Music production is a wide category of individuals involved in the production of music. Some music producers are musicians themselves or are music engineers and remixers. Music producers often serve as the project manager for recording, mixing, and mastering a soundtrack.
In our experience, each music producer brings something different to the table; however, most can be categorized into one of seven types of music producers.
This type of producer is your stereotypical soundtrack producer. You often observe them hunched over their gear working madly; always obsessed with compression settings, drumbeats, and reverb tails. This record producer views their studio as a sacred place where they oft work late into the evening to perfect their newest soundtrack.
“Mentor” record producers focus on their artist’s intent—or motivation—for the track, even taking into consideration their typical performances to help create the ideal sound. These individuals may often engage in the services of one or more sound engineers, truly performing as the “project manager” of the music.
These producers are the top music producers in the industry. Anything they record or work on easily becomes an instant hit. Their music, their music production services are highly sought after by top artists in all genres.
The spotlight has been focusing of late on the “Remixer” type of sound producer (although this style of music production has been around for many decades). Mainstream music put out by top artists in several genres of music have taken part in the use of remixing, often using much older songs. As a result the remix songs are often a bigger hit than the original.
Musical inclinations are not a prerequisite for becoming a music producer. Some may come to the industry as sound engineers with no musical talent, while others come from a background heavy with musical training. The “Musician” soundtrack producer is exactly what it sounds like they are—a prior (or a current) musician who assists in the arrangement of a new soundtrack.
These are the producer and musician in one—but not the same as the above. This type of music producer takes “The Musician” to the extreme, being the producer, arranger, composer, and performer. The best way to describe this type of music producer is to think of Prince.
You may know or can imagine someone to fit into each of these categories, or you may know of one person who holds traits of each. The music industry is vast and the personalities of producers can often overlap and share traits of those mentioned above while others stand out as the epitome of that stereotype.
