Become a Professional Music Producer

Working in the world of music is both fun and challenging. Most wannabe music pros, however, fail during their climb to the top. Think of a music producer as someone who is the project manager of all things related to music recording, someone who can produce something larger than the sum of all the musical parts. With the right knowledge and preparation, you can help artists work to their potential and you can be a professional music producer.

Steps

Becoming Musically Fluent

1. Learn how to play an instrument. Knowing the ins and outs of music production is secondary to learning about music. You should understand music composition and theory. Comprehending sheet music would be very beneficial. Aim for one of the following four common band instruments:
   • Pianos are perfect for any genre and any song. With newer pianos and synthesizers, any number of sounds can be made to reproduce the desired sounds. But in terms of just melody, a piano is perfect to work on a song, accompany a voice, or find pitch.
   • The drums are key to timing of music. The drummer should be the band’s metronome, and all others should follow that lead. With a bad drummer, the performance is sure to suffer.
   • Guitars are in pretty much every band. Find out which chords are most popular/common, and learn to play them. Being able to pick guitar chords out of a song shows a good musical ear.
   • Playing the bass is a classically overlooked skill. The bass is often the tempo for the rhythm section, and is a great foundation for any song you may produce.
2. Work on song arrangement changes. Part of being a good producer is knowing and understanding why a song needs to be changed. Finding the subtle nuance that makes a song memorable or exciting is a talent that must be fine-tuned. Your skill must be such that you can propose a change to an artist’s song and make it better. Here are a few possible ways to change up your arrangement:
   • Try changing up the choruses from time to time.
   • Experiment with unorthodox instruments for a unique sound.
   • Drop the music and let there be a vocal focal point for a moment.
3. Select great songs. Knowing about music is one thing, but having an ear for hits is another. Gathering ideas for song selection, as well as session musicians, is critical when finding the next big thing. Analyze trends in music, top hits, and songs getting lots of airplay.
   • Study the top ten religiously. Look at the types of songs that are hits.
   • Research which song-writers have the ear of the public at the moment.
4. Read everything you can about music. Being immersed in music production means you are up to date on all facts about the industry. You’ll learn the best ways to record, the best songwriting techniques, and you’ll be better prepared to identify talent if you are more educated in the field.
5. Billboard, Variety, and Rolling Stone are great for general music interests.
   • Future Music and Sound on Sound" are magazines specifically targeting music production.

Overseeing the Studio Performance

1. Learn about recording software. Most of the digital software is very advanced, and tracks a variety of items like volume and range. Knowing how to read and exploit the meters – for instance, K-Meters identify greater range use, and VU meters display average volume – helps use dynamic range better, calibrating music to sound better and be heard more easily. One popular recording software is Pro Tools, which controls just about anything necessary in music production.
2. Familiarize yourself with audio engineering. You could take a class or clinic to learn all the ins and outs. You must understand how to use microphones, speakers, amps, mixing boards, and a variety of other supplementary items. A few other typical items to consider:
   • Compressors are used to make recordings sound better. They keep the levels between soft and loud sounds better tuned for the human ears.
   • Preamps take a signal coming from a microphone and prepares it by boosting, cleaning, or adjusting the signal before it gets to the actual amplifier.
   • Using an equalizer works to clean up the signal. It handles some bass/treble functions, and reduces feedback.
3. Coach the artists and musicians. At times a producer must inspire and provoke an artist towards greatness. It’s not always about mixing music and the technical aspects. Some producer skills could be based purely on motivation and drawing out the best in each performer.
   • Spark their intrinsic motivation desires by providing songs they like or are good at.
   • Motivate extrinsically by promising more studio time or pay bonuses for completing songs on time or for practicing consistently.
4. Supervise and oversee recording sessions. You’ll have to find the right studio, book it, pay for it, schedule the timeline for usage, and work out all the additional details. You’ll need to pay the studio’s sound engineer, and work out financing for any additional equipment that needs to be brought into the facility. There are a few details that are crucial before getting into the studio.
   • Determine the focus of the recording session. Is the purpose to record a hit single or an entire album?
   • Ensure all the writing is done before getting into the studio. You don’t want to waste everyone’s time, and a lot of money, waiting on specific lyrics to be worked out.
   • Make sure all your equipment is functional. Waiting on an equipment malfunction to be fixed is not ideal, and finding a replacement in time could be very expensive.
   • Plan for any sort of compatibility issues. Bring all plug-ins, conversion tools, and whatever else you need to simulate your home studio.
5. Oversee the audio mixing. Whether it’s an old-school record scratch or the blending of a midi sample, digital producers often have to remix sound. Balancing levels and sending sound between speakers (i.e. spanning) can make or break a song. Make the instrument and sound balance perfect for each song through expert mixing.
   • Select excellent gear (e.g. microphones, studio monitors) that make the music sound as clear as possible.
   • Choose a location that is acoustically brilliant. Tailor the room to amplify the sound ability.
   • Work through the songs to weed out the bad takes and highlight the good takes. Finding the best performance is critical.
6. Master the mastering process. There are a ton of details to the mastering process, such as equalizing volume between tracks and keeping a consistent volume. It’s not all about simply putting the tracks in the right order. Use the following list to start your mastering process:
   • Shave off the unnecessary headers and footers to the songs. Just like a good DJ, finding the right groove between tracks is difficult and can be thrown off by too much empty space.
   • Clean up any other oddities or deficiencies, like feedback or clicks.

Creating a Client Base

1. Attend every performance you can. Successful producers are not only makers of entertainment, they are consumers. Attending lots of performances will help you separate the real talent from the weekend warriors, and will show you which bands and performers consistently attract large local crowds. Your constant presence will also show you’re a fan of the musician(s) you wish to sign.
2. Find the hot hangouts. Musicians typically have a favorite location to hang out. Find the locations they like to wind down at and gain their trust. Once you learn their tendencies, likes, and dislikes, it’s more likely they’ll have a positive image of you.
3. Be creative and different. Just because you can remake songs doesn't mean you are cut out for the industry. As in any service industry, particularly a highly competitive one such as this, you must offer a reason--and an easily discernible one--why a client should hire you rather than someone else.
   • Leverage a connection to a famous musician. It may be enticing to a new artist to potentially rub elbows with someone who has already climbed to the top.
   • Display your superior knowledge of a specific music genre. If you know everything about the industry, a new client may be prone to pick you. Try to memorize everything there is about the industry, including top hits, singers, timeframes, collaborations, and anything else that will sell your knowledge.
   • Outwork the competition. Show your dedication by always being available and answering all your client’s needs.
4. Define your target audience. Build a focused Build-a-Client-Base by narrowing down the clients you’d like to sign. For instance, if you’re in Nashville, you’ll have a much wider talent-base to choose from if you steer towards country music.
5. Network! Working with talented performers requires knowing those performers. The best way to gain this information is to reach out to friends, family, and acquaintances to see if they know anyone in music. Introduce yourself to people in the industry. Talk to as many people as possible, finding extroverted people along the way who have already made the connections.

Understanding the Market

1. Choose a market. Knowing your market well is paramount to success. Knowing your market means knowing its venues and its local talent. Immerse yourself in the "scene."
2. Visit recording studios in the area. A simple call to a studio can often get you a chance to attend a recording session. This will help you learn the recording process and the differences between different recording studios. Find out their prices, their specific equipment, and which performers record there. After visiting a few locations, you’ll know which is the preferred recording studio in the area with the most up-to-date technology.
   • If a professional producer is at the session, watch how they interact with the talent and the engineer. Being a producer usually involves mediating between the talent and the technicians. Good producers get results by making everyone comfortable so that they can do their best.
3. Talk to venue managers. Be sure to sell your ability to bring in quality talent that makes the venue profitable. Let the venue manager know why you’d like to book their location. There is a great variety of information you can glean from a venue manager.
   • Determine the cost to book. You won't negotiate prices for your talent, but gathering information here is important. Not only can you get the range of cost from the single location, but once you’ve been to a few venues, you’ll have a better understanding of which are overpriced and which are values.
   • Ask about their saturation. Find out whether or not they are consistently booked and you can not only find out whether you’re able to fit in, but also if they are a popular location.
   • See what nights are their busiest nights. Figuring when they are the busiest will give you a good idea of when you’d like to book your performer(s).
   • Query if there are any showcase events coming up. Maybe a festival or something similar? See if you can get into an event like this and put your act as an opener for a big name.
   • Ask about any specific policies for booking agents. If they have any minute detail that needs to be followed, forms to be filled out, days to meet with ownership or management, you’ll need to know all the details.
4. Talk to performers. This may seem like an obvious step, but you can gain very helpful information by talking to multiple performers at multiple gigs. Hand out business cards and ask a variety of questions.
   • Ask them about their pay for a gig. After a few answers, you should have a decent gauge on the going rates in the area.
   • Ask where they refuse to work. Learn which venues are considered too dirty or unprofessional to work in.
   • Find out which places have the best acoustics. Ask the musicians which locations they like the best. Ask which place really belts out the sound. This will help you steer towards the right venues and venue managers.

Tips

• Be familiar with the fees/compensation/commissions other local producers are charging their clients. You can make yourself more attractive to hire by undercutting those prices, and may be able to connect with newer venues/performers as a result.

Warnings

• The producer can be under constant pressure.
• Producing is a 24-hour job.
• The best professional equipment/hardware is expensive.
• There is a limited target market, and much competition.
• Producers earn an unsteady income/salary.
• There are some con artists in the industry.
• Music album sales have been declining.

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Sources and Citations

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