Choosing the right Music Producer
Such a tricky subject, Choosing the right Music producer when nowadays “everyone” is a producer, when all you need is a laptop and some programs and presto ! you have a song, so why even bother looking for a producer who will probably charge most of your yearly savings to make just one song for you and in most cases, only talk to you again if you come up with the right budget?
The answer has many parts to it one of them being experience, knowledge and access to opening many doors musically that it can take years to learn and many hardships if you go on your own.
The right producer will be able to manifest the 100% of your potential as an artist, he will push you to create the best possible music, to sing your heart out and will not rest until he feels you have a great hit song or album in your hands. A crappy producer will just look to fill his pockets with a check and move on.
So how can I find the right music producer? Its not easy let me tell you that much but not hard nor impossible either, if you have done the right process with yourself of getting a clear picture of the artist you want to become at that moment and hopefully in the future -which I wrote about in my previous blog post-, shopping for the right producer is like going to buy a guitar at guitar center, There are various factors one of the most important ones being how much can you afford to pay for a song or album
Producers all have their unique sound, and that, in music production is like a trademark, it means they have a certain way of recording their music that has a similar flavor to it, think of it like the flavor that a chef has that is very much their own. So the first thing is to find a song of one of those artist you like and listen to the vibe, after that you can Google who the producer was and in most cases they will have a Facebook or website ( and the purpose of these pages is to do business) and websites have contact pages and forms and social media has messaging tags etc.
If you are trying a producer that is not known and Seeing now how many people are “producing” music what I do recommend that will save you time and money is to ask “who have you worked with?” or if they have any songs under their name, etc. If you have a starting budget for at least one song get in touch with that producer and show them your demos (demos can also be cover songs of other artists), if the producer decides to make you his client or artist then the process of selecting the right song will begin.
Yes the myth that you can access a good producer only if they meet you and like you etc., that can be true in some cases but in most cases, if you can pay for the fees of what that particular producer charges for a song or album you are in. A music producer’s job is that of producing music so like anyone they have bills to pay and mouths to feed and pretty big ones sometimes, so if you come to them as a client they will most likely hear what you’re about.
<center/p>In Most cases:
An average producer (meaning average not because they cannot make good music but because they are still not recognized in the industry) will charge anywhere from 3K to 5K per song
A Good producer will probably charge between 8K and 12K per song
And a Mega producer can go up to levels of 35K per song and higher.
Obviously if the producer decides to take you in and you are starting out as an independent than he will probably give you a brake to get the party started, and I know Mega producers that do like to help artists out and give them good deals in reference to what they would normally charge, but they really have to believe in you or see a lot of talent or a route to business for them to do it for free which hardly ever happens.
So the story of the guy who is playing at a Bar and gets picked up by a producer and becomes famous is not true? Yes it is and how that works is that some producers have good relationships with record label executives who are the modern music investors, and since that producer has delivered hits for that label and made them a lot of money in the past, these executives trust their judgment and may decide to invest in the artist and pay the producer for a song or an album, but the producer gets paid, if not by the artist, by the label and this is a long process between paperwork and getting things in place, so its best to start saving up.
Many producers have songwriters in their pool of friends so if you do not have any song the producer considers a hit, he will probably sit you down with you or have one of his expert songwriters co-write with you until you have a song that can carry the weight of your success. Because if there is something you want to learn about a Great producer and one who is not, its that they will always tell you that the song (music and lyrics) is the most important piece of the puzzle and which we will discuss in the following chapter.
So a question is should I show the producer my original music or cover songs? I would say show your best material, be it covers or originals, but you need to show what you can do as a performer and what you can do vocally. After that the process of selecting a good song becomes the core of the production
So to summarize I would say that finding the right producer to start your project has four steps.
1. Save up some dough $$$(more or less depending on how high you want to go)
2. Check out who the producer of the songs you like is and Google the name , see if they have a website or Facebook page.
3. Send them a message in the position of a client.
4. Meet up with the producer, show them your material and see if you have a vibe and if you have the goods for whatever that producer demands.
Don’t hesitate to leave me your comments and questions and if you would like to listen to my latest production you can Click Here
