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AirBit vs BeatStars – Where Do I Sell My Beats?

Selling beats online is an excellent choice for music producers to monetize their work nowadays. There are countless singers and rappers looking to buy beats for their next songs and projects.

However, this kind of business takes a lot of planning and you need to have the right approach in order to achieve the best results: from marketing your beats and networking to, most importantly, having a professional page in a trusted marketplace.

That’s why today, we are going to review the two best and most popular platforms to sell beats online, Airbit vs Beatstars, to help you decide which one is the best choice for you. As well as give you some tips and tricks on how you can kickstart your beat selling business and make a living out of your art.

After you’re done reading, don’t forget to take a look at our Best Music Distribution guide. There, you will learn how to get your music on the major streaming platforms and digital stores so you can achieve a greater following.

Airbit vs BeatStars – Quick Introduction

Airbit and BeatStars are, unarguably, the most popular marketplaces/platforms for selling beats nowadays. They both offer similar features such as professional pages and the ability for the music producer to also sell sample packs but differ in usability.

Some common features that are present in both platforms include:

  • Make money selling beats online
  • Get paid instantly via PayPal and Stripe integration
  • Automated file delivery system
  • Sell sample packs
  • Upload track outs/stems
  • Marketing/mailing integration
  • Professional statistics over your beat sales
  • Custom licenses
  • License templates
  • Co-producer splits
  • Run promotions with discounts and coupons
  • Offer free downloads for audition
  • Add vocal tags to protect your music
AirBit vs BeatStars

Feature Comparison of Airbit & BeatStars

Table of Contents

  1. Which One is Easier to Use?
  2. Plans
  3. Commission
  4. Community
  5. Career-Growth Opportunities
  6. Analytics
  7. Infinity Store vs Pro Page
  8. Additional Services
  9. Customer Service

Which One is Easier to Use?

Both Airbit and BeatStars are extremely easy to use. After signing up, the process of setting up your profile and getting your first beat online is very simple and streamlined. We also really liked the AirBit’s dashboard because you can do everything in one place: uploading beats, managing discount codes, etc. BeatStars is similar, but these features are less concentrated in one place.

Plans

AirBit

AirBit Plans

AirBit offers three plans: Basic, Gold, and Platinum. The Basic plan is free, but you can only upload 10 beats. It is a great option for those looking to test the waters on the platform before making an investment.

With the Gold plan, the number of beats you can upload go up to 50. Apart from all the Basic features, for $9.99/month the beat maker can have custom contracts, co-producer splits, create discounts and coupons, and have a whole range of marketing tools at their disposal such as social unlock.

The most expensive one, the Platinum plan, will allow beat makers to release unlimited beats, create their own playlists and sell sound kits. The most attractive feature, however, is the Infinity Store. With the Infinity Store, you have a professional-looking page that will make you stand out when selling your beats and give you more exposure.

BeatStars

BeatStars Plans

BeatStars pricing is similar to AirBit. The platform also has a Free plan, which will let beat makers upload up to 10 beats/tracks and give them all the basic functionalities such as instant payments and delivery.

The intermediary option, Marketplace, will let you upload an unlimited number of tracks to your profile as well as send 20 monthly private messages, sell sound kits and custom services such as mixing and mastering. You also get up to 4 license agreement types (as opposed to 2 in free).

One of the key features of the Pro Page plan, at $19.99/Month, is the Pro Page. You will get your own customizable web page so you can boost your sales and appear more professional.

Which One Has the Best Plans – AirBit vs BeatStars?

AirBit and BeatStars’ plans are very similar. Both offer three options of plans with the same price tag so it is definitely a tie. However, with the $9.99 plan on AirBit, you only get to upload up to 50 beats. On BeatStars, you get unlimited uploads for the same price, making it more cost-effective if you choose to go with an intermediary option.

Commission

One of the features that music producers get most worried about is the commission or the percentage that the platform is going to take from your beat sales.

Airbit wins this one since you get to keep 100% of the sales on any plan (even the free one), as opposed to BeatStars, where they take 30% of commission if you’re on a free account. With paid plans, there isn’t much of a difference, both platforms will let you keep 100% of your earnings, only charging a transactional fee for each sale.

Community

We’ve decided to include this variable because having a successful beat business is all about making connections. That’s why both companies have active communities of hundreds of thousands of beat makers, music producers, rappers, and musicians.

We’ve found AirBit’s website to be more friendly when it comes to networking. With BeatStars, unless you go with the Pro Page plan, you only get a certain number of private messages per month to contact other producers and potential buyers.

Career-Growth Opportunities

Similar to having a supportive community, beat selling platforms regularly offer many career-growth opportunities such as getting placed in playlists, lease beats to famous artists, and getting placements on TV and movies.

BeatStars is amazing when it comes to that since they’re constantly hosting live streams and events. The platform also features several official playlists where each beat maker can send their tracks and have a chance to be featured.

AirBit offers free sample packs and discount codes for various music production related products. They also have the Creator Hub, with lots of free tutorials to help the beginner beat producer and an exclusive podcast with various tips for your beat-selling business.

Analytics

Statistics are important when selling beats online. Knowing how many of your potential sales convert is key to having a consistent amount flowing in every month. It is all about marketing.

Both websites offer several analytics and stats on your beats. You can check how many people listened to your beat and where they’ve come from. For even more detailed data, AirBit and BeatStars will let you embed a Google Analytics code if you go with the Infinity Store or Pro Page plan.
In fact, we recommend that all beat makers learn the basics of marketing and SEO, as well as how to work with Google and YouTube for more exposure. Not only will you get increased sales, it will give you a great foundation for any online project you work with in the future.

Infinity Store Vs Pro Page

Both marketplaces offer very professional-looking pages to sell beats. On Airbit, they call it Infinity Store, and on BeatStars, Pro Page. These are only available to the most expensive plans but they offer a more professional interface and a very good conversion rate. Let’s see what are the key features.

Infinity Store

AirBit – Infinity Store

The Infinity Store is like your own beat selling website. There, you have more options of customization over using solely the marketplace. At the same time, it is much easier than setting up a web page and you still have the whole AirBit structure at your disposal.

You can view an online demo for the Infinity Store here. Users of the Platinum plan can also embed an AirBit player on their own website, which you can see the demo here.

AirBit - Infinity Store

BeatStars – Pro Page

BeatStars’ Pro Page, similarly to its AirBit counterpart, is the platform’s solution for displaying your beats in a professional-looking manner. You can check out how it looks on the producer group Pacific’s page here.

Which One is Best – Infinity Store vs Pro Page?

To be honest, we’ve found both solutions to be very similar. They offer mostly the same features. You have a dedicated page for each thing: beats, sound kits, licenses, contact; And it is easy to navigate through the website.

On top of that, everything is customizable in both options. The choice will really come down to which structure you prefer and you feel that is the most supportive to run your beat business.

Additional Services

Both AirBit and BeatStars will offer beat makers a few extra tools that can help them administer their business and their music career better.

On AirBit, we have the YouTube Monetization feature. Due to selling beats online being extremely common nowadays, there’s always the chance that YouTube videos or artists may be using your beats without permission. This service will let you register and collect ad revenue from them. It is available for the Gold and Platinum plans.

BeatStars doesn’t offer a direct Youtube Content ID system so you’d have to track each of your beats manually. But, the platform has two major additional services: distribution and publishing. BeatStars distribution will let you send your music and your beats to all of the major platforms while keeping 100% of the royalties venue. A great feature for producers who are also independent artists.

BeatStars publishing, as the name implies, is their publishing administration service. We know that it is often a complex process for beat producers and recording artists to collect their publishing royalties. With the service, everything is simplified. We should also mention that the platform has the backing of Sony Music publishing, one of the most trustable names in the music industry.

Tip: If you’re looking for a service to distribute your music, see how two excellent music distribution services stand against each other in our Record Union vs TuneCore article.

Customer Service

Last but not least, we should definitely talk about customer service when making any decision/working with any partner in your music career. In that regard, both companies seem to have great reviews overall. There are a few people reporting minor problems, but we believe that these are exceptional cases.

AirBit offers two options for users to get in touch with them: via email and via their forum. This is a major feature that adds to the community point that we’ve discussed earlier.

BeatStars is similar, with a contact option through their email or through their community forum. Their Help Desk is also very informative and has lots of frequently asked questions.

The only drawback we’ve found is that we wish both companies had a more direct way of contact, via phone or online chat, for example. This would be a great addition to those platforms since they have hundreds of thousands of users who may eventually run into issues and need quick support.

FAQs

How Can I Sell More Beats?

Apart from having a professional-looking profile/page on AirBit or BeatStars, it is highly recommended that you upload your beats to YouTube. It is the main way that rappers search for beats nowadays. Pay attention to what terms you use. Try to use ones such as type beat and be descriptive as possible.

Another important point for pretty much any business nowadays is social media. Creating a relationship with your audience is a must. Try showing some of the making-of process behind your beats, give away free beats, create tutorials, and, above all, update your social media accounts frequently.

There’s also the option of paid advertising. While we recommend that beginner beat makers focus on other areas before they try this one, it can be an excellent tool to reach a greater audience and get more sales on your beats, if used correctly.

Can I Embed the AirBit or BeatStars Player On My Own Website?

Yes, you can. On AirBit, it is available only for those on the Platinum plan though and it is directly linked to your Infinity Store. On BeatStars, it is called Blaze Player. Users of the free plan can embed one player, but those using the paid plans can embed unlimited ones.

This feature is interesting if you already have your website but would like to use the AirBit or BeatStars payment system to sell your beats through, as we know that setting a system like that on your own is often a difficult task.

Tip: See how you easily administrate your music licensing through the Songtradr platform in our Songtradr Review article.

Do AirBit and BeatStars Offer License Templates?

Yes, both platforms offer license templates. Usually, when you sell beats, you’re not selling the composition itself, but rather licensing/leasing it. There’s always a contract behind the process. Even so, it is usually complex for beat producers and musicians who don’t have knowledge in the legal area to create a contract.

That’s why AirBit and BeatStars have their own license templates which are generated using your information, your buyer’s information, and the points you’ve customized depending on the license that the person chose to purchase. You can always read the whole contract or create your own, if you wish, directly on their websites.

Can I Upload Custom Voice Tags to AirBit and BeatStars?

Yes, you can upload vocal tags on both platforms and automatically protect your beat from unfair use.

Verdict

AirBit

Pros

  • Zero commission taken over your earnings, regardless of the plan you choose.
  • Active community and no limits over private messages.
  • 15-day free trial on their paid plans.
  • YouTube Content ID integration service. You can easily send your beats to Content ID, track, and monetize videos that are using your music.

Cons

  • You can only sell sample packs with the Platinum plan.
  • With the Gold plan, you can only upload 50 beats.

BeatStars

Pros

  • You can upload unlimited beats on both the Marketplace and Pro Page plans.
  • Useful additional services integrated with the platform, such as BeatStars Distribution and Publishing.
  • Lots of career-growth opportunities such as their beat playlists and opportunities. They also host several live streams each month giving feedback to producers.

Cons

  • No YouTube Content ID integration.
  • The platform will take 30% commission over your sales if you use a free account.

Conclusion

We’ve come to decide that the platforms are very similar to what they offer. Both AirBit and BeatStars have all the features that those producing music will need to sell beats: they’re easy to use, safe, and offer supportive customer service.

If you’re on a budget though, we recommend you go with AirBit. Their free plan will take 0% commission over your earnings, as opposed to BeatStars, which will take 30% if you choose the free option.

At the same time, if you’ve decided to invest in an intermediary plan, it’s best to use BeatStars. Their $10/month plan allows you to upload unlimited beats. AirBit’s one only allows 50 tracks and no sample packs.

When it comes to the top-tier plans, both services are similar in what they offer, with their Infinity Store (AirBit) and Pro Page (BeatStars). The professional pages are highly customizable and it is really up to you to decide which one you like more.

We hope our AirBit vs BeatStars comparison article was helpful and wish you good luck with your beat selling business. After you make your choice, don’t forget to learn about important points such as marketing and to network with fellow beat makers. Feel free to comment or contact us if you have any questions!