Music producers, also called record producers, lead the creative and technical aspects of recordings, whether for a single song, an album, or a soundtrack.

What Does a Music Producer Do?

Here are the responsibilities you should be prepared to do as a music producer:

• Schedule recording sessions
• Hire session musicians
• Help with spending the client’s budget
• Song arrangement (and sometimes songwriting)
• Playing instruments as needed
• Audio engineering (if no engineer is present)
• Guide musicians and singers to get their best possible performances
• Audio editing, mixing, and mastering

A Day in the Life of a Music Producer

It’s very common for music producers to work long hours, especially if you’re hired to work in a professional recording studio.

For example, Grammy-winning producer Trina Shoemaker (mixer, record producer, sound engineer for QOTSA, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile) said she worked 10-15 hour days in the beginning.

• Total Pay Range
  $66K – $123K/yr

• Base Pay
  $49K – $91K/yr

• Additional Pay
  $17K – $32K/yr

• Estimated Most Likely Total Pay
  $88K/yr (average of 25th to 75th percentile)

All of the producers we talked to pointed out how variable the salary of a music producer can be. But the above numbers match with what Shoemaker told us – she made an average of $70k to $130k per year, with her first-year salary being in the $15k to $20k range.

Who Does a Music Producer Work For?

A producer could be independent, working with artists and bands to record their music.

Or they could be employed by a music production company, creating music for use in advertising, film, live shows, streaming, or for release through a record label.

They might work for a tech company like Google, a major entertainment company like Disney, a publisher like Universal, a TV or Radio outlet, or for a school or large university.

How a Music Producer Gets Paid

The two main ways a music producer gets paid are from upfront fees and backend royalties.

Depending on your experience and skill as a producer, you can charge an upfront fee of anywhere from $200 to thousands of dollars per song.

On top of that, you can ask for a percentage of the publishing rights, which would earn you performance and mechanical royalties. Your cut of the royalties can vary widely, but it’s common to get 3-4% of the royalties of a song you produced.

How To Collect Royalties as a Music Producer

To collect these royalties, you need to be registered with a Performance Rights Organization and a publishing admin company (which should partner with the Mechanical Licensing Collective for mechanical royalties).

If you’re splitting streaming royalties with an artist or band, make sure your percentage cut is set up with the digital distributor. This means the distributor will send you your cut directly.

The Potential Salary of Successful Producers

The most successful music producers can earn tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Producers of hit songs command high fees for their time and services to an artist or client.

There are producers who work on a project fee-only basis (called “work-for-hire”) but most producers will keep partial ownership of their recordings so they can collect royalties if the song turns out to be a hit.

Without exception, the most successful producers didn’t start out earning millions of dollars and commanding high fees. They had to prove themselves first and become well-known in the music industry.

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Becoming a music producer can lead to a terrific career.

While a comfortable, regular income is not likely to happen overnight, people who are passionate about music and technology can build and sustain a viable career over time.

More and more musicians and songwriters are learning to produce music on their own from their bedrooms. Does this pose a threat to aspiring music producers?

Well, as in any creative career, people will hire you for your ideas and creativity first and foremost. So as long as you are creative, are enjoyable to work with, and elevate the music at hand, you can find people who will want to work with you.

But it is a competitive niche in the music industry, so you have to be passionate about producing to succeed.

As with any aspect of the arts as a career, you won’t likely be earning huge money right out of the gate. The important thing is to affiliate and collaborate with other musicians to get a foot in the door.

Most artists, including producers, must support themselves with a “day job” when starting out. The important thing is that a day job should pay living costs and be flexible enough, while not being so demanding or tiring that it leaves no time and energy for producing music.

Freelance Music Producer

As a freelance/independent music producer, you would help clients create pro-level recordings.

Clients can be many different types of people depending on who you want to work with, including indie artists, record label artists, brands, and even podcasts.

In this role, you would typically have a home studio setup where your clients can come to record.

In-House Music Producer

An in-house music producer works in a professional recording studio alongside other producers, audio engineers, and interns.

Sometimes they’re self-employed, sometimes they are employed by the studio, and sometimes they work directly for a record label.

They work with whoever can afford to pay for the studio and the recording professionals involved, which could include indie artists, record label artists, and film companies creating soundtracks.

In this role, you’ll need to know how to work a soundboard, work with a team of people, and work quickly within the time the client has booked.

Media Composer for Film, TV, and Video Games

As a composer for visual media, you would be working with brands and filmmakers to create the soundtrack for film, TV shows, ads, and video games.

Many times, you would have a home studio and work as a self-employed composer.

Music Programmer or Sound Designer

As a sound designer, you would create unique sound effects and aural landscapes for music, film, video games, or sound libraries.

This can have a lot of overlap with music production but it does require technical sound manipulation skills.

Live Sound Producer/Engineer

A live sound engineer manages the sound for live performances, which includes setting up sound equipment, running pre-show sound checks, and mixing the audio live so it continues to sound good for the audience.

Many live engineers start by working with local venues or bands to gain experience with live sound equipment.

The Career Path of Legendary Music Producer Quincy Jones

In 1982 music legend Quincy Jones produced one of the best-selling albums of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and today he is worth about a half-billion dollars.

He didn’t start out that way, of course.

After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston during the 1950s, Jones first worked as a jazz arranger and trumpeter for various bandleaders, including Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Gene Krupa, and others. He even played trumpet in the studio recording orchestra backing up Elvis Presley.

Then he formed his own 18-piece jazz group and toured across Europe to glowing reviews and accolades, but went broke in the process, since the performance fees couldn’t support such a large group.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that Jones achieved the first of his big breaks as a producer, becoming the first African American vice-president of the Mercury record label. He went on to produce many legendary recordings for artists such as Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, and Dinah Washington.

Later he also produced music for major Hollywood soundtracks, TV shows, and film musicals like The Color Purple, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Wiz, respectively. He also produced the 1985 mega-hit song featuring most of the top music stars of the time, “We Are The World,” to raise money for victims of a deadly famine in Ethiopia.

What skills does a music producer need?

• Playing an instrument
• Writing music
• Audio engineering
• Arranging
• Time management
• People skills
• Business skills

Producing music is both an art and a craft. So let’s talk about the creative and technical skills you’ll need…

Playing an Instrument

The advantages of playing piano or guitar include being able to play chords and hear the harmony together with the melody. There are also great producers who play violin, trumpet, drums, bass, or can sing. Any instrument will do if one is proficient.

The reason producers should play an instrument and know music theory is so they can effectively communicate with musicians about the music being recorded. Musicians have a shared “lingo” and use special terminology that non-musicians would have difficulty understanding.

Writing Music

The producer must be able to see and hear the finished recording in their mind. Reading and writing music is often the best way to do this.

It’s also super-helpful to be able to prepare the written music for sessions. Since session musicians tend to read well, having written parts could save a lot of time, when “time is money” in a recording session.

You don’t need to know how to read and write sheet music, you can still share your melodic ideas by humming or playing your instrument. And any good session musician can play by ear.

Arranging and Orchestration

If you hire arrangers or orchestrators for a song you’re producing, you should be able to communicate clearly with them on paper what the music should sound like.

Many producers have a hand in arranging the music to be recorded. Arranging involves taking a musical work and adapting it for specific instrumentation.

Many Songwriters come to a Producer with the basic song melody, lyrics, and chord progression in place. Then the Producer must make an arrangement of the song with the available instruments

It’s also helpful to be fast because sometimes arrangements and orchestrations must be done on the fly when the timer is ticking down on a recording session.

Studio Engineering

Many producers start out as recording engineers, working at mixing consoles and learning how to set up microphones.

Working the knobs of a soundboard is a terrific way to familiarize yourself with the modern recording environment.

Producers who know how to add effects (FX) to enhance the music, can layer tracks, overdub solos, create a rough and a final mix, and know their way around the gear will always be in demand.

While many music producers are also engineers and can troubleshoot issues with recording hardware and software, not all are. But having a general understanding of how the gear works and being able to troubleshoot the most common problems will be a great asset for the non-engineer working as a producer.

Time Management and Project Management

Time is money, and this is especially true during recording sessions. Often, the studio is rented by the hour or by the day, and the musicians and the engineer are paid by the hour or the day. So every minute counts, not only in terms of the money spent but relative to the outcome of the session.

This means leaving extra time for solving problems. There are always problems. Things always take longer than expected. There’s even a name for this: The Planning Fallacy.

Producers need to be good at managing time, planning sessions, coordinating people and facilities, creating and communicating schedules to all participants in advance, double-checking and confirming with everyone, and being on time, every time.

People Skills

When Quincy Jones recorded “We Are The World” with all those huge Pop Stars, he hung a sign up at the door to the studio that read: “Check Your Egos At The Door.”

Indeed, dealing with different personality types and the powerful attitudes of temperamental artists and musicians can present a challenge to the most experienced producers and music directors.

Not only must the producer be adept at dealing with outsize egos, but they must also be good at conflict resolution. Being a strong communicator and negotiator helps gain understanding and agreement from participants about complex artistic and technical issues, and there are also specific techniques and etiquette useful for approaching and speaking with celebrities.

Music Business, Legal Aspects, and Management

Music producers operate in the creative, legal, and business spheres. It’s not enough to have the artistic and technical skills required to produce great music; a producer must also understand the laws, and then be the consummate business expert.

Legal and business frameworks include areas such as music copyrights, music publishing, music licensing, budgeting, finance, marketing, and business management. Music is a part of the larger entertainment industry and is connected to the leisure and media industries as well. Music producers need to understand all these areas.

There isn’t any standard educational requirement for music producers, but some kind of education can be helpful in developing your skills and meeting your peers. If you don’t go to school for music production, you can start with hands-on experience by recording your own and others’ music.

Formal Education

This could be a 2-year, 4-year, or 6-month program. Whatever teaches you what you need to know that fits your budget.

There are reputable fully accredited music production degree programs offered by top music schools in the U.S. and a few abroad as well.

Some are more music-oriented and require applicants to play an instrument already, while others might be focused mainly on the audio engineering, music technology, and music business aspects of becoming a music producer.

There are also non-degree certificate programs, and stand-alone courses available in-person and online.

Education is expensive, mainly due to the high costs associated with hiring the best faculty and building and maintaining fully-equipped recording facilities. Yet many people find ways to pay for it and view school as a transformative investment leading to a future rewarding career.

Self-taught

For some people, it might actually be better to just jump into producing at entry-level positions and learn on the job. You could do this initially by shadowing or interning with an established music producer or audio engineer.

You can also start by recording your own music as well as offering your production services to artists and bands at no- or low-cost.

Networking Is the Key

Regardless of your education, networking in the music industry is one of the main keys to success as a music producer. Who you know matters just as much as what you know.