. There has been no song produced in the last 40 years without 

using some kind of music loops, be it construction kits, drum loops, piano loops, bass or guitar. 

If you use a program like Garageband or Sony acid it is very easy to put together your own track 

without being a musician. You will need to know how to use the software. A loop pack will cost 

about the same as one beat or music instrumental, but you get so much more.  First, we need to 

be honest. I have been hearing for years how so many producers say, I don’t use loops, it’s 

cheating. They are are all lying. All urban music uses loops, period. Now, you may make the 

loops your self, if you are are a talented composer or you are using pre-made loops. No 

hip hop, R&B, Neo soul or and modern beat or instrumental made without using loops in some 

way shape or form. The flexibility of using music loops instead of buying beats cannot be 

understated.  For example, lets just say you have no producing or composing skills, but you 

know how to rap. Buying a beat online may seem your best option except for the pitfalls that we 

talked about earlier. You don’t need many producer or composing skills to use loops and 

samples. Lets say instead of leasing 5 beats for 100 dollars, you buy a couple trap or hip hop 

construction kits in apple loop format and use it in Garageband. You will pay the same price for 

 you paid for the beats, but now you have a couple of hundred loops. Now all you have to do 

is mix and match different loops together and you have your own unique beat. In-fact you can 

end up with dozens of unique tracks. You can buy R&B loops, samples or construction kits, Neo 

loops, EDM loops , Cinematic  loops or almost any genre. 

     Another option may be to purchase midi loops. Midi loops are more flexible than audio loops 

because you can change the  instruments and you can alter the midi notes to make your 

sound even more unique.  However, working with midi notes will require a little more skill then 

just working with audio loops and samples. If you don’t have that skill or don’t have time to learn 

it , I would stick with either Wav files or Apple loops. 

  It’s not just for the non musician. You might  be a guitar player or a piano player, but you 

know nothing about drums. Buying drum loops would be perfect for someone in that situation. 

Many sites that sell loops and samples also sell one shot sound kits and presets. If you are not 

a producer or composer, buying one shots and presets will be useless to you. People buy one 

shots to plug into a sampler and play out the beat. Many producers swear by buying sound kits 

and one shots, but they are still using them to make loops. 

    Most sites that sell loops and sample will usually offer some free loops. This is obviously a 

way to be get you to buy a loop pack. In most case loops are 100 percent royalty free. The only 

restriction is that you can’t resell them as loops.  The choice is really yours.  If you have no 

technical skills at all buying a beat from a beat website may be your best option, however there 

will be pitfalls and that is something you will have to address depending on how you use the 

track. However if you are willing to learn a software such as Garageband you can get a much 

better bang for your buck buying music loops or sample packs. Although this option may not be 

perfect, you will be able to come up with some very unique tracks. This option will also save an 

artist or media producer a ton of money over time. You will also have a much better shot at 

crafting your own sound without paying for  producer or composer.

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