Timbaland has opened up about what he used to get paid to produce a beat and said that number has gone down because young producers don’t “put value” on themselves.
During a conversation with ProducerGrind, Timbo revealed he was earning as much as $500,000 per track at the peak of his career, during which he pumped out innovative Hip Hop and R&B hits for JAY-Z, Missy Elliott, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Ludacris and many more.
“I usually get like $300, $500K back in the day,” the Verzuz co-founder said. “We ain’t come from a world where you send beats; we come from when that bitch was tailor-made, you understand?
“The producer was respected way more. You needed a dope producer as an artist. You needed that, and now you got YouTube. People putting beats, it’s just not the same. It’s just like Wild Wild West out there.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Timbaland expressed concern about the future of production and said incoming A.I. technology was gaining a serious foothold in Hip Hop.
“I knew this guy, one of my homeboys, he was working on this whole program that while the computer’s asleep it’s generating sounds,” Timbaland said. “And when he opens up it take white noise and make kicks the dopest snares while he sleeps. He been working on this for years, and I’m sure he mastered it now. The computer makes his kits, he don’t get drum kits from people. Make samples while he sleeps.”
At the 47-minute mark, the Virginia native said that he’s personally been hard at work on his Beatclub platform, which promotes up-and-coming producers, and added he’s been working with young creatives to make sure they charge the right amount for their work.
“It’s really like a high-end concierge service. Telling producers how to charge, don’t charge, you would not be making no money,” he explained. “We show you how to get to the money.”
However, it doesn’t seem everyone agrees with Timbaland’s comments. In June, Bobby Shmurda voiced his frustrations about the “crazy” high price producers were charging him and in turn caught some flack from Cardo and Boi-1da, who echoed Timbo’s sentiment that high price equals high quality.
“These producers is giving me the hardest time right now,” Shmurda complained in an Instagram video. “I’m trying to drop my project but these n-ggas is asking me for clearances and these fucking producers is asking for some crazy shit. I don’t know what rumors is going around that they think Bobby is just dropping bags.
“I ain’t giving n-ggas no fucking $10,000, $8,000 for no fucking producer song, bitch. Who the fuck told you n-ggas to fucking make songs with 10 muthafuckas on the song, bitch?! Don’t play me, bro.”
“Designer beats cost designer bread,” OVO hitmaker Boi-1da politely reminded the Brooklyn rapper. Cardo — whose résumé includes credits for Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and others — had more to say on the matter.
“Rappers saying producers overpricing their beats shows u we don’t get any respect in this shit. Y’all N-ggas weird,” he tweeted at the time. “we HAVE to make y’all n-ggas pay us more every time … cuz y’all be tryna offer 2500 for a beat. I gotta let it off one time.”
Oversaturated…for every top tier producer, there’s an up and coming imitation or a rapper who makes their own shit. Nobody cares about the beat maker no more…everything sounds the same and the turn over for music is faster than it’s ever been. You can be hot today and fall off by midnight…nobody’s taking a 500k chance on that. Producers aren’t as big of a draw as they were in Timbo’s time. Some 15 year old kid can make a Timbo sounding beat in his mom’s basement now with an old dusty computer. There’s beats everywhere, supply and demand
ALSO RECORD LABELS ARE BROKE NOW COMPARED TO THE 90S.
I agree to some extend. Altho the pure warmth and rawness of Timbo his beats back in the days nobody can match. The sounds, the drums that are engineered and mixed so well (prolly done by his engineers he hired but still). Matter of fact the engineer makes the difference the most nowadays, look at Mike Dean his work on ASTROWORLD sonically wise is amazing and unmatched.
It’s also important to remember that record labels used to pay these fees not the rapper themselves. It was nothing to pay 50k for a beat, when labels were selling CD’s at 16, 17, 18 dollars a unit and labels were getting probably 12, 13 dollars for every unit sold, they could have a million dollar budget and easily make their money back plus more just by going gold, plus the labels knew a hot single meant booking shows another way for labels to get their money back plus interest. With more rappers becoming independent and the rise of technology made it somewhat difficult for these high paid producers, new rappers don’t have the budget to pay high prices and establish rappers that are making money aren’t spending the majority of their budget on one producer. That leaves these Mainstream commercial rappers that will pay some of these prices but even have their own production crew. High paying production no longer guarantees better quality, kids in high school that are charging like 500 a beat are making better beats them some legendary producers and they have their ear to it and understand what beats the kids their age like. The legend producers beats sound the same and that’s no longer a good thing. It’s not good when you hear a beat and you like pharell made that or thats a Timbo beat. But big ups to Timbo I’m a fan of a lot of his stuff from the 90’s
It’s not only a beat, it’s the producers name which means guaranteed radio play and exposure and a big check for the rappers. Like an endorsement and a co-sign from the producer saying you’re dope n worth his time n effort to make a track for.
It’s not only a beat, it’s the producers name which means guaranteed radio play and exposure and a big check for the rappers. Like an endorsement and a co-sign from the producer saying you’re dope n worth his time n effort to make a track for.
Why would I pay 500k for a beat when some guy in Euorpe will sell the rights to a beat thats just as good for a 2 hundred bucks ? The introduction of computer music production programs connected to a hundred dollar midi controller can make anybody a producer.
ssl boards used to cost hundreds of thousands, studios were hundreds n hour fruity loops is like 29.99 there was a huge learning curve now you can get mpcs drum machines…for a grand or less, u can learn from others free on utube stuff just dont cost that much anymore and fans dont care about the quality if it slaps it slaps it cost million to get the product in the store now u click upload and the planet can access it
Oh boohoo. You still get paid far more than the average Joe and what you help push the new world order agenda that of which probley has A.I. algorithms making all the beats nowadays and you have the audacity to complain?!?
High price doesn’t equal high quality. Good sound doesn’t necessarily come from talent. Tyler The Creators best beat is Yonkers, a simple, easy to make beat. 50 cents Power Of The Dollar had better beats than GRODT. Bet he didn’t pay anything for those beats, or less than $1k a piece.