It takes a lot to make it in today’s music industry, especially with no connections. But everyday new producers are finding their own way to make money by doing what they love to do. In this Interview, I ask Tristan to explain his hustle, business process, and future goals.

Instead of focusing on a quick buck, Tristan chose to focus on quality and it has paid off. By using the Internet as his distribution model, Tristan has been able to make a living and avoid the dulldrums of a 9 to 5 job working for someone else.

Read the full interview to find out how he did it.

If you were in front of an audience that have never heard of you, how would you introduce yourself? – Ike

I’m not too great with introductions. I’d probably say “My name is Tristan and I make hiphop and pop instrumentals”. I try to let my music speak for me. – Tristan

What is your music background? – Ike

I don’t have any formal training nor do I play any instruments. I first downloaded a copy of Fruity Loops in 2005 just to mess with after a friend  told me about it. Then in 2007 I started to pursue beat making more seriously.  - Tristan

What are your favorite VSTs or sound fonts for FL Studio? – Ike

VSTs in my opinion lack quality. I have or have had almost every VST there is and I would use about 3 sounds tops from each VST I’ve tried. I mainly use the sounds from my keyboards when I make beats (Fantom G6, Motif XS6, Korg R3, Korg M3)  - Tristan

If you could go back in time to 2005 when you first started, with FL Studio what are some of the techniques or lessons learned you would tell yourself? – Ike

There’s no shortcut to becoming a good producer. It takes a lot of time,  practice and patience. If you aren’t 100% sure this is what you want to do, then  you probably shouldn’t do it.  - Tristan

What happened in 2007 that made you decide to take music production seriously? – Ike

Back in 2007 the quality of beats online was really poor. I wasn’t that great myself but the stuff I was putting out was a lot better than most of the beats you would hear. I started to make some decent money and realized there was some real potential in selling beats online. – Tristan”

Who are some artist you’ve worked with or would like to work with? – Ike

Right now I work with a group called brokeNCYDE a lot. They do hip-hop, crunk and screamo. They are very unique and have quite a large fanbase ,and plenty of haters (haha). I like working with them because their sound is totally different from anything else I’ve heard.

As for artists I would like to work with, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame and Lady Gaga. Odd combination I know, but I like how they have their own distinct sound and image which I feel a lot of artists lack nowadays.  - Tristan

What usually inspires you to make a beat? – Ike

Other music, money, you name it. Sometimes I will get the title for a beat before I even start and will make the beat around the title. For example I have a beat called “Count Trapula” and it sounds like an old cheesy horror movie score mixed with trap style drums and instruments. I feel like making a beat around a title is fun and a different way to approach it.  - Tristan

What ways are you marketing yourself outside of the Internet? – Ike

None. I live in Fresno California, possibly one of the worst places to live for trying to become a music producer haha. Everything I do is strictly online.  - Tristan

What got you started on SoundClick? – Ike

I had a friend who rapped in high school and he would upload his songs to SoundClick. I would browse the site and noticed that there were people on there selling beats and making money. This instantly sparked my interest and I made a  page right away for my beats.  - Tristan

What other ways other than SoundClick are you marketing yourself online? - Ike

I use mybeatshop.com to sell beats and then I have a Myspace and Facebook, but I don’t really promote on there. I just have them so I can connect with people who like my beats. I also had my own website for about a year, but it never really took off. I got rid of it and headed back to SoundClick and things have been going well ever since.  - Tristan

I lease beats pretty much everyday. It’s rare I don’t make some form of sale in a day  - Tristan

You said your selling beats on a few different sources, which one have you had the most success with? – Ike

SoundClick but I don’t recommend using just one, use everything you can.  - Tristan

Are you doing more leasing or exclusive sells? – Ike

Leasing more so, I prefer to lease because I can keep selling the same beat over and over.  - Tristan

Do artist that lease ever come back and ask for exclusive rights? – Ike

Yeah all the time, they basically lease the beat to test out the song does and if it does well they come back asking for exclusives.  - Tristan

What’s the process for artist to get exclusive tracks? Do you have a contract? – Ike

Yeah I have premade contracts, with blanks for the title of the beat, date, artist name etc. If you are planning on selling beats get contracts first. It makes you look more professional and a lot of artists will need paper work to record to the beat. A lot of studios won’t let you record without some kind of paperwork showing you have permission to use the beat.

I do contracts for leases too. It’s a little more work but worth it.  - Tristan

That’s a great tip. Have you had any problems or conflicts with artist i.e. breaching contract, exclusivity disagreements, etc? – Ike

To be honest there’s no real way to tell if they breach contract. It’s mainly a proof of purchase for the artist.

Would you mind discussing sales numbers? – Ike

That’s kind of personal (haha), but I”ll put it like this, I lease beats pretty much everyday. It’s rare I don’t make some form of sale in a day  - Tristan

How often do artist purchase bulk leases? The 4 for $59 deal you offer. - Ike

It’s random, I sell a few of those a month though. 90% of my business is from single leases though sometimes I will have customers who get 2 leases and I think to myself “for $20 more you can get 2 more beats” but oh well (haha).  - Tristan

Yeah it’s harder to get people to commit to a larger purchase. How did you come up with your lease terms on your SoundClick page? And did you hire someone to design your soundclick page? – Ike

For my lease terms, I just looked at the terms of other producers and beat websites. They are pretty universal terms and I did my own SoundClick layout.  - Tristan

Do you think you will have to relocate at some point to make it further? Explain your answer. – Ike

Definitely. Damn near every rapper is coming out of Atlanta right now. I think if I lived in a city where I could network with artists and get more placements, it would be a huge step forward in my production career.  - Tristan

How do you find artist that you want to work with and how did you build the relationship with brokeNCYDE? – Ike

They actually found me through SoundClick, bought some beats from me and then I kept in contact with them. After that I decided to met them in real life when they played the Vans Warped Tour so I could network with them. It’s been going good ever since. If you make good beats, the artists will come to you.  - Tristan

How much involvement do you have in the song creation process? – Ike

None right now. Sometimes artist will show me rough songs and I will give suggestions but that’s about it. I pretty much just make beats right now, but I’d like to get into producing whole songs in the future.  - Tristan

Where do you see yourself in 5 years and how do you plan on getting there? - Ike

Hopefully I will be making a decent living off beats in 5 years. I plan on getting there by

A. Continuing to sell and lease beats online. It’s great exposure and the money isn’t bad either.

B. Networking with artists. A lot of beat makers are too stuck up to work with anyone without getting paid first, but you never know. That artist could be the next big thing and could provide your retirement off one song. So keep an open mind and actually work with people you think are worth working with.

C. I plan on getting a manager who can pitch my beats to labels and A&R’s so I can get major placements.

D. I’ll probably end up moving to a city where things are actually popping off music wise so I can network.  - Tristan

They say you can’t do much without a team in life. Who is on your current team and what are your plans to grow it? – Ike

I disagree. I feel that you can do a lot in life by yourself. I mean obviously it will get to the point where you will need the help of people like managers and such. I’ve worked with other producers like Todd Hamburger (producer for Dorrough) in the past but nothing ever really took off. It’s all about grinding and getting it yourself. You can’t rely on someone else to make your dreams come true. Having a lot of people around might work for some people, but I prefer to work solo.  - Tristan

Anything else you would like to say? – Ike

To the people who are making beats or want to get into making beats; if you are in it just for the money I would say you should quit or don’t even get into it. It’s obvious to see who is in it for the money and who really cares about making quality music. If you aren’t willing to put forth the effort and dedication to make great music then you will most likely not succeed. If you love it, then do it. If not then find something else to do.

I see dudes who cheat the SoundClick charts trying to make money off their beats and I know they aren’t making anything because their beats are terrible.If you put out quality work that you put your full effort into it will sell itself.  - Tristan

For the artist out there looking for beats, how should they contact you? – Ike

http://tristanofvp.com
tristanofvp@gmail.com
twitter.com/tristanofvp
http://www.myspace.com/vandalizedproduction