You may be a new music producer, or perhaps you’ve been doing it for years. Either way, you’re driven by one question: what makes the best music producers the best? Is there a secret formula? Some magical piece of equipment? Do I have to buy the five billion-dollar version of Pro-Tools to be a success?
The answer is, there’s no switch you can flip or button you can press that’ll make your production amazing. What we can offer, though, is a list of some of the habits that set the best apart from the rest.
1) The best music producers are made by their talent, not their gear. While a huge recording studio and the latest software technology make production easier, they don’t make it better. An amazing producer could make an amazing record with a 4-track cassette recorder, and a mediocre one couldn’t make a hit with the best setup and gear in the world.
2) The best producers imitate the best producers that came before them. Your own style will develop on time, but start out by studying your favorite producers – their habits, the stuff they put out, and their philosophy. Read interviews. Email them and see if they’ll tell you what makes them tick. Because guess what? They started out by studying their favorites, too.
3) The best music producers didn’t get published right away. Sure, there are success stories about guys who rocketed to instant fame and fortune, but for the most part, it takes a lot of work to get noticed by a music publishing group. That’s not to say you shouldn’t send demos to music publishers, just that hundreds or thousands of people submit beats and songs to them on a daily basis, and your chances of getting noticed are slim at the outset.
4) The best music producers worked a long time before making good music. You have incredible taste and killer ideas, but your music isn’t nearly as good as it’ll be in a year, or five, and nowhere near where it’ll be a decade down the road. Don’t expect music placement on a radio station when you first start out. You’ll get better over time, and we promise you’ll be happier when tomorrow’s music finally breaks through.
5) The best producers are DIY-ers, just like you. The industry has changed massively over the past decade, making it easier for you to write, record, produce, and self-publish. And music placement’s easier than it’s ever been thanks to web radio, Bandcamp, and YouTube. Don’t wait to be noticed – work to be noticed.
6) The best producers kept producing… and producing… and producing. Keep your nose to the grindstone and don’t stop working on new music. Perseverance is the key to getting noticed, and as with anything, hard work is the key to success.
Making Music of Our Generation 