What does a Music Producer do?
We have many people asking us what the role of a music producer is. Even after watching some of the hundreds of record producer video interviews here the job description of a music producer is very varied. To help students we thought we'd answer the question:
What does a music producer do and how do I become a music producer?
The music producer is a project manager, someone who helps arrange the session, for example where to record that will get the most from the artist. The record producer also is the person that helps the band or artist to realise their vision but also brings a perspective and experienced ear to the session. Most people would agree that a great producer takes the ingredients (the song, the band etc) and makes the record greater than the sum of its parts.
Many producers will get involved with musical arrangement, even contributing towards the songwriting. Other producers will have little involvement apart from ensuring the arist is well recorded.
Each producer brings different skills to the mix, some artists need someone to hold their hand, others need someone to reassure, some need a mentor, others need someone to bring perspective. This all makes defining the role of a music producer very hard to do as producers are different things to different people. All that we can say is that a good producer really makes a difference and if the partnership is a good one, it can help you get that hit record!
We have recorded hundreds of interviews with leading producers and by watching them you'll find that there is generally a common theme, most producers are good 'people' people and that they have great technical or musical experience. The key thing for an artist is to find the producer that helps them perform and create to the best of their ability and that often comes down to chemistry. We've found that many musicians have had a list of potential producers to work with and then have watched their features here and quickly figured who they 'relate' to. Meeting a producer to chat is always a good thing to do before going in to a studio with them.
We firmly believe that every record needs a producer, it's all down to finding the right one!