The Art of Music Production: The Theory and Practice

Contents

• CONTENTS
• SECTION ONE: THE THEORY
• CHAPTER ONE
• Types of Music Producers
• Functional Typologies
• Artist
• Auteur
• Facilitative
• Collaborative:
• Enablative
• Consultative
• In Summation
• Subset Typologies
• Analogous Structures
• Leadership Styles
• SECTION TWO: THE PRACTICE
• CHAPTER TWO
• Becoming a Music Producer
• How Do You Become a Music Producer?
• The Musician or Artist
• The Audio Engineer
• The Songwriter
• The DJ
• DIY
• Discoverer
• Entrepreneur
• Multipath
• Examples of producers from these backgrounds:
• Examples: musician
• Examples: engineer
• Examples: Songwriters
• Example: DJ
• Example: DIY
• Examples: Discoverer
• Examples: Entrepreneur
• Examples: Multipath
• Qualifications and Training
• Are Qualifications Necessary?
• What Is Helpful?
• How Much Technical Knowledge Do You Need?
• How Much Musical Knowledge Do You Need?
• What If You Have Neither Musical Nor Technical Skills?
• Making the Transition to Music Producer:
• The Door Is Open, Your Foot Is In, Now What?
• CHAPTER THREE
• Being a Music Producer
• The Day-to-Day Responsibilities and Process:
• The First Meeting:
• Administration
• Preproduction
• The Production Phase
• The Mix
• Other Perspectives
• Some Session Specifics:
• Recording Musicians Live In The Studio
• Recording an Orchestra or Big Band
• Overdubbing Live Musicians
• The Programmed Session
• Vocal Sessions
• Which Method Makes a Better Record-Live, Overdubbed or Computer?
• What Are 'They' Going To Expect Of You?
• The Artist?
• The Record Company?
• The Artist's Manager?
• CHAPTER FOUR
• What Are the Timeless Ingredients in a Hit?
• The Song (or Material)
• The Vocal
• The Arrangement
• The Performance
• The Engineering
• How Important Is The Mix Really?
• Timeliness
• The Heart
• Are These Rules To Which There Are Exceptions?
• CHAPTER FIVE
• What Can You Expect From a Career As A Producer?
• How Is Your Health?
• Why Do A&R People Hire You?
• If You're Hot?
• If You're Not Quite There Yet?
• If You Were Recently Hot?
• When The Night's Closing In?
• What Prevents Them From Coming Back To You?
• What Is The Best Way To Get Work?
• Branding, Marketing and Sales?
• Branding
• Marketing
• Sales
• The Practicalities of Branding, Marketing and Sales
• CHAPTER SIX
• Managers
• What is the Definition of the Term Manager?
• What Does A Producer Manager Do?
• What Does A Manager Cost
• Do They Earn Their Percentage?
• How Do You Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Your Manager?
• Could You Lose Work To Other Producers On The Manager's Roster?
• How Do You Define 'Best Manager' For You?
• How Can You Find Such A Person?
• How Do You Persuade Them To Take You On?
• Business Managers
• CHAPTER SEVEN
• The Producer's Relationships
• With the artist?
• Best Friends?
• Able To Fit In?
• Hang After Hours?
• Professional or Aloof?
• How Do You Tell Them Something Is Not Working?
• Where Does Your Responsibility Lie?
• To The Artist
• To The Record Company
• To Yourself
• To The Project
• What About Drugs and Alcohol?
• In the Studio?
• Outside of Working Hours?
• What if the Artist Does and You Do Not?
• What Do You Do When The Artist Becomes Difficult?
• What Do You Do When The Record Company is Unhappy?
• What Do You Do When The Artist's Manager Is Difficult
• CHAPTER EIGHT
• Lawyers
• What Changed to Make Hiring Attorney Less Viable For Producers
• How Much Will They Cost You?
• How Much Do You Really Need Them?
• How Much Should You Depend On Them?
• What Happens When They Get It Wrong?
• What Other Kinds of Things Can Go Wrong?
• What is a Typical Legal Process Leading Up to the Production?
• What Can Be Done To Protect Producers?
• CHAPTER NINE
• Challenges and Controversies
• Differences of Opinion
• The Endless Album
• Lack of Vision
• Micro-Vision
• The Singer Is Not Performing Well
• The Musicians Are Not Performing Well
• One of the Musicians Is Messing Up Every Take
• What Is Demo-itis or Rough Mix-itis?
• Near the End of the Album, Suddenly the Artist is Having Doubts
• The A&R Person Does Not Like the Record
• What Makes It Seem Like Hard Work?
• How Much Loyalty Can You Expect Within The Business?
• From The Artist
• First Girlfriend Syndrome
• From The A&R Person
• Final Word on Loyalty
• CHAPTER TEN
• Success And Money
• How Are Producers Paid?
• How Much Can a Producer Make?
• How Are Producer Royalties Calculated?
• Recoupment
• Payment From Record One
• Where does the money come from?
• Digital Download Royalties
• Sound Recording Performance Royalties
• Producers Who Also Write the Songs
• Summation
• How Many Producers Make Millions?
• The Terms
• Do Producers Earn Their Percentage?
• Major versus Independent Labels
• How will producers make money in the future?
• Can You Increase Your Chances Of Success?
• Credits
• Executive Producer
• Album Producer
• Producer
• Co-producer
• Associate Producer
• Additional Production By
• Multiple Producer Credits
• Vocal Production or Vocals Produced By
• Compilation Soundtrack Album Producer
• Strings (or any other instrument) Produced By
• What Is The Secret To Longevity?
• Add entrepreneur to your portfolio
• CHAPTER ELEVEN
• Why Are There So Few Women Producers?
• What we know
• Women Producers Today
• Some Women Producers in History
• Inconclusive Conclusion
• CHAPTER TWELVE
• Frequently Asked Questions
• How Much Is Learned
• How Much Is Natural Ability?
• How Do You Pick The Right Project?
• Should You Share in Song Writing Royalties?
• New Versus Established Artists?
• What Is Involved In Being An Independent Or Freelance Producer?
• What About Being a Staff Producer?
• What Are The Best Moments?
• Can You Successfully Genre Hop?
• Advantages And Disadvantages
• Who Has Done It?
• How Stable is a Producer's Career?
• How does a production career end?
• Making Plans And When?
• What Do Producers Do When Work Starts to Slow Down?
• Why Do People Want To Produce Records?
• Why Do People Want To Make Records At All?
• Do You Know When You Have Produced A Hit?
• How Do Producers Feel About Remixers?
• What's The Remixer's Point Of View?
• How do A&R People View Remixes?
• What Is The 'Sophomore Slump'?
• Digital versus Analog
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN
• Working Outside The Mainstream?
• Classical
• Jazz
• Country
• Traditional, Folk, Roots And World Music
• Children's Music
• Regional Producers
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN
• Where Are We? How Did We Get Here? Where Are We Going?
• Will Mobile Modify the Internet That Crippled Cable But Vivified Video Which Killed the Radio Star?
• How Did We Get Here?
• The Revolution Continues
• What Does This Mean To The Professional Music Producer?
• Where Are We Going?
• Revenue Streams Are Multiplying
• Will We Even Need Labels In The Future?
• Charts
• Marketing
• Will Music Producers Survive The Revolution?
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN
• Conclusion
• What If
• The Final Cut
• Glossary
• Index
• About the Author
• Notes
• Bibliography