MUSIC PRODUCTION

Music production is the process by which music is created, captured, manipulated, and preserved so that it can be distributed and enjoyed.

What Does a Music Producer Do?

The role of a music producer has always been a somewhat nebulous one. Increasingly it can mean a number of vastly different things. Is someone who programs a beat a producer? Yes. Is someone who takes calls, coordinates meetings, and gets artists signed to labels a producer? Yes. Is someone who plays bass, co-writes songs, and mediates disputes between band members a producer? Yes.

A music producer holds many roles, but here are the four most vital:

1. Schedule and Budget

First, the producer’s responsibility is to schedule a recording session within the appointed budget and then lead the musicians through that schedule in an efficient manner. Additionally, they guarantee the successful technical and artistic completion of the project.

In many ways, it is the primary reason a music producer is given the job. They have demonstrated by their work that they are a professional, capable of making a successful record and submitting the finished product exactly on the contractually-agreed-upon date. For a larger commercial recording project for a major label—or a smaller but well-financed label—the completion date is a critical part of a larger schedule. The process includes manufacturing, marketing, and publicity schedules that will coordinate to launch the record’s release (or “street date”).

In the case of a lower budget, “indie,” or personal project, having an experienced producer oversee completion is a good idea. For example, they can act as a hedge against the artist insisting on further overdubbing, or endless remixing, which is (unfortunately) the cause of many records never coming out. Therefore, a music producer’s credo must be “OTOB”: On Time and On Budget.

2. Shaping the Music

This second responsibility revolves around the question of how a producer takes the raw material of an artist’s song and transforms it into a finished recording. This function is both artistic and commercial. It must express the artist’s musical and emotional intent, but must also reach a broad audience.

George Martin opined that the producer is the person “who actually puts the frame around everything, presents it to the public, and says ‘This is what it is.’” It’s the producer’s taste that makes it what it is.

3. Supervising Performance

The producer must know how to identify and obtain the best performances from the individual members of the group. There is an assumption that, if it moves you, it can move other listeners. For the producer, trusting this emotional response is a quintessential function. The confidence to say, “I like this one,” is at the heart of a producer’s role. They apply the same critical function at virtually every stage of the recording process. From the decision that a particular backing track performance has the right feeling and energy, to the approval of a guitar solo, and the sound of the various instruments coming through the monitors, all come back to the producer, who must make that judgment.