A music producer is responsible for turning a song idea into the finished song the listener hears. What it takes to get from one to the other varies enormously from record to record, which is why the job looks so different depending on who you ask. But that's the job: take the song and deliver it to the listener in the best possible package.
Everything else, from writing parts to booking players to coaching a vocal, is a means to that end. Which of those things a particular producer does is the part that varies, and it's the part that matters most when you're choosing one.
Why nobody agrees on what a producer is
What you think a producer does probably depends on where you've come from.
In hip-hop, and to a degree in pop, the producer is almost expected to be a co-writer and an arranger. They make the beat, shape the song, and often write parts of it. If that's your world, that's simply what a producer is.
In bands it's often the other way round. Plenty of bands book a studio with an engineer and expect to get production. They assume that the person setting up the microphones is also the person shaping the record. Sometimes they are. Often they aren't.
And unlike a doctor, a lawyer or a real estate agent, there's no standard process for this job. There's no agreed checklist of what a producer does on day one, day two and day three. Producers mostly come to their own conclusions about how they should work. So two people with the same title can offer you completely different things.
That's why the useful question isn't "what does a producer do?" It's "what do I need a producer to do?"
What a producer does that nobody else on the record can
A producer is the link between three things: the artist's vision for the song, the best the artist is capable of, and the finished record. Their job is to get the best version of the song and the best version of the performance, and to make sure the record that comes out the other end is still the one the artist meant to make.
Some of that is coaching performances. A lot of it is translation.
Artists don't always find it easy to describe what they hear in their heads, and the words they reach for don't always mean what an engineer thinks they mean. I've had artists tell me they want punchy drums, when what they meant was that they like electronic drums. I've had artists ask for warm vocals, when what they meant was that they like reverb. An engineer who takes those words literally will give them punchier acoustic drums and a vocal with more low-mid, and the record drifts further from what the artist wanted with every move.
The producer's job is to hear what's underneath the words, then translate it into the language of whoever needs to act on it: the engineer, the session musician, or the label.
One more thing worth knowing: a producer's responsibility generally sits with whoever pays the bill. If you're paying, the producer works for your vision. If a label is paying, there can be a quiet conflict. The artist has one vision, the label has another, and the producer is being paid by the label.
What isn't the job, by default
Some things people expect from a producer aren't part of the role unless they've been agreed:
- Tuning vocals.
- Engineering the session.
- Playing the instruments.
Plenty of producers do some or all of those. But the role itself doesn't include them, and producers who offer several services at once are part of why the title gets so confusing.
Two famous producers sit at opposite ends of this. Rick Rubin has said he barely plays an instrument and can't work a mixing desk. What he's brilliant at is drawing the vision out of an artist and being sure of his taste. Finneas, who produces his sister Billie Eilish's records, sits at the other end: he co-writes, plays guitar, synths and piano, programs, arranges, and has won a Grammy for engineering. Both are producers, and both are great ones. They just bring completely different things to the room.
When you don't need a producer
Sometimes you don't, and it's worth being honest about that.
If you're on a low budget, recording demos for a booking agent, capturing ideas, making a showreel, or recording your first record, you may be better off without one. If you're a band, or a singer-songwriter with a guitar or a piano, there's something beautiful in a stripped-back recording that's all you. It captures the innocence of inexperience, and you only get to capture that once.
There's also a real risk in the wrong producer. An inexperienced one, or the wrong one, can break your ideas and wreck something that was working. And very often the most affordable "producers" are overconfident engineers who haven't yet learned that the role is to help the artist express themselves, not to impose their own taste.
Early in my career, I'd ask independent artists whether they'd worked with a producer before. Many had worked with well-established ones, and I kept hearing the same thing: "It was good. They were very talented. The song sounded good. But it didn't sound like me." Producers have a sound, and some of them push it onto every artist they work with.
So if you've got strong ideas, you need a producer who'll help you realise your vision in the best way possible. If you don't have ideas yet, by all means go to someone who'll bring theirs and play dress-ups with your songs. Just know which one you're signing up for.
When a producer earns their fee
A good producer earns their fee in more ways than the sound of the record:
- When they exceed your expectations of what you thought you could create as an artist.
- When you feel supported and heard the whole way through the process.
- When they save you money. Sometimes that's "you don't have enough budget to do this properly, so let's not do it at all." Sometimes it's "you don't have enough budget for that big, elaborate idea, so let's do this stripped-back version, which will sound right and very, very good."
- When they give you great memories. It's easy to forget that making a record is an experience as well as a product. A great producer is another creative person you connect with, and years from now you'll remember making the record as much as the record itself.
How to choose a producer
Start with the song, not the producer.
Take where your song is now: a demo, a live recording, even a voice memo. Then find a reference track that sounds like where you want it to end up. You need a producer who can take you from the first to the second.
- If your reference has live drums, guitars and strings, you need a producer who either plays those instruments or can bring in the session players, with an arranger, and who can engineer or organise a live string session.
- If your demo is a voice memo and your reference is glitchy electro-pop, you need a producer who arranges and programs in that genre.
Then think about the kind of support you want. Do you want someone who'll encourage you and tell you your songs are good when you're in the middle of artist self-doubt? Or someone dry and direct? Someone warm, whom you can be open and vulnerable with, who's great at communication and makes you comfortable? Or a transactional relationship, where you come in, tell them which buttons to push, and go home?
None of those is wrong. But a producer whose strengths match what you need, and cover what you don't have, is worth far more than the most famous name you can afford.
Three questions people ask next
Is a producer the same as an engineer? Not by default. The engineer captures the sound: microphones, levels, the session. The producer is responsible for the record as a whole. Some people do both, but if you book a studio with an engineer, don't assume you're getting production.
Does a producer write the song? Not unless that's what they've been hired for. In hip-hop and pop, producers often co-write. In other genres, the song is usually yours, and the producer's job is to get it to the listener at its best.
Do I need a producer for my first record? Not necessarily. A stripped-back first record that's all you can be worth more than a polished one that doesn't sound like you.
Where to go from here
If you're looking for a producer, the producer directory on academyofaudio.com lists verified producers, mixers and engineers, and you contact them directly. Use the two questions above: can they take your demo to your reference, and do they offer the kind of support you want?
And if you'd rather learn to produce your own records, from the first idea to the finished song, that's exactly what the Artists intensive is for.
Either way, the record should still sound like you when it's finished. That's the whole job.
