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My Bad Experience With Beatstars.com And Their Content ID / Distribution Service – Review

BeatStars.com Review 2015

My Bad Experience

BeatStars is an online beat sales platform where music producers sell beats or buy artist beats. Many of you may already know BeatStars .com as a popular beat selling platform for music producers. They offer a lot of great features and made a lot of helpful changes in the past. Unfortunately, I had a very bad experience with the support of BeatStars. The way the support and CEO Abe Batson dealt with me as a BeatStars member was more than unprofessional. That has nothing to do with the feeling of a hip hop community. It took me almost a year and a lawyer to stop BeatStars from illegally making money with my beats. Read the full story below.

Be aware about their distribution service!

They attract with making money by streaming your beats on Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud and many more. But the truth is that BeatStars will take the control of your beats and don’t care about the producers and their rights. I don’t want to write down all details of my story cause this article would be far too long. But what I’ve experienced with BeatStars is unbelievable.

On the start page they advertise:
“Wouldn’t you like to get paid from other peoples´s YouTube videos that use your music?”

The correct sentence (in my opinion) would be:
“Wouldn´t you like to get ripped of from BeatStars who use your music as their own?”

Here is the “short” version of my story just to show you how BeatStars is handle their distribution service:

So, what happened?

More than 1 year ago I entered the distribution service on beatstars.com. I send maybe 40 of my beats for distribution. Later I was wondering why I got YouTube claims (by INgroove, later by BeatStars directly) on so many of my beats on YouTube. I wrote INgroove more than 3 times but never got any answer. Later I was able to found out that INgrooves opened this claims for BeatStars. They put all my beats into their Content ID system and I’m not able anymore to monetize my videos on YouTube. I wrote the BeatStars support multiple times. After a lot of unanswered emails I opened oppositions for all of my claimed instrumentals on YouTube.

The BeatStars CEO gets angry

I finally got an answer from BeatStars. But unfortunately not on my previous unanswered emails. I got an angry message from the BeatStars CEO Abe Batshon, that I gave them the right to monetize my beats on YouTube etc. and that I should close the disputes asap. I asked him for the terms of use where this is written with the Content ID system (because it was nowhere written at this point) and got no answer anymore. After that I wrote him again and again and all I got was an old YouTube video where he explains how to enter and use the distribution service. There was no word about the Content ID system or the claims or anything else. I asked him again for the official terms of use and never got an answer about this (because it was nowhere written at this time!).

My beats, without voice tags, everywhere on the web!

Only then did I realize that my beats on Spotify & Co are all UNTAGGED (without voice tags). This was also nowhere written in the BeatStars terms of use. That means that everybody with a minimum technically skill is able to download my beats. In other words, anyone could use my BeatStars distributed beats without buying a license.

BeatStars want me to pay

After I realized that BeatStars distributed my beats everywhere without voice tags, I contacted the support again. I asked for a takedown of all my beats from their Content ID system and all partner sites, where they uploaded my untagged beats. The support told me that I have to pay for every single beat that should be removed from the BeatStars distribution system. So what? I asked you again where I can find this clause in their terms of use. The answer was that they will make an exception and delete my beats free of charge (cause it was nowhere written that I´ll have to pay for a takedown). They told me to wait 60-90 days for the takedown.

I had to hire a lawyer

After the BeatStars support told me to wait 60-90 days, for the full takedown of my beats, I waited longer than that. Unfortunately, my beats were not removed even after this period of time. So I wrote the BeatStars support on a monthly base, for more than a half year, before they started to remove just a few more of my beats from their Content ID system. But 90% of my beats still online after more than 6 month. I needed more than 4 additional month and a official (paid) lawyer to get 70% of my beats removed from their Content ID system and partner sites!

BeatStars don’t care

It’s unbelievable but true, they just don’t give a sh** about the rights of producers and customers. They also don´t care if I would take legal action. I sold a lot of this beats exclusively in the meanwhile. I wrote them that they should delete this beats asap cause I don’t have any rights anymore for this beats. But they just claimed the YouTube videos from my customers who bought exclusive rights and just give a sh** about it!

Still claiming, but no more payouts

I deleted my whole BeatStars account and told them that I don’t need a refund about my already paid subscription for 1 year. I just wanted to get my beats removed from their distribution system. After I canceled my subscription and wasn’t a BeatStars member anymore I thought they don’t have the rights anymore to make money by monetize my beats etc.. But I was wrong! Also after I deleted my whole paid advance account on BeatStars, they still was claiming me and my customers YouTube videos. They still making money with my and my customers beats by streaming them on multiple platforms and open claims on YouTube. They just stopped to send my payouts for the distribution service. So BeatStars is trying to making money with beats from producers in any way and absolutely give no sh** about the rights of their producers + their customers! I would say that at BeatStars it´s all about the money. BeatStars is dead for me!

Is BeatStars worth it?

BeatStars is, in my personal opinion, the worst platform I ever saw in the beat selling industry! BeatStars is making money outside of all international copyright laws and give a sh** about producers, lawyers and customers. I know that BeatStars offer a lot of good features and for some people it´s maybe really profitable. But do you really want to offer your beats on such an ignorant and “greedy for money” beat selling platform? I’m not saying that everything is bad on BeatStars. This is just my experience with BeatStars. Just think about it if it’s worth to make some additional dollars in a month to get trouble like this.

Maybe you had similar experience with BeatStars?

Feel free to write your experience and / or opinion in the comments.

If you are looking for a legit platform to sell your beats, I recommend to go with airbit.com.

– InsaneBeatz

CHECK OUT HOW THIS STORY CONTINUES:

BEATSTARS DID IT AGAIN AND EARNED MONEY WITH MY MUSIC BEHIND MY BACK!

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  1. please look at this mess they did to me and now they are saying I am with two monetization companies and that if i want to get off its 5 dollars a track on beat stars like what are you serious your charging me to keep my rights as a producer and then not pay me and then take my rights and my money as well for my beats…

    I just wrote them a letter saying this….

    there is no where in this policy that says it cost 5 dollars per track to take down my music and I want to ask peacefully that all my music is taken down off this site. I do not see anywhere where it says I have to pay a fee for each track that i own for monetization. you guys are destroying my work over money and taking my rights I really do not appreciate this and you guys are not helping at all. I did not agree to those rights this is my music you are talking about. I would like all my music from being monetized please you guys opened a case on soundcloud and now are blocking my music from being listened to. this is really absurd. I want to leave the site and completely delete my whole catalog which i worked hard for. charging me 5 dollars to take me off monetization i read the statements and it is not there. you guys are being very schemish and it’s valued as a customer. it almost seems like your not even going to pay me for my streams and just keep the rights to my music. that is really a sad day for as an artist. you guys blocked my fans in the united states and now blocked me from deleting this monetization so you can keep my money as well. wow shocked. i need to speak to the owner please.

  2. Hey,

    I’m having the same exact experience like you.

  3. im in same situatio they wont let me remove their monetization without a $5 per song however it quickly by one button can add all your songs and catalog now im stuck because i havent seen any pay for many plays and want to cancel. I dont believe its right to charge for them to remove their monetization from our soundclouds, youtubes, andaudoimacks

  4. Thanks for sharing your story man. I was researching soundcloud monetization because it sounded too good to be true and all i found were beatstars promotion pages… I was literally about to send my tracks and then I came across this. Thanks again man, this is some seriously predatory shit that should be illegal!

  5. Beatstars is a money hungry system designed to get you sucked in. This is not a place to upload your beats to. I’m still f*cking battling them to take down my beats.

    Soundclick is shady as hell too now. They called me up and offered 6 months free, once I did, they billed me right after and said there’s nothing they can do.

    There’s only two places you can trust, Soundgine and MFS.

    1. That’s sad to hear. Another victim of the beatstars system. I also believe in MFS. I never had any serious problems with them within the last 4-5 years and the customer support is just great! I wish you good luck for the takedown of your beats.

  6. Bro! I started to have problems with them now! I made 50$ fee for takedown my beats. They even dont want to tell me which tracks are issued! This is really annoying. They even answer me sometimes.They told me that there is no way to contact with their managing team that is taking care of that. I have my own beats i made and they just dont give a shit! I will see what will happen i hope they will make it right. Otherwise i will find a lawyer.

    1. That’s pretty sad to hear that they still act like this. I thought they made some changes in the meantime. I wish you all the best and good luck to solve this problem with beatstars! Did they wrote this something about this fee for takedown in their terms of use? It wasn’t written anywhere when I had all this this problems.

      Best regards
      InsaneBeatz

    1. It is about their distribution system. I’m not sure how it is now, but when I had the problems it was needed to activate the distribution system for each beat to enter the content ID system.

  7. Hi guys. Been looking into some websites to start selling my beats. Came across this article and it’s given me serious second thoughts about Beatstars and Soundclick. From what I researched Beatstars definitely looked like the website to use. Now reading all these horror stories, I am reconsidering.

    At the present moment (Late 2016) would you guys still not recommend Beatstars.

    If so, what would be your recommended alternative to selling beats online.

    Your feedback is highly appreciated.

    Thanks !

    1. Hey Relly,

      I’m not a member anymore since I had this problems with beatstars. But I get mails on a regular basis from people who tell me that they have the same problems with beatstars and ask for some help / what they should do. I think you can sign up at beatstars just for using the beatstore but be aware about their distribution service and customer support.

  8. What up.
    Thinking about joining BeatStars to sell my beats, I came across this post. I’m quite happy I did, actually.
    Now what do you think is the best way of selling beats online? Myself I think the best way is to have an own site in order to control everything and benefiting from your own traffic, but what are your opinions?

    Peace & love
    Dadi Vozo

    1. The best beatstore provider is myflashstore if you looking for a great way to Sell Beats Online. You should have your own website but this beatstore saves a lot of work for you. Just check it out at HERE

  9. Whats up guys. Thanks for all the info. This helped out allot. I won’t be using their distribution. I will only be uploading beats to the beat store. A good idea for everyone, use these sites to direct all the traffic back to your store.

    Peace!
    Stray1

  10. today I paid them 9,90 dollar to upgrade my basic account (which I had since Jan 2016) – and I uploaded 3 more tracks. I was curious about the fact that they have a new service for promotion, that comes with another upgrade, the “premium” account: well, it said that I could choose between “Monthly payment” (which I choose, like,,ten dollars or so)
    and “Yearly payment” (179 dollars)- I choose monthly and they sent me an email which tells me ” next month, at the end of October, they will charge 179 dollars from by Bank account !!!! FUCK THEM- I deleted my account- every fucking track

  11. Use Distrokid they are the best for digital distribution and way better. Unlimited up loads for one low price per year. NO minimum to take your earnings out, yes if you make a penny you can take that out. Unlimited Album and Single uploads. I just paid 11.99 for an entire year of digital distribution. You keep 100% of your royalties ..

  12. Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.

  13. Pretty much the same shit happened to me. #FuckBeatStars

  14. hey guys ive been looking into beatstars I came across this article and im glad I did I can’t believe that they are so greedy and so quick to cheat the producer. does anyone recommend another website or have any ideas on what is the best way to sell your beats

  15. Thank you guys for the info but, can I use their site just to sell beats in their store or they will be able to cheat me too ??

    1. I believe you can sell your beats on beatstars. Basically my problem at the time was related to the Content ID system and how they dealt with it.

  16. are they still doing this shady business ??? ive gotten paid from my music through distribution but i know they take a bigger cut

  17. Stunning quest there. What happened after? Thanks!

    1. This happened after: https:/insane-beatz.com/2017/03/201703201703201703beatstars-made-money-beats-behind-back-review-experience-2017/

  18. Hey, the best thing to do guys is make your own beat selling site and fuck them other platforms. I made my own. My site is mannishbeats.com and i’m also with distrokid for distribution. I made my own site cause I didn’t want anything to happen like its going for you guys. Hate that happened to ya’ll. I have a free account on beat stars, but i’m gonna delete it now

    1. How did you make your website?