How Much Should You Charge for Beats? (2026 Pricing Guide)

"How much should I charge for my beats?" is the question I get most. The answer: more than you think, with a structure that gives buyers a reason to pay more.

The short answer: what beats sell for in 2026

These are the ranges that actually close, based on what I have sold across 2,019 orders:

• Basic lease (MP3): $20 to $30
• Standard lease (WAV + stems): $40 to $60
• Premium lease (unlimited distribution): $80 to $150
• Exclusive rights: $150 to $500, and higher once you have a name buyers recognize

Where you land inside those ranges comes down to three things: how many reviews you have, what genre you work in, and what the buyer actually walks away with. Run your tiers through the free pricing calculator and it shows your take-home after platform fees, which is the number that actually matters.

How much is a beat lease?

A lease is the cheapest thing on your menu because you sell it over and over. Most producers price a basic MP3 lease at $20 to $30, and a WAV-plus-stems lease at $40 to $60.

What pushes a lease toward the top of that range comes down to what the license permits:

• Distribution cap. A 2,000-stream cap is a cheap lease. Unlimited distribution is a premium one, and buyers who are serious will pay for it.
• File format. MP3 only is entry level. WAV plus tracked-out stems is worth roughly double, because it is what a mixing engineer needs to work with.
• Monetization rights. Whether they can run ads on it, sell physical copies, or use it commercially at all.

Sell one lease a week at $45 and that is $2,340 a year from a single beat you made once. That is the whole argument for leasing.

How much do exclusive beats cost?

An exclusive means you stop selling that beat. One buyer, one payment, and it comes off your store. Because you are giving up every future lease on it, the price has to cover what you would otherwise have earned.

For most producers without placements, exclusives sit between $150 and $500. Producers with credits charge four figures and up. If someone offers you $50 for an exclusive, they are asking you to sell a beat that could earn $2,000 in leases for the price of one lease.

The rule I use: an exclusive should cost at least ten times your standard lease. If your standard is $50, your exclusive floor is $500. You can go under that for a buyer you want a long relationship with, but know what you are giving up when you do.

Lease vs exclusive: know the difference

Your price depends on what the buyer gets:

• Non-exclusive lease: the buyer uses the beat, you keep ownership and sell it to others. Lower price, sold many times.
• Exclusive rights: the buyer owns the beat and you remove it from sale. Higher price, because you sell it once.

One beat earns more through many leases than a single exclusive. Exclusives bring the big one-time paydays. Keep both on the menu. For what each license actually grants and what to put in your terms, read exclusive vs lease beats.

What beginners should charge

If you are starting with few or no reviews, skip the $5 price. It signals low quality and traps you. A realistic starting structure:

• Basic lease (MP3): $20 to $30
• Standard lease (WAV + stems): $40 to $60
• Exclusive or custom: $150+

As your reviews and reputation grow, every number goes up. I started near these figures and raised prices as demand grew. The trick is raising them without losing your existing clients, and there is a specific way to do that.

The three-tier structure that prints money

Never offer a single price. Offer three tiers. The middle tier anchors the buyer, and the top tier makes the middle look reasonable:

1. Basic: the entry point that gets people in the door.
2. Standard: your best value, where most buyers land. Set this as your target price.
3. Premium: exclusive or full production. Few buy it, and it makes Standard feel like a deal.

Set the three numbers in the pricing calculator before you publish them anywhere. Seeing the middle tier take-home next to the other two is usually what convinces producers their Standard is priced too low.

Don't forget platform fees

If you sell on a marketplace like Fiverr, it takes a cut. Fiverr keeps 20%, so a $50 order nets you $40. Price with the fee in mind so your take-home matches your goal.

This is where most producers underprice without noticing. A $30 lease on Fiverr is $24 in your pocket. If you needed $30, you had to charge $37.50.

Work out your own numbers

Instead of guessing, use the free beat pricing calculator I built. Plug in your tiers and it shows your take-home after fees, projects your monthly revenue, and tells you how many orders you need to hit an income goal. It is the same tool I reference in my courses, and it takes about a minute.

The bottom line

Charge based on outcomes and rights, not on how long the beat took you. Use three tiers, and raise prices as your proof grows. The genre-by-genre pricing maps and the scripts for raising prices without losing clients live in my producer courses. For the income streams beyond beats, see how to make money as a music producer.