In this essay I am going to be focusing on the career path of a Music Producer. In short, this position is one that requires you to oversee the entire recording project, in all its different stages. But it isn’t as simple as that. You must work with the artist to get the best outcome for them and you. This involves having a good understanding of the equipment you are using to track the instruments and knowing what techniques work best for different situations and so many other skills. In this essay, I will explore the essential qualifications, skills and experiences needed to become a successful music producer, as well as its challenges you may face.
To get into this profession, you will need two things. Either previous experience in the studio or an academic qualification in the subject. Previous knowledge is needed as there are loads of different skills and equipment which require experience, to not only use them, but to problem solve and find ways to stop problems. The most common way people get experience at being an engineer/producer, is by getting an Academic Qualification from a university or a collage such as a BA in Music Production/sound Engineering. This is because they have professors that can guide you in the right direction, and you will be given the facilities to experiment, and gain experience with less of the consequence of the actual job. On the other hand, the other most common way you can gain this experience is being thrown in the deep end by getting work experience, where you can view another music producer at work, while making them tea. If you’re lucky you will be able to help with setting up and packing down microphones. Over time, you can work yourself up the ladder and get more involved until you can work as an assistant engineer and start to get more hands on. But by no means are those the only ways to produce music professionally. Lots of producers nowadays make home studios in their bedroom. This has become available through companies like Behringer, Scarlet and others making affordable equipment for the average consumer which can still have a professional sound. DAW’s such as Logic Pro X have also played a part in the standard of equipment rising, and now what we are able to use has become so good, that there is no need for the average musician to shell out £300 on a day in the studio.
There are many specific areas of knowledge that you must know, in order to go into this profession. Knowing about the music industry and the studio that you are working in are the most essential. A good example of this is the knowledge of equipment (including mics, DAW’s, Instruments, Amps) and how to maximise the quality of your recordings by using the equipment to their best ability. As well as this, over time the amount of music knowledge an engineer must know has also increased dramatically. Music theory and the ability to play instruments to a high level have become very valuable skills to have as a producer. If potentially you think there is something lacking in the song that could be added to the piece, you should be able to play and explain what and how to change it properly for the musician/band. As well as this, there is a lot of economical knowledge you must also be aware of, such as copyright law, and other parts of the music industry which may affect the artist you are working with, to help them as much as possible when creating the song.
Although many of the skills that are needed for this job are technical ones, a lot of what is needed for the customer is stuff like great time management and good communication to make sure that they have the best experience in the studio. This is crucial as it costs a lot of money to hire a studio and engineer, so you must make sure to get the best outcome possible through efficiency. An engineer/ music producer must showcase many of these qualities, such as creativity and attention to detail. Being able to look at things objectively helps create a well-rounded piece of work without many flaws, but this requires patience as a lot of these tasks can be mundane and take a long time to complete. Specifically, being adaptable is an incredibly important skill as it means that you can suit the customers wishes, while also being able to get the best outcome overall.
A typical day in the profession can fluctuate time wise, but most are longer than the typical 9-5. This is due to customers potentially wanting tracking, mixing and production being done all in one day which can be a very long and strenuous task, and depending on the skill of the musician, can sometimes take hours. The typical day in the profession would start at 9, where you would meet the artist and discuss what they aim to accomplish in the session. Once you decide what you want to do first, you would pull up your DAW and start setting up microphones and testing if they are all working properly and getting the sound which you desire. You would then track all the instruments over the course of the day, with an hour lunch break, as they day can be quite tiring. Once the tracking is done and you are happy with the takes, you would bring the band into the mixing room and discuss what style of production you would want on the track, and if there are any effects that are needed etc. This part of the process is important as it is where you can polish up the final product. Once you and the artist are happy, you should start packing away all the microphones/ equipment back into their cases to ensure they don’t get broken. Then you send either the stems or transfer the project onto a hard drive for the customer to use. During the day there will be many responsibilities to the customer that you need to take care of to ensure a good experience such as having good time management and being able to meet deadlines. In doing these simple tasks well, it will ensure a better relationship with your clients that will bring you more work in the future from not only that customer, but others which they have told about their great experience with you.
There are multiple different sources of income which you can make money within this career, but the amount can fluctuate quite a lot as it is a freelance job. The average salary of a Music Producer is on average *£41,000 per year, but this entirely depends on how much work you can find. If you are well known, you will be able to get more clients and therefor have a higher income. Apart from the obvious, which is working in a studio where you get paid a salaried position, there are other ways to have small amounts of income coming in as well. An essential one is copyrights. With the increase in streaming revenue, you can make money through holding onto your copyrights, which can give you a cut of the royalties that is split between the artists. You will also get more royalties through more contribution in the tracks. For example, maybe you play an instrument on the track? You would get more of the royalties from the song. Although these are not big earning incomes, long term they can earn you quite abit of money If the music is featured in ads, tv/films or being sampled by a different artist all together.
Overall, because it isn’t the highest paid job, it requires a lot of constant effort online and in person to secure clients and make sure that you are getting the work instead of the other thousands of studios/music producers in the country, so you need to make sure you know how to market yourself and stand out. The best way of doing this is by displaying a great online portfolio on all your social media. This massively helps with drawing the attention of other artists, as they can see the work you have previously done, and they can see if your strengths and personal style in production can complement their music writing. The key information you need to display on this is a brief intro of who you are and what you do, whether that is lots of different genres or just one that you specialize in. You then need to show clips of your best work to impress the customer. And then you need a link, such as a “link tree” on all your different advertising platforms, so potential customers can access all your different socials and have ways to contact you. Then finally, if you have all these things, you need to think about self promotion. This is essential as it is a way to stand out and be involved in the music community and make people aware of the work that you do. This personal brand that you make can help you meet new industry contacts, gain more clients, and boost your reputation, which will help you even more advertising wise. You can also gain attention from working with clients. Collaborating with the right artist can popularise your name if it’s successful, which is why some producers have name tags to make their music production recognisable to the average listener.
Intellectually Music production can be quite a challenging job. There are many things which you must keep up with in the industry, such as trends of different genres or equipment. For example, in 2020 The Weeknd released After Hours which had a missive influence on the mainstream music charts. Suddenly everyone started making 80’s inspired pop which massively changed the demand of production in the industry. Being early to an upcoming trend can massively boost your success. Also keeping up with technical advancements such as the progress with AI or more recently Mk. Gee’s guitar tones which have 2 separate signals, using a Roland GK-3 pick up, allowing him to use synth-based sounds.
Apart from knowledge, there are other mental challenges that every creative faces, such as creative block and having to work past mental barriers such as the stress and uncertainty being in a freelance career. Although these are hard things to face, there are ways to combat this. Trying something new, whether it’s a new instrument or an old one you have not played in a while can usually help. Managing the amount of time, you are consuming music also really helps to deter burnout and creative block as it makes the time working in studio become a more enjoyable experience and less of a chore/job.
In the music production career, there are lots of ways your job can develop, for example you can explore different parts of the job, such as live sound, which still using the same information which you know before, but it takes it into a different context. Music business is another example of a role that uses the knowledge that you need as a music producer about the industry, to help others perform at their best and make progress.
Overall, Music Production is a hard profession to succeed in as it is freelance and requires you to self manage and teach yourself a lot of necessary technical information through trial and error, but it is a great job to pursue. The knowledge that you learn can be applicable to so many jobs around music industry and can help you meet and make a lot of contacts to help you succeed. As getting an in-studio job in this profession is getting more and more rare, it is becoming less of an option for some people as a viable career, but if you can get your name out there, the possibilities and opportunities of this job are incredible.
Sources:
Books
The Art of Music Production by Richard James Burgess
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Websites
*https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/music-producer-salary-SRCH_KO0,14.htm
