Frequently asked questions
- How does buying a beat work?
- You pay by card at checkout, one beat at a time. The download is available immediately from your library, and it stays there permanently - including if the producer later delists the beat.
- What can I hear before I buy?
- Every listing has a play button - on Browse, on the producer’s profile and on the beat’s own page. It plays the first 0:45, cut from the track itself, so the rest stays behind the paywall. A producer can switch that off for a listing, in which case the whole thing plays. A zip - stems on a beat, or a pack of sounds - is different: nothing inside an archive can be played, so the producer uploads a separate demo and that is what you hear. A beat’s demo follows the same 0:45 rule; a sound pack’s always plays in full. Either way the listing lists what is inside the zip before you buy.
- When do producers get paid?
- A sale lands in the producer's balance at once, and clears for withdrawal 30 days later - up to 7 days if we have verified who they are. The wait exists because a card payment can be reversed weeks after it was made, and money that has already left is money nobody can put back. A producer's first withdrawal is also read by a person before it goes, which usually takes under a day.
- Do producers have to verify their identity?
- Past a point, yes. Once a producer has earned more than $200.00 in total we check who they are before sending any more out. It is a one-off - get in touch with support - and the balance stays theirs the whole time. Verifying also drops the payout hold from 30 days to up to 7 days on everything earned afterwards, which is why most producers do it before they have to.
- What does BeatsOnDeck charge?
- 12% + $0.50 per transaction, taken from the producer's payout. Artists pay exactly the listed price - there is no separate buyer fee.
- Do I need separate accounts to buy and sell?
- No - one account does both. A producer account buys as well as sells, and an artist account can be converted to a producer one at any time from the Producer tab in your dashboard. Everything already bought stays where it is.
Converting is permanent, and a second account is not the way around that. Two accounts is how somebody sells to themselves, pads their own play counts, or carries on after a suspension, and finding one is grounds for closing all of them. - Why is my first upload not on the marketplace?
- Because somebody is reading it. Every producer's files wait until one of them has been approved by a person, which happens once and is usually done within a day. Anything else uploaded in the meantime waits with it. You are told the moment the first is through, and after that uploads go straight up. It is the check that stops the marketplace filling with other people's work, and it is why a beat bought here is far more likely to be one the producer actually made.
- Is there a paid plan for producers?
- Producer Pro, and it is optional - every producer account can list, sell and be paid without it, on the same 12% + $0.50 platform fee. Pro raises storage from 2.0 GB to 100 GB, unlocks a profile background image, and takes 20% off featuring. It is bought as a fixed term rather than a subscription: nothing renews on its own, so you are never charged for a month you forgot about. Compare the two plans.
- What happens when a Producer Pro term ends?
- Nothing is deleted. Every listing stays up and goes on selling, however much storage it adds up to, and buyers keep every download they hold. What changes is that new uploads are refused until you are back under 2.0 GB or back on Pro, and a profile background stops being shown - the image itself is kept and returns if you renew.
- What does "Featured" mean?
- Producers pay a daily fee, out of their balance, to pin a beat to the top of Browse and onto the front page. It's a paid slot, not an endorsement - it says nothing about quality, and featured beats are labelled as such wherever they appear. The current rate is shown on the beat in your producer dashboard before you confirm.
- Can a producer take a beat off sale after I bought it?
- They can delist it, which removes it from Browse and stops new sales. It does not touch your purchase: the beat stays in your library and the download keeps working.
- What am I actually allowed to do with a beat I buy?
- Every beat is sold under one of two licences, shown on the listing before you buy and again next to your download. A royalty-free licence lets you release and monetise your song forever with no royalties owed, while the producer keeps selling the same beat to other artists. An exclusive licence does the same, except the beat comes off the marketplace the moment you buy it and is never sold again.
- Can a producer sell an exclusive beat to someone else afterwards?
- No. An exclusive sale delists the beat permanently - neither the producer nor staff can put it back on the marketplace. A beat also cannot switch licence type once it has sold, so a royalty-free beat can never be resold as somebody else’s exclusive.
- Can one account both buy and sell?
- Yes. Producer accounts can buy as well as sell. An artist account can become a producer account whenever you like, from the Producer tab in your dashboard - it keeps your purchases, and it cannot be undone.
- How do I get help with an order or my account?
- Use the support page - either the form on it or the address it lists. Include the beat link or the receipt number if it's about an order; it saves us asking.
Still stuck? Read the terms or contact support.