| Recently I've been hearing some bad things from | | | | looking? Does it have contact information including a |
| artists who download hip hop beats online. I myself | | | | telephone number and email address? These things |
| have even been a victim to a scam. | | | | can say a lot about the legitimacy of a producer and |
| So what is the deal? | | | | rule out scammers. |
| Well recently there have been a lot of reports of | | | | 2. Before you download hip hop beats or make any |
| people stealing hip hop beats from producers and | | | | purchases, contact the producer. Call or email him/her |
| selling them on their own web page. In some instances, | | | | and ask them questions regarding their terms of |
| these "crooks" download hip hop beats that are "free | | | | agreement and licensing information. If they do not |
| downloads" from the producer's page, and make profit | | | | offer any licensing contracts upon purchase, you |
| from them. In other cases, the beats are purchased | | | | should be skeptical of doing any business with them. |
| from the producer and re-sold on another web page. | | | | 3. If you are still skeptical about buying from amateur |
| I myself, as a producer, have been the victim of this | | | | web pages, look to other more professional production |
| scam. I was notified by another artist who had seen | | | | companies to download hip hop beats from. Find a |
| one of my beats for sale on another producer's web | | | | production company who is a registered business and |
| page. This thief was selling one of my beats, and | | | | has a good reputation. |
| about 50 other stolen beats on his own page. | | | | Now that you are aware of this growing scam you will |
| So what can you do to protect yourself from buying | | | | be better prepared to make safer, more secure |
| stolen hip hop beats? Here are a few tips: | | | | purchases when you download hip hop beats online. |
| 1. Analyze the producer's page. Is it professional | | | | |