WHAT DO MUSIC PRODUCERS ACTUALLY DO?
The roles of a music producer have changed
When people hear the term “music producer”, there are many images that pop into one’s mind. One of those images is a man behind an array of buttons, knobs, and switches, slowly crafting the song and guiding the artist in their musical creation journey. Another image, perhaps one more common, is a man sitting in his bedroom behind a pair of Rokit KRK5’s playing around with samples he found on Reddit. In this day and age, the latter image is becoming more and more common. The creation of the modern-day laptop and Internet has given anyone the ability to create - whether it’s drawing graphics, producing music, or dropshipping from Alibaba. With a change in production tools also comes a change in the roles of a music producer.
The roles of a music producer (before)
To keep this short and sweet, I’ll be writing down bullet points on the roles of a music producer in the past.
guiding an artist/band through the recording process
ex. choosing which guitar(s) to use, deciding which instruments should play at which parts, asking the vocalist to sing in a different style to match the emotion of the song, etc.
figuring out what is necessary, what is extra, and what is unnecessary in the production of a song
turning an artist’s idea into a comprehensive and sophisticated idea using the tools available
providing assurance and being supportive of the artist during their creative struggles
understanding everyone’s role in the production process and the boundaries of those roles
The roles of a music producer (Now)
To keep this short and sweet, I’ll be writing down bullet points on the roles of a music producer in the present. - pretty much every bullet point mentioned above in addition to
recording the singer and other instruments, mixing the song, mastering the song, deciding which microphone to record with, deciding which headphones and speakers to use for playback, doing sound treatment for your room, coordinating schedules with the artist to find recording time, marketing the song, finding songwriters to help write the song, writing the song, paying for Spotify promotion, finding artwork, downloading synths, finding new plugins, downloading new samples, sampling things in your house, reading up-to-date manuals on how to use the software, learning about new programs and synths, watching hours and hours of Mix With The Masters, watching Twitch streams for music feedback and production, figuring out social media, studying SEO, finding new clients, learning about hashtags, learning how to cook (self-explanatory but will write about in the future!), taking care of your health (both physical and mental), learning how to work with different types of people, being independent, and staying positive and always hustling.
As you can probably tell
The modern-day music producer has more responsibilities than before. A BIG reason for this is the pace of technology advancement and the power of tools we have access to today. This is why many roles in the music production sphere have combined. For example, a recording engineer (someone who solely focuses on the recording process) might also be handling the production for this song. Another example is a producer who is also the artist (this is the most common) - not only does this person need to understand music production, they also need to have an understanding of social media, growing a following, and all the other tasks an artist has to deal with.
Another cause of this combining of roles is the overwhelming competition in the music industry. It’s almost expected that anyone in the industry should be capable of doing any of the roles. For example, many A&Rs have backgrounds in music management, music production, or are artists themselves. Personally, I have experience in public relations, music management, music production, playlist curation, and music business - not trying to flex but these were all skills that I HAD to learn for either an internship or for school.
