Beat Leases: What You Get, What the Producer Keeps, and Exclusive Rights

The short version

A beat lease is a non-exclusive license to record and release your own song over an instrumental a producer has already made, while the producer keeps owning the beat and can lease it to anyone else. Most leases cap how far the song can go (streams, sales, music videos) and set rules for credit and monetization.

You own what you add, but never the beat inside it, and the producer usually takes a share of the song itself, which belongs on a split sheet.

What is a beat lease?

A license is permission to use something the owner keeps owning. A beat lease is that permission for a beat sold off the shelf: the producer posts an instrumental, and any number of artists can buy the right to record over it. Because the license is non-exclusive, two artists can release two different songs on the same beat, and both can be in the right.

The terms are the seller's own, chosen beat by beat. BeatStars' blog says its default contract types are Regular (non-exclusive), Exclusive and Free, with free contracts limited to non-commercial use (BeatStars, August 2022). A beat made to order for you is a different deal, closer to a producer agreement.

What license tiers do beat sellers offer?

Usually a ladder of non-exclusive tiers, priced by file quality and usage caps, with an exclusive license on top. Airbit's help page says there are really only two types, and that every license other than exclusive, "Unlimited" included, is non-exclusive whatever it is called (Airbit).

What each tier includes is the seller's choice. Two independent producers' published terms, read on October 16, 2026, show how far they differ (one; the other):

• MP3 lease. An untagged MP3: 250,000 streams and 2,000 copies with no YouTube monetization at one; 100,000 streams, 1,000 copies and one music video at the other.
• WAV lease. Adds an uncompressed WAV and raises the caps: 500,000 streams and 4,000 copies, or 200,000 streams, 2,000 copies and two videos.
• Trackout lease. Adds the stems, the separate drum, bass and melody files, with caps of 2,000,000 or 500,000 streams. The second seller includes stems at every tier.
• Unlimited lease. No stream or sales cap, still non-exclusive. The first seller allows YouTube monetization and TV and film sync only here.
• Exclusive license. The beat comes off the store. What the buyer gets varies more than any other tier.

What limits does a beat lease set?

Each of these is stated in the license, if it applies:

• Usage caps: audio streams, video plays, copies sold, music videos, radio stations, paid performances, often counted separately.
• A term. Songtrust describes leases with "a term or stream limit" that are renewed once met, for example a one-year lease capped at one million streams. Neither seller above states a term.
• Credit in set words, such as "Produced by" and the producer's name.
• Monetization: whether a YouTube video may earn ads, and whether the song may go into film, TV or ads (sync).
• No resale of the beat itself.

Past the cap, you are using the beat outside the license, so the usual move is to upgrade or renew before reaching it.

Who owns a leased beat, and who owns your song?

The producer owns the beat, the recording and the music in it. As Airbit puts it, "you are only leasing the beat."

Your song is a derivative work built on the beat. Under 17 U.S.C. section 103(b), its copyright "extends only to the material contributed by the author" and "does not imply any exclusive right in the preexisting material." So your lyrics, your part of the melody and your vocal recording are yours (subject to any share the license gives the producer). BeatStars' blog says its non-exclusive contracts let the artist "own your masters," meaning the new recording. The beat inside it stays the producer's, usable only while the license lasts.

When the lease ends, the song cannot keep the beat. The master vs composition guide explains the two copyrights.

Does the producer get a share of the composition?

Usually. A beat carries music (chords, melody, sometimes the hook), so its producer is a writer of every song made on it. BeatStars tells producers that a non-exclusive contract means "you'll own a piece of the composition in each new track that is created with your beat," and that after an exclusive sale the producer still keeps the composition and a share of the new track's publishing.

The size varies. Songtrust reports that some producers treat a 50 percent writing credit as typical on a non-exclusive license, and that an exclusive buyer may be given 80 percent of the writing share.

Record whatever was agreed on a split sheet and register the song to match. Some licenses limit registration too: one seller above allows registration with a performing rights organization only on an exclusive, crediting the producer as composer.

What changes when someone buys exclusive rights?

The beat comes off the market and no new leases are sold. Earlier leases usually keep running under their own terms: BeatStars' blog says previous non-exclusive buyers "can still monetize their tracks," Songtrust says earlier licenses stay valid until they expire, and both sellers above say the same.

Federal law points the same way. An exclusive license is a "transfer of copyright ownership" under 17 U.S.C. section 101, and needs a writing signed by the owner (section 204(a)); a non-exclusive license is not a transfer. Section 205(e) says a non-exclusive license in a written instrument signed by the owner prevails over a later conflicting transfer if it "was taken before execution of the transfer." Whether a particular checkout license meets that test is a question for an attorney.

For the exclusive buyer, three things are worth knowing:

• The beat may already be on other songs, which stay out.
• The copyright in the beat may or may not move. One seller above calls the buyer's recording a work made for hire, a label that may not hold for a recording; others grant exclusive use while the producer keeps ownership.
• The producer usually keeps a writer's share.

For a lessee, what varies is the upgrade: one seller lets an MP3 or WAV lessee past the cap buy new rights after an exclusive sale, the other allows upgrades only before it.

Can I upload a song with a leased beat to Spotify and YouTube?

Usually, within the license: streaming distribution is what most leases are for, up to the cap. Check whether YouTube monetization is included at your tier.

Content ID causes trouble in two directions:

• You cannot register the song. YouTube requires "exclusive rights to the material in the reference file" and lists content "licensed non-exclusively from a third party" as ineligible (YouTube Help). Ditto Music's page, updated March 6, 2026, names leased beats, and also an exclusive beat previously sold to others on non-exclusive terms (Ditto Music).
• Your video can be claimed. Some producers register their beats in Content ID (one seller above does, and clears buyers on proof of purchase), and another lessee who wrongly registered a song on the same beat can trigger claims too. YouTube allows a dispute when you have "all the necessary rights to the content in your video" (YouTube Help), so keep the license and receipt.

What if the beat contains a sample?

A lease covers only what the producer owns. If the beat uses a sample of someone else's record, that owner's rights are untouched. Lil Nas X bought the "Old Town Road" beat from YoungKio for $30 "with limited distribution rights"; it used part of Nine Inch Nails' "34 Ghosts IV," and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross share writing credit (Good Morning America, August 2019). See sample clearance.

What are the red flags in a beat license?

• No license document, only a download link.
• A free or tagged beat released commercially.
• Nothing on samples, or a beat you can hear a sample in.
• A cap well below your plans for the song, with no upgrade path.
• Silence on the producer's share of the composition.
• An "exclusive" that does not say what transfers or how many leases came before it.
• Beats registered in Content ID with no stated way for buyers to clear a claim.
• A term that ends while your song is still out.

Common questions

Who owns a leased beat?

The producer. You own what you added, such as your lyrics, melody and vocal recording, but you have no rights in the beat beyond what the license grants, and only for as long as it lasts.

What is the difference between an exclusive and a non-exclusive beat?

A non-exclusive lease can be sold to any number of artists. An exclusive license takes the beat off the market for new buyers, but leases sold earlier usually continue and the producer often keeps a share of the composition.

Can I upload a leased beat to Spotify?

Usually yes, up to the stream cap your license sets. Leased beats are not eligible for YouTube Content ID, so the release is normally kept out of it at the distributor.

What happens if I go over the stream limit?

You are then using the beat outside the license. Most sellers offer an upgrade to a higher tier, though some allow it only until an exclusive license is sold.

Can someone else use the same beat?

Yes, if it was leased. Any number of artists can release songs on a non-exclusive beat, and those songs can stay out after an exclusive sale.

Why did my song get a Content ID claim?

Either the producer registered the beat or another artist registered a song on it. You can dispute a claim when you hold the necessary rights, and many producers clear buyers who send their license and receipt.

Where keysig fits

keysig does not draft beat leases or exclusive beat licenses. A beat bought online comes with the seller's own license, and its terms decide what you can do with the song.

keysig drafts the agreements around it:

• Split Sheet, to record the producer's share and everyone else's. It records each contributor's share (all shares must total 100 percent, for up to eight contributors), what each contributed, with production as one option, and each writer's PRO and IPI where they have them.
• Producer Agreement, for a beat made for you. It asks the fee, the points, whether anyone gets a share of the song, whether the track uses samples and who clears them, and who owns the recording: a work made for hire, or the producer keeping ownership and licensing it to the artist, exclusively or not.
• Sample Clearance Agreement, for permission to use a sample.

keysig is not a law firm. Before paying for an exclusive license, signing with a label, licensing the song for film, TV or ads, or answering a claim against it, have an entertainment attorney read the license.