Top 10 most important things to know as a producer

Writing about what is the most important thing for a producer to know is obviously subjective. We all have different ideas about what a producer should focus on the most and it also depends on what kind of producer you are. Do you do a lot of sessions? Are you just a trackmaker? Either way, you'll find something in this list that you might be able to take with you and use to improve and develop!

Your role must be adaptable!

When it comes to sessions, you'll realize after doing a few that everyone works differently and that it's hard to find people who complement your workflow perfectly. This really just means that you need to be able to adapt your approach to the situation you are in. Say you're sitting in a session with someone and it turns out that person prefers to work on tracks, then maybe it would have been smart to have slack tracks already made so you can show them off and not ruin the vibe in the room.

Another example would be if you were working with someone who preferred to write on piano or guitar, then you should be able to sit down at one of the two instruments and write that way. Of course, this assumes that you are alone with another topliner who doesn't play an instrument, but regardless, the principle is important to understand! A producer is not just a person sitting in front of a computer making tracks! The producer's role can sometimes also be to jump in and topline if the other people you're writing with are stuck, sometimes you have to do the opposite and just sit at the computer and make tracks that give people the feeling so they get excited about writing. Being able to read the situation in the room and adapt your role accordingly is, in my opinion, the producer's most important function! Don't forget that without a great song, it doesn't matter if the prod is awesome, so your job as a producer is always to be able to create the best conditions to get the best possible song out of your session, and then you must also be able to adapt your role!

Learn to mix as best you can!

Think about it: You're an A&R in an office who gets a demo where the mix is so-so, and then you get a song that's just as good as the last one but the mix is awesome! Not all A&R's would care about the bad mix necessarily, but learning to mix well is never wrong! Firstly, you can present your songs in a clear and convincing way, and secondly, you save a lot of money in the long run by not having to send your songs to be mixed every time something is released!

Making it financially in the music industry can be difficult at first, so knowing as many things as possible is worth its weight in gold! If you can mix well, you can also start getting mixing jobs that can become a side income for you as a producer/songwriter! Of course, this isn't a must, but if nothing else, it's a great way to make your demos stand out from other people's demos!

Get a good workflow!

Being able to find a good workflow when you produce is very important to be able to work effectively! One thing is for example to start with drums in the chorus, if they feel good, you should be able to go into verse 2 afterwards without any problems, maybe remove some elements but still keep the core of the vibe you had in the chorus. Of course, this varies a lot depending on the type of song you're making, but having some small principles to start from when you start producing a song can make a big difference in how long it takes to get it done!

We all have different ways of approaching this. Some like to have a template to start from when they start working to avoid looking for sounds, others aim to find a sound that works throughout the song and that does not get boring. All these tips are worth trying in my opinion, in the end it's about finding something that works for you that makes your work easier, especially if you have many songs to finish in a short time!

Deliver on time!

This sounds crazy obvious, but it bears repeating! You don't want to create a reputation as someone who can't deliver songs on a deadline. The best trick to delivering on time in my opinion is not to take on too many songs to work on at once! It's much better to work on fewer things but nail them than to sit with 5 projects that you have to do in 1 week and panic about how you're going to make it. Another good trick: Only take on songs you feel something for! Again, crazy obvious maybe, but if you're new to the music industry, you obviously want to show off and not be the one who doesn't give every project a chance. In the end, however, it is more important that you are honest with yourself! Do you like the song? If you really don't, then don't produce it. You don't have to love every song you work on, of course, but working on tons of songs you don't like will only hurt more than help in the long run!

Industry knowledge is more important than you think!

Having a good understanding of what the music industry looks like and what players there are is incredibly important for you as a producer! In the music industry, there are a variety of players who all have different roles in how they will facilitate you in your creation and help you reach out with your music. I thought I would briefly go through three different players who exist and summarize some of what they do!

Management:

Focusing mostly on guiding and directing your day-to-day business so that you get jobs and sessions, while they also often pitch your stuff further, for example if you are an artist and want to get a foot in the door of a record company, a manager can often help you with that! In other words, they take care of what is next to the creative process.

Publisher:

Publishers work with the authors (i.e. those who write the lyrics/music). It is usually said that a publisher has three tasks: one creative, one administrative and one financial! The creative one means that they put you in sessions, give you jobs and pitch your music to different markets, and that they are a sounding board in the creative process! The administrative means that they work to protect your rights, review your songs etc. Lastly, the financial part, which basically means that they can offer you an advance so that you can live until your music is released and generates income.

Record companies:

Today, however, they are often called music labels instead. They work with the artists who perform the music and make sure it gets published. The record companies work with the recordings, while the publishers work with the copyright. Often the artists have also written the music, so the artist may also work with a publisher.

Dare to try new things!

If you're in a rut you're comfortable with, it's incredibly easy to stick with it and not evolve and move on! We've all been there, when you've found a sound that you're comfortable with and then you feed on that sound without trying new things. That's usually how your development stops, and that's why it's always worth trying new directions with what you do. A good way can be to buy a new synth, get new samples, try listening to music you might not usually listen to, and draw influences from there. As a producer, you pick up little tricks along the way to deliver as often as you can, but if you want to evolve as much as possible, you have to leave your comfort zone every now and then.

It's not the number of tracks, it's what each track does that counts!

Try this: No production you make should have more than 40 tracks. If you make electronic music (EDM, Trap, Pop, Urban etc) then around 40 tracks should hopefully be enough for you to deliver an awesome production. This varies of course, but you get the idea. When I first started, it sometimes felt like there was a little unwritten rule that if you didn't have tons (!) of tracks in your songs, you weren't a real producer. That's not true, of course, but it's worth pointing out! The fewer tracks you have, the easier it is to make each sound heard, and the easier it is to make your mix sound as good as possible!

Dare to fail!

Perhaps the most common tip in the world, but also incredibly true in the music industry! This is linked to my previous tip that you should try to step outside your comfort zone a bit. In the beginning, your productions won't sound as awesome as you hoped, and you'll probably get lots of "no's" from people and very few "yes's". Almost everyone goes through this, but if you use failure properly, you'll get better in the process and maybe get a "yes" next time. In other words: Don't give up just because you encounter setbacks!

Learn Piano and basic music theory!

You don't necessarily need to be a genius on the piano to be able to produce, but being good on an additional instrument opens up endless doors for your creativity to flow. In addition to this, you should also have a basic understanding of keys (major and minor as well as the circle of fifths), coloring chords and understanding common chord progressions. The reason for this is very simple: If you produce in a DAW with an external midi keyboard, you'll save tons of time by being able to play it instead of having to draw in the notes. I recommend learning the circle of fifths first and then applying it to your instrument. There are lots of different simple explanations to be found on the internet, for example this one:
http://www.demolatar.se/artistskolan/musikteori/kvintcirkeln

Listen to others!

Even though you might be a producer, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are always right about how a production should sound. It's always important to listen to your co-writers and discuss with them how the production of a particular song should be. They might have lots of ideas you didn't think of from the beginning, many even write songs with a certain type of production in mind from the start. Being able to listen to others will make you both a better producer but also a more fun co-writer to work with!