

The company has paid out over $50 million to producers since 2012, CEO Abe Batshon told CNBC Make It. Producers pay a monthly fee to use BeatStars and get to keep 100% of their sales revenue when artists buy their beats on the platform. Lil Nas X wrote "Old Town Road" himself using a beat he bought for just $30 on the online platform BeatStars.īeatStars is a digital marketplace that allows producers to sell their original beats to artists. While the song has catapulted Lil Nas X from aspiring musician in Georgia to global superstar, it didn't take much money at all to create the smash hit.


1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, "Old Town Road" pulls ahead of an elite group of songs that held the record for the longest reign on top. The 2017 Latin sensation "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber and "One Sweet Day" released by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men in 1995 previously shared the record at 16 weeks, according to Billboard.
