Whenever a recording session takes place, in most cases someone has been assigned the task of coordinating all the events necessary to make the session flow smoothly. This individual’s job is to book the studio, choose the engineer, select the song or songs to be recorded, contract with the musicians and background singers, arrange and/or pre-produce any tracks, and handle countless other tasks.

The individual who handles this task of being a producer has duties analogous to those of a movie director. With a movie, a director sets the overall tone of the picture, choosing the appropriate settings and locations, cameramen, lighting and sound technicians, actors, and even, in some cases, negotiates with the various unions who represent the trades people just named. Although there is a “producer” in a film project, the role that a producer plays in movie making is totally different from a record producer. In the film world, a producer is usually the one who finances the film and hires a director to handle the day-to-day tasks of the project. This individual would be called an “executive producer" in the music industry.

With record production, a producer is responsible for the completion of the project and with utilizing the budget it is assigned in the most cost-effective manner possible. In a great deal of today’s music, producers--like Babyface, P. Diddy, Jermaine Dupri and Dr. Dre.--are often contracted to not only handle the session but to write the material the artist will sing/rap, as well perform on it themselves. This working situation has allowed many producers to become incredibly wealthy, for when the matter of compensation is handled, their take of the profits are multi-tiered.

A producer receives payment at the very beginning of the project he is contracted for. This pay is usually given in one of two ways. First, as a certain fee (say, $10,000) with all expenses such as renting the studio or hiring musicians being handled through invoices and bills given to the executive producer. In this arrangement, the producer’s fee is further supplemented by a contractual obligation that pays him or her more if the project reaches a certain sales plateau. For instance, the producer may receive a bonus of so many percentage points (usually referred to as just “points”) if the CD has sales of 500,000, and even more points if it continues to sell past that point.

The other typical arrangement a producer enters into is to have an “all-in” budget in which his or her fee is included with the overall money allocated for the project. This would mean that the producer, if given $50,000, would deduct his fee (such as $10,000) and use the remaining to pay for the services needed to record the project. This has a built-in incentive in that all money not spent on the recording is given back to the producer. However, any money needed beyond the $50,000 is taken from the producer’s fee. This arrangement necessitates that the producer have good budgeting skills. As with the first example, a producer could further supplement his income by having clauses inserted in his contract that if sales reach a certain mark, he will receive “points”, and thus further compensation for his work.

A lot of today’s artists need to read more into just what the role--and compensation--of a producer is. Those who are unaware of exactly how a producer functions end up having “creative differences” in the studio over matters like song selection and performance that are justifiably in the purview of the producer. Further complicating this matter is when the producer is receiving money from Day 1 of the project while the performer has nothing. These artists are sometimes surprised to read the fine print of their contract where it states that ALL costs associated with the recording--including the producer’s initial fee--must be recouped (repaid) before the artist receives a dime.

When a group has a member who also serves as a producer, hard feelings such as jealousy and envy sometimes develop when that individual is living in relative luxury from the project due to his up-front fee, while the other band members must wait to see any money. If the producer of the band is also the songwriter, or even owns the studio where the recording was made, even more money could be coming his way. Adding to this mix is the glare of the media spotlight shining brightly on the producer for a well-made project, while the rest of the band is relegated as “hired help in the eyes of the public. These factors--and other “creative differences”-- have contributed greatly to the demise of many bands over the years.

As a final note: just because a person says they are a “producer” does not mean they are one. This is not to imply any snobbishness, but merely to say that just because a person is calling the shots in a session, does not make that person a producer. The CONTRACT you sign with all parties involved in the session giving you explicit duties, budgets, and points is what makes this so! Without a contract, you are guaranteed nothing from all your hard work--other than the headaches and stress which are certainly to follow your role as “fearless leader”, The Producer.