The notion that music producers work in the service industry is thrown around quite frequently- I’ve heard the saying used by some of the top producers in the world. Whilst I agree with this notion, I thought it’d be fun to discuss some conflicting positions that a producer can find themselves in. If a producer is purely to be of service to the client then how does their taste and musical point of factor into the equation? To what extent does the producer express their opinion?
An example in my work of this would be when an Artist comes in with a new song that they are excited about and rearing to record. I hear the song and don’t feel it’s up to standard. Do I : A) take the money and record it as is and try and get the most out of it or B) express my opinion for the sake of the art and potentially lose out on the pay cheque? Well, as it turns out, I am not very good at lying or working on something if I feel the values and expectations are misaligned. The way I’ve learned to handle such a situation is first to get a sense from the artist what their objectives are and where they’re at in their career. I’ll do this by having a meeting over a coffee and chatting. In some way, the artist has to set the parameters, otherwise there is too much responsibility on the producer
Some artists just want to record their song at a high fidelity and have non-commercial objectives, others may say they want radio play and Spotify editorial play-listing and that’s why they’ve come to a producer. My approach in these two different scenarios is going to be very different. I am going to push the second artist a lot harder and hold them to a higher standard. The second consideration I mentioned is where they are at in their career. A really young artist who’s doing their first or second recording probably requires a lot more delicacy with the feedback and perhaps in this situation the best thing a producer can do for their career is to give them a really positive and enjoyable studio experience. The next songs they write will be better and they’ll learn from the studio experience and come back in a better artist. If it’s a more experienced client or one that that I’ve worked with multiple times, I may push a little harder. If the artist knows for sure that I’m on their side, being critical of their songs or performances doesn’t feel as much of a personal attack, and hopefully they can see any critique in the best interest of the project. At the end of the day, I consider my role as a producer to be the interface between the artist and their audience, and the link between their artistry and commercial objectives. This is why it’s important to establish what the objectives are.
The client must always have the final say and I like it that way but hopefully there is always a discussion with the intent to meet at a place where everyone feels good about the outcome , and is somewhat aligned with the objectives. As much as I want to believe that great art will always find a way, if a song is 7 minutes long and the chorus doesn’t happen until 2:30, it just isn’t going to get radio play in 2024. However, if cutting out those verses totally ruins the story being told in the song then fuck it, play to your strengths, just be realistic about it’s chances of landing at radio