The success of G3, aka LiAngelo Ball’s hit single, “Tweaker”, has been fascinating. The first certified viral hit of the year delivers Gelo his first Top 40 appearance, his first performance in front of a live crowd of 60,000 at Detroit’s Ford Field, and a multi-million dollar licensing deal with Def Jam. The song’s success is undeniable, and the platform responsible for making the collaboration possible celebrates what they expect to be the first of many more this year alone.
“I [have to] be honest… we’re kind of used to this now”, BeatStars CEO Abe Batshon explains in an exclusive EARMILK interview. All it took was a random connection for the former pro basketball player and two producers from Russia and Georgia on the platform, and the rest is history. That’s become the weekly headline for the company, as BeatStars has established itself as a premier destination for producers and artists from all corners of the world to buy and sell beats for the past fifteen years.
The work speaks for itself, as four producers using BeatStars Publishing are currently sitting with song placements on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Last year, they celebrated six Grammy nominations and three certified gold records. The company boasts four tracks on Central Cee’s new debut album this weekend.
Despite the company’s standalone success, the CEO says their most significant win is how much they’ve been able to pay out, distributing over $325 million to the platform’s creators. What’s proven to be one of the industry’s most successful ventures over the last two decades was born out of a need for the CEO, an artist himself. While the company was founded in 2008, the idea was formed from his experience in the industry during the 1990s, when it was difficult for distant producers and artists to collaborate and exchange ideas.
“The producers were starting to get frustrated with the music industry… They were like, ‘Where’s the iTunes for beats?’ Back then, a handful of producers were getting paid”, Abe explains. “We wanted to always be the people’s platform. So what we did was [give] all the revenue generated on our platform… 100% of that revenue went directly to the creators, artists, and producers.”
Looking into the future, they plan to take things to the next level with their new partnership with Voloco. Now working with the mobile-first workstation, artists like G3 can record directly through the Voloco app while accessing BeatStars' entire catalog and licensing any beat of their choice. In today’s musical climate, where half of the industry is independent music, Abe is excited to see the potential success as creators have access to this newly formed collaboration between both platforms.
