Role Research - Producer

A record producer works within the music industry and oversees/manages the recording i.e. the production of an artists music.

The professional record producer's aim is to produce a recording which will appeal to many thousands of paying customers. To achieve this aim the producer requires:

- Good judgement
- An understanding of the type of music
- Awareness of current trends in the industry
- Knowledge of the market

A producer has many roles that may include gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs, selecting musicians/bands, coaching the artist in the studio, managing the recording sessions and supervising the entire process through mixing and mastering. A producer also often takes on a wider role by taking responsibility for the budget, schedule and negotiations.

Today, the recording industry has two kinds of producers: executive producer and music producer; they have different roles. While an executive producer oversees a project's finances, a music producer (who can be compared to a film director) oversees the creation of the music.

There are numerous different technologies utilized by the producer. In modern day recordings, recording and mixing tasks are centralized within computers. However, there is also the main mixer, outboard effects gear, and the recording device itself.

During the recording and “mix down“, a producer will also work closely with the sound engineer and should be aware of his or her objectives.
An experienced producer will:

- Use the expertise of the sound engineer
- Incorporate most suggestions from that source
- Not interfere with the operations of the recording
- Only overrule the engineer if absolutely necessary

In the process of contributing to the creation of a sound recording, a producer may have to acquire a variety of legal rights. Shared ownership of the rights in a recording could make it difficult for a record company to effectively exploit a recording which it has commissioned. A record producer's contract will therefore, among other things, assign any rights they might acquire in the recording to the record company.