Wednesday, February 07, 2007 Tagging Your Beats By nfx @ 1:30 PM :: 7521 Views :: 13 Comments :: :: Audio Production This is an area that can help sell beats. A tag is some kind of audio - usually spoken - that is layered over your beat. Often times it contains information about the beatmaker and/or his company. The primary reason for using a tag is to minimize people using the beat. Rappers would prefer an untagged beat for sure. So if you properly tag your beat, it might lead to a sale by a serious artist. The key word is SERIOUS. If a producer or rapper is serious about themselves they will invest in themselves. Rule #1 in tagging a beat: Do not use a stupid computerized sounding voice that can't be understood 90% of the time. The right way to tag a beat is to make it work with the song. Popular Soundclick beatmaker Ozone will use a tempo synchronized tag that says "T-T-T-Toxiq" referring to his company name. He does it leading into the hook. It blends in great with the beat and doesn't kill the groove. Another good way of tagging is an intro tag. If your beat has an intro section, just clearly state your info. "This beat was created by NFX at www.warbeats.com " thats it. The intro tag can be used with a tempo based tag as well. Finally you might consider an outro tag. Much like the intro tag, this can be just spoken word or a tempo based tag. I have put a beat on Soudnclick that demonstrate the three methods I think are good it contains an intro and outro tag as well as a tempo based "NFX" scratch that comes in before the chorus and in the middle of each verse. Listen to it here