What Does a Music Producer Do ?

I get asked this question a lot, so I thought I'd post some info for new and aspring music producers.

A music producer is responsible for the finished audio product. If it's good or bad, it's a direct reflection on the music director. That's it!

Now for the hard part. How do you get there and what elements are involved? First, there are NO EXCUSES. A music producer PRODUCES. A good music producer will consistently hit the mark for creating great music products.

A music producer is responsible for all stages of audio development. This means working with the artist, studio musicians, engineers and related staff. Part of their job can also be to make sure emotions stay balanced during the production. An instinct of knowing how hard to push musicians and when to back off and let everything breathe is usually common among record producers.

Standard Music Producer Experience
Since music producers are responsible for all stages of production, they usually have quite a bit of music and performance experience themselves. The usually know music so they can properly explain their ideas to the studio musicians. They also need to know what works and what doesn't, so live performance experience is indispensable.

Everyone says their a music producer, so how do you qualify who's good and who isn't? For a start, look at how many people are hiring them to produce audio. If a lot of different people are hiring them, chances are they are good. If their working with a single artist or on their own material all the time, chances are they only have the feel for a limited amount of style expressions.

In my opinion, these are elements every music producer should master:

1 - Audio Engineering, Sampling, Audio Mastering
2 - Arranging, Scoring and Orchestration
3 - Musical Director, Conducting or Directing Ensembles
4 - Master a wide variety of styles and genres
5 - Master the performance of at least one instrument

For more information on Music Producers visit Road Records