What does a record producer do?

Image by The Daily Ornellas

I mostly manage songwriters and producers these days - so I found this short piece to be solid and useful advice.

So often a band these days will come to us thinking that because they have the equipment and some (pretty good) skills, they can record, produce and mix their own record.

And, some can - to a degree.

But, what people often forget is that production and engineering is a skill, like any other, that can be perfected and honed over many years practice - Malcolm Gladwell and his 10,000 hours (Google that if you don't know what I'm on about!).

So, whilst you might well have a great little studio set up (the democratisation of the means of production being a laudable step in the right direction for the music biz), and may be able to produce a pretty good sounding track or two, that doesn't mean that you wouldn't benefit from a producer.

Give it some thought.

The best way I know to describe what a producer does comes in the form of this analogy: A producer is to a recording as a director is to a film. When it comes to making a film, the buck essentially stops with the director.

In a film, the director steers the ship, working with everyone from the technical editors to the actors in order to achieve his or her overall vision of the movie. It is exactly that way with a producer when it comes to making a recording.

The producer have the experience to work with the studio engineer (often possessing the technical expertise to engineer the project themselves) and the musical understanding to help the artist with everything from song choice, structure and arrangement to the all-important vocal performances that are vital in giving a recording its personality. In short, a producer provides the experience and necessary perspective to guide a recording from start to finish.

Read this piece from Serve the Song in full here.