How to Become a Music Producer

Description of the Average Consumer:
1. Short Attention Span - Buyer wants what he wants and he wants it now. There's only a few seconds to convince the buyer before he moves on to something else.
2. Frugal - Strong competition for the consumer dollar
3. Mobile
4. Visual

So then, what makes a product marketable?
1. Artist Persona/Personality Drives the Market
2. Image/Looks
3. Ability of an artist to "entertain" both onstage and off
4. Etc.

Believe it or not great music producers realize that they have to understand these basic record industry market characteristics in order to stay employed. And, getter there is no easy road. Obviously, staying is more difficult. So how do you become
a music producer? The easy answer is produce records. However, there are so many steps that go into producing a record.

Once you become a good producer, you will obviously want to be paid for your services. Because everything in the record business is negotiable, there are many ways that producer can be paid. Sometimes, a producer will take a flat fee, other times he will as for a percentage of sales.

Most times he is paid by the record company (out of artists royalties) and other times there is no label so he may defer payment or ask for a smaller upfront fee. There are many combinations of payment arrangements for a producer. Payment arrangements are almost always based upon the producer's negotiating position. In general terms, however, here is what you might expect:

1. usually an advance recoupable out of product sales.
2. after all expenses are recouped, producer is paid based on all sales 3% to 7% (points)
3. if no advance, the producer is paid as part of recording costs
4. preferably should be paid by the record company even if hired by the artist

No matter how you ultimately get paid as a producer, you should do it because you have a passion for it. If you don't absolutely love the process of recording music, then don't do it. There are easier ways of making money. A sincere desire to make music is a prerequisite for this job, everything that comes after is just gravy.