7 Types and Roles of Music Producers in the Industry
A music producer is someone who is responsible for the development, recording, engineering and overall management of music. Being similar to a film director in nature, a producer is responsible for big things like studio production to small things like proper functionality of the sound board and other musical instruments. In short, a producer has to make sure that every detail is aligned with the desired outcome of the music produced. Let’s explore different types of producers we have in business and their respective roles.
- The Engineer
An engineer is responsible for technical aspects of music production like compression settings, drum sounds, etc. The studio itself is an instrument to an engineer and he is hands on with all minor and major technical details. Engineers are known to spend late hours in night in order to create the perfect musical masterpiece.
- The Mentor
A mentor does not necessarily have the technical expertise an engineer may possess. The difference between a mentor and an engineer is the same as a soccer player and his coach. The player is instilled with the required technique to score and win. But the coach has the correct strategies designed for that player on how to get the job done. A mentor has extensive knowledge is many genres of music, the target market, overall impact, lesson given by the music produced, etc. One of the gifts a mentor possesses he inspires and invigorates artists on focusing their strengths on producing the best track.
- The Remixer
Most people think that remix is newly found change in music. But in reality the concept of remix dates back to mid-70s. A remixer is concerned with choosing a track and cutting or applying some other effects to produce a new version of the existing music. Nowadays remixes have grown so popular that sometimes it outshines the original music itself.
- The Musician
A musician possesses the basic most skills of music like recording instrumental and vocal parts of a track. Additional responsibilities include contributing and advising on songwriting, arrangement and performance of an artist.
- The Artist
Some producers may produce, compose, arrange and perform on their own music. These types are generally termed as artists. As for the technical expertise, recording artists work on their own produced music. They write and compose their own music, add instrumentations and vocal effects.
- The Technical
Technical producers work as a combination of an artist and an engineer. They use musical instruments to enhance the quality of individual tracks and mix other tracks to create a wholly new one, for e.g., a mashup. These producers are known to play with the sound effects by polishing certain sounds. Their extensive knowledge in which sounds disrupt or enhance the flow and rhythm of song enables them to apply numerous variations that make the song better than before.
- The Executive
Ideally an executive producer possesses all the quality of a music producers, have some technical skills as well. Apart from these responsibilities an executive is also concerned with the overall studio management, can provide an opinion as to who will be the part of studio personnel, guests artists, etc. He is well aware as how to produce a masterpiece within the budget allotted by the studio in the best manner possible.
