Buying a beat should be simple — but the licensing tier you pick decides how far your song can legally travel. Here's the plain-English version, tier by tier.
What each tier actually unlocks
Basic ($29.99) gets you an untagged MP3, 2,000 distribution copies, and 100,000 audio streams — plenty for a single you're using to test the waters.
Premium ($49.99) is the same shape as Basic with WAV quality added and the ceiling roughly doubled: 5,000 copies, 250,000 streams.
Professional ($99.99) is where things open up — track stems, 10,000 copies, 500,000 streams, radio airplay on 2 stations, and paid live performances become allowed for the first time.
Unlimited ($199.99) removes every cap entirely: unlimited copies, streams, radio stations, and paid video views.
None of these change who owns the beat — every tier above is a non-exclusive lease, meaning the same instrumental is still available to other artists too.
Start with your release plan
If you're dropping a single to test the waters, a Basic lease covering 100,000 streams is usually plenty — most independent releases never get close to that ceiling in their first year. Planning a full rollout with paid ads and a music video? You'll want Professional or higher, where stems and paid video streams are unlocked.
The right license is the cheapest one that doesn't cap your song's momentum.
Streams and distribution copies, decoded
A distribution copy is one digital or physical unit of your song sold or distributed — every download, every CD, every unit through a store counts as one. An audio stream is one play on a platform like Spotify or Apple Music. Both caps reset per song, not per year, and they're deliberately generous: an indie single would need real, sustained traction to bump into a Basic-tier ceiling, and if it does, that's a good problem — upgrading a specific song's usage is a quick conversation away.
When to go exclusive
Exclusive rights make sense once a beat is central to your identity — a lead single, a sync placement, or anything you don't want another artist releasing over. It's a bigger investment, but the beat comes off the store for good, and every usage cap disappears along with it.
Still unsure? Compare all licenses side by side or reach out and I'll point you to the right tier.
Quick answers
Can I upgrade a license after I've already released the song? In most cases, yes — reach out and we can sort out the difference between what you paid and the tier you actually need.
What happens if I go over my distribution or stream cap? It's not an automatic problem, but technically it falls outside what your license covers — worth upgrading proactively once a song is clearly outperforming its tier rather than after the fact.
Do I need Professional just to get radio play at all? Yes — Basic and Premium don't include radio airplay or paid live performance rights. Professional is the first tier where both are unlocked.