March 7, 2014
by Dwight L. Quinn
Every person born into this World is gifted with something and they may go on through life forever without ever recognizing that special gift.
When started Quinn Records TM in 1971, the first thing that I did, inorder to feel useful, was to start looking for a Job in the Company that I could do and do fairly well,and strangely enough it turned out to be Music Producing, though at the time it never dawn on me how important this particular Job was in the industry.
So,once I started doing it I began encouraging my artists to do the same, and today I still encourage them to Produce like,Oliver Johnson, James Gilbert,Kevin Wheeler, MC Larry Moody, Carlina Q. Aldridge and others that have shared their time, talent and gift with the Company.
From this very experience we now know that the Music Producer has one of the most sought-after music careers in the music business, they works dilentgy to get an album produced and within budget and being a small company like us almost always using our own hard-earned dollars controlling budgets is a Cardinal rule in this house.
The altimate goal for most Music Producers is the hope of producing a chart-topping album.
This nerve-wrecking goal,puts a lot of responsibilty on the Music Producer.
One of key jobs of the Music Producer is to help the artist choose which songs they are going to record for the album. The Music Producer will then go to work selecting the studio and booking the estimated amount of recording time that he or she think will be enough time to complete the full album.The Music Producer will work very close with the music arranger and audio engineer,to attempt to achieve the desired sound and feel for the album, the Music Producer in a small company wears many hats and may have the job of
bringing in background vocalists, he may even fill in as a background member or play an instrument on the album or even be the music arranger themselves to assist with the songs depending how they are written.
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This being a standard practiced performed by the Music Producer,when the studio recording starts, the Music Producer will works closely with the engineer,(it's all about the sound) who helps him find or achieve certain specific sounds or feel to flow through the album.
This collabration will almost always continue throughout the entire studio session, as the Music Producer will often offer the imput of his own opinions on just how each song on the album would work best.
The Music Producer with all these actions going on, has the monetary responsibility of staying on budget, this oversight of going over the budget could be costly to the label or to the artist, leaving either of owing thousands of dollars.
After each song is recorded, the Music Producer is usually the person who then mixes it into its final version. This isn't always the case, though, as sometimes special engineers or mixers are hired to perform this job. When that happens, the record producer still supervises the mixing process, as it's such an important aspect of creating an album.Even at this point, the Music Producer still has plenty of work to do.
Many times, an entire album is recorded in the studio, complete with songs that don't end up making the final cut.
In other words, they are not included in the album when it's finally released. Part of the Music Producer's job is to help choose which songs make the final album and which don't.
They'll also help decide what order the songs will play in throughout the album (i.e. the songs' track numbers).
The Music Producer will also be a part of selecting which songs will be promoted and sold as singles.
As you can see, the Music Producer is heavily involved with every single step and detail of creating an album. Even when the creative process comes to an end, the Music Producer's responsibilities certainly do not. There is still licensing to be worked on, as well as copyright issues, and consent forms and releases from artists, engineers, photographers, and pretty much anyone else who receives credit for their work on a given album.
Once all of that is complete, the Music Producer submits receipts and pays bills to the record label,if he or she is an independent,or final reciepts are submitted to the A&R Administrator, if he or she is label staff member.
Certain Music Producers work as employees for record labels, reporting to the A&R department head,as mentioned above. Others work independently as freelancers, and and may be contractors for either an artist or a record label.
When working on staff at a record company Music Producers generally earn a base salary, along with royalties from records they produce. If they are as an independent for the record company, they will still usually earn royalties, but they'll command a fee instead of a salary.
Music Producers that have a proven track record of success can negotiate larger royalty payments, usually in advance.
Staff Music Producers can earn anywhere from $27,000 to $115,000 or more per year, while
very successful independent producers may earn up to $1,000,000 or more annually.
Every single album that is sold has a Music Producer attached to it, though sometimes that producer can be a member of the band, or even the staff engineer.
Some albums will even require more than one producer to complete the job.
For these reasons, there are quite a few possibilities for employment within the Music Production specialty, but due to the nature of the position, it's important to start with at least one foot in the door. Small labels is place to start and began building you a track record.
Once a Music Producer proves his ability to produce hit records, he can eventually move on to working with more prestigious artists.
This can lead to a position at a larger record label, where the Music Producer can command an even larger salary.
Of course this creates a nice cycle of success for him, as he can now work with even better well-known artists, and become even more in demand as a Music Producer.
by Dwight L. Quinn
Sources;
History
Career Services
The Internet
Quinn Records TM
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