Abe Batshon has been buying beats online since the mid-’90s.
Back then, he recalls, the process was fundamentally broken. You’d send payment to a producer and then wait days, sometimes weeks, for a CD containing studio files to arrive in the mail.
“Creativity doesn’t work on that kind of timeline,” Batshon tells us. “Inspiration strikes instantly, and the system wasn’t built for that.”
Fast forward to today, and Batshon’s BeatStars platform, used by 10 million creators, has played a big role in transforming how beats are bought, sold, and licensed globally.
The company has paid out over $400 million to creators worldwide to date, with 1.5 million tracks downloaded monthly from its marketplace of 11 million-plus beats.
Meanwhile, BeatStars music has become what Batshon calls “the soundtrack of this era,” powering viral hits that spread globally through short-form video platforms overnight. Batshon tells us that 82 tracks featuring production by Beatstars Publishing members have reached the Billboard Hot 100.
Among them are producer Ian James, who made the beat for Doechii’s Denial Is A River, BigXThaPlug’s The Largest, co-produced by Beatstars Publishing member Tony Coles, and Lucas Scharff, the producer behind the beat for Lil Tecca’s Dark Thoughts.
The platform is also well known for being the source of the beat for Lil Nas X’s 2019 global megahit Old Town Road.
But BeatStars isn’t just a beats marketplace anymore. Under Batshon’s leadership, it has evolved into what he describes as “a complete ecosystem: a studio in the cloud, a business hub, a publishing partner, a rights agency, and a community where creators can build sustainable careers.”
The company has also positioned itself at the forefront of the music industry’s AI shakeup, taking what Batshon calls a “dual approach” – embracing innovation through partnerships with AI music creation platform Lemonaide, while simultaneously protecting creators’ rights through a deal with Sureel to prevent unauthorized AI training on BeatStars’ catalog.
“We believe you don’t have to choose between innovation and protection – you can do both,” Batshon tells us.
And his ultimate goal? To help one million creators earn a living through the platform. “That’s the north star,” he says. “Every product we build, every partnership we make, is about making that possible.”
Here, Batshon discusses BeatStars’ evolution, the changing dynamics between labels and independent creators, AI’s dual role as both tool and threat, and his vision for the future of music entrepreneurship.
“I want BeatStars to be known as the global hub for music entrepreneurship,” he tells us.
“Not just a marketplace for beats, but the place where a creator can build an entire career from the ground up — creating, protecting, distributing, and monetizing their art.”
Over to Abe…
What inspired you to start BeatStars, and how did you identify the gap in the music production marketplace?
I’ve been buying beats online since the mid-90s — probably one of the first to do it. Back then, the process was broken. You’d make a payment and wait days, sometimes weeks, for a CD with studio files to arrive. Creativity doesn’t work on that kind of timeline. Inspiration strikes instantly, and the system wasn’t built for that.
“BeatStars was born out of a vision to fix both of those problems: to build a faster, fairer way for artists to access beats and for producers to actually own their work.”
At the same time, I saw producers — even some of the most respected ones — locked into deals that stripped away their rights, credits, and publishing. That wasn’t success, it was exploitation.
BeatStars was born out of a vision to fix both of those problems: to build a faster, fairer way for artists to access beats and for producers to actually own their work.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in the early days of building the platform?
The first challenge was cultural. In those days, beats were guarded like gold. They lived inside studio sessions, not on the internet. Convincing established producers to take the leap and upload them publicly was tough.
Luckily, visionaries like Domingo Padilla, Shaun Bless, Focus…, and Havoc of Mobb Deep believed in the mission early and helped prove it could work.
Team BeatStars
The second challenge was education. Artists had to learn what non-exclusive licensing really meant — that they could release music commercially, keep 100% of their master royalties, and still share publishing on their songs. For producers, it meant monetizing one beat multiple times instead of once. It took time, but once the community understood the power of that model, it unlocked an entirely new economy for music.
How has your vision for BeatStars evolved since you first launched the company?
The mission has stayed the same: empower creators to become successful entrepreneurs. But the vision has expanded.
At first, BeatStars was a fair marketplace for buying and selling beats. Today, it’s a complete ecosystem: a studio in the cloud, a business hub, a publishing partner, a rights agency, and a community where creators can build sustainable careers. Whether you’re uploading your first beat or generating millions in sales, BeatStars is built to support that journey.
How has the music production landscape changed since BeatStars launched, and where do you see it heading?
When we started, the industry was still closed. Producers had to be in certain rooms, with certain budgets, to be heard. Today, production is global and decentralized. A kid in Lagos can collaborate with an artist in Atlanta in minutes.
Technology has made music creation borderless. What hasn’t changed is the human element: the taste, the ear, the emotion that makes music connect. No tool — not even AI — replaces that. The future belongs to creators who know how to harness both technology and humanity to make timeless music.
What role do you think platforms like BeatStars play in democratizing music creation?
BeatStars helped create this new independent music economy. Before us, there was no scalable way for producers to license beats directly to artists, get paid instantly, and manage collaboration royalties transparently. We pioneered those systems, and they’ve become the backbone of today’s creator-driven industry.
That democratization means independence. It means a young producer uploading their first beat and a superstar licensing that beat are playing on the same field. It’s not just access — it’s self-determination. And that’s what changes lives.
How do you view the relationship between traditional record labels and independent producers/artists today?
The dynamic has shifted from dependence to partnership. Labels now know the next big record can start on BeatStars — many of them scout directly from our charts. At the same time, independent producers and artists have proven they can build thriving careers without a label’s stamp of approval.
That gives creators leverage. Today, independence isn’t the backup plan. In many cases, it’s the smarter, more profitable first choice. Labels still matter, but they’re no longer the gatekeepers — they’re collaborators in a creator-led ecosystem.
What impact has AI-generated music had on your platform and the broader production community?
AI has been both a spark and a scare. On one hand, it’s unlocking new creative tools, breaking beat blocks, and making it easier for producers without traditional training to experiment. Our partnership with Lemonaide alone has helped hundreds of thousands of creators generate new ideas faster.
But it also raises serious questions about ownership, ethics, and exploitation. For us, the guiding principle is simple: AI should serve creators, not replace them and that’s why at BeatStars we focus on giving them tools that inspire while protecting their rights.
BeatStars has been very active in the AI space, especially via your partnership with Lemonaide. You also partnered with Sureel to protect creators from unauthorized AI training. How do you navigate this dual approach of embracing AI innovation while protecting creators’ intellectual property rights?
We believe you don’t have to choose between innovation and protection — you can do both.
With Lemonaide, we’re showing what ethical AI looks like: models trained only on music from producers who opt in and get compensated. It’s a tool for inspiration, not exploitation.
With Sureel, we’re safeguarding our catalog from being scraped without consent. That sends a clear message: technology innovation is welcome at BeatStars, but only if it respects the people who power it.
Looking ahead, how do you envision AI tools evolving on BeatStars and in the industry generally?
AI is becoming not only a “generative” tool but also a powerful “assistive” mechanism to scale productivity. Instead of replacing creators, it will become their co-pilot — helping with arrangement, sound design, mixing, mastering and discovery.
On BeatStars, we see AI as a way to remove friction from the creative process and make the hardest parts of a creator’s journey easier. But the heartbeat of music — the taste, the storytelling, the emotion — will always come from humans.
Can you explain BeatStars’ revenue model and how you’ve balanced creator earnings with platform sustainability?
Our business is built to align directly with creator success. Most of our revenue comes from subscriptions, where creators pay for advanced tools to run their businesses.
We also take only a small fee on sales, so the majority of revenue stays with the producer or artist. In addition, we generate revenue from our Promote service, which helps creators market their work, and from music publishing administration.
“That alignment is by design. If our creators don’t thrive, neither do we. Sustainability for us means building a model where growth and fairness always go hand in hand.”
That alignment is by design. If our creators don’t thrive, neither do we. Sustainability for us means building a model where growth and fairness always go hand in hand.
Could you please share an update on what BeatStars has paid out to creators to date?
We’ve now paid out over $400 million to creators worldwide. But it’s more than a number — it represents rent paid, student loans cleared, day jobs quit, and entire families supported through music.
That’s the real milestone: proving that independence can pay the bills and fuel dreams at the same time.
What trends are you seeing in the market that we should know about?
The biggest trend is the rise of the creator-entrepreneur. Artists and producers today don’t just want to make music — they want to own their business. That means diversifying income streams through licensing, merch, memberships, services, and syncs.
Another huge shift is cultural: music is being discovered in short-form video at an unprecedented scale. BeatStars music has become the soundtrack of this era — powering hits that spread globally overnight.
And finally, there’s the darker trend: piracy and unauthorized AI scraping. That’s why protecting creator rights is just as important as helping them monetize. Both sides of the equation matter if this ecosystem is going to last.
What advice do you give to producers about building sustainable careers in music production?
Treat your art like a business. Making great beats is the starting point, not the finish line. The producers who thrive are consistent, they build a recognizable brand, they engage their fans, and they understand marketing, publishing, and rights.
My advice: be as entrepreneurial as you are creative. If you can combine those two skill sets, you can build a sustainable career on your own terms.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned as a CEO?
That your community is your greatest teacher. Every breakthrough we’ve had has come from listening to our creators — their needs, their struggles, their dreams.
The resilience and creativity of this community constantly remind me that if you build with them, not just for them, you’ll never lose your way.
If there was one thing you could change about the music business, what would it be and why?
I’d eliminate the confusion and delays around payments. Too many creators still don’t know when or how they’ll get paid, and too much of their money gets trapped in outdated systems.
My dream is instant, transparent payment for every creator, no matter where they live or how big they are. That’s the kind of fairness we’re building toward at BeatStars.
