First beat sale checklist
This is a dry, tactical list. Not inspiration — the twelve boxes that actually have to be checked before your first beat goes live. Skip any and your first sale will either stall, refund, or leave a one-star review.
The mix
1. Export at -14 LUFS integrated. Any louder and streaming platforms knock it down; quieter and it feels flat next to competitors.
2. Check low-end on a cheap speaker. If the 808 disappears on a phone speaker, your mix is too sub-heavy. Re-balance.
3. Trim silence at start + end. 0.1 s fade-in, 0.5 s fade-out. Nothing more, nothing less. A buyer hitting play should hear audio inside 200ms.
Files
4. Export both MP3 and WAV. MP3 at 320 kbps CBR. WAV at 24-bit / 44.1 kHz. Name them cleanly: ProducerName - BeatTitle (BPM, Key).mp3.
5. Export stems if selling premium or exclusive. ZIP them with this naming:
01 Drums.wav
02 808 Bass.wav
03 Melody.wav
04 Pad.wav
05 FX.wavNo vocals. No reference tracks. No project files. See the uploading stems guide for the full spec.
Metadata
6. Title with type-beat format. "[Reference Artist] Type Beat — 'Evocative Title'". Not "Untitled 12," not "🔥🔥🔥."
7. BPM + Key filled in. Non-negotiable. beatsheaven auto-detects these on upload, but you should double-check.
8. 3-5 mood tags. Matches how buyers search. See the plays guide for the current mood-tag list that converts.
9. 200-word description. Reference the mood, the sub-genre, 2 artists the beat fits, and the typical use case. This is the block that ranks in search.
Artwork
10. 1400×1400 cover image. Branded — your producer wordmark visible. If you're using a template (recommended), confirm the filename matches ProducerName - BeatTitle.jpg or .png.
11. Optional animated cover (MP4). A 6-10 second loop plays on rails. If you have the bandwidth, add it — it lifts click-throughs ~30%.
Business
12. Stripe Connect onboarding complete. Go to /dashboard, click Set up payouts, finish the Stripe flow. Without this, your first sale sits in escrow. See the full payout setup guide.
Licensing
13. License templates configured. At minimum: MP3 lease, WAV lease, and exclusive. With reasonable terms:
- MP3 lease: 100k streams, 2k units, no sync
- WAV lease: 250k streams, 5k units, no sync
- Exclusive: unlimited, beat pulled, sync included
If you're on beatsheaven, use the modular license builder at /dashboard/licenses. The defaults are sensible — only override if you have a reason.
14. Prices set per tier. Reference our pricing guide for starting numbers.
Pre-launch promo
15. Bio link updated. Every social bio should point to your beatsheaven profile (or a link-in-bio that points there). Check IG, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube.
16. Three TikTok snippets queued. 15 seconds each, different hook overlays. Schedule to drop on release day + 2 + 4.
17. Email to your list. Even if your list is 20 people, send an email. Subject: "[New beat] [Title] — early link." Include the /u/yourname/b/beatslug URL.
The minute it goes live
18. Share the beat URL in your Discord / group chats. Early plays are ranking gold on every marketplace.
19. Pin the beat on your beatsheaven profile until it's no longer your newest.
20. Check analytics at 24 hours. Did it get rail placement? Did plays-to-like ratio exceed 5%? If yes, boost it socially. If no, post-mortem the metadata.
The honest truth about first sales
Most producers wait 2-6 weeks for their first paid sale. Do not panic if it's not day one. The catalog effect compounds — beats 8 through 20 sell faster than beats 1 through 7 because you've been seeding the marketplace's algorithm and your social following has caught up.
Your job in the first 90 days is not to sell the first beat. Your job is to upload 12 quality beats with perfect metadata, post 3-5x/day on TikTok, and ignore the lag. Sales come in waves, not a line.
Ready? Create your beatsheaven account, set up payouts, and upload your first beat. Tick the boxes above first.