When you’re looking to release music, finding the right
Finding the right producer for you comes down to three things:
1. Who do you click with?
There has to be a creative chemistry there. Trust your gut. You’ll know when you’ve found someone you want to do a lot of work with. Find someone who has similar musical tastes. Find someone who is an easy hang. You’re going to spend a TON of time making your records together, so it needs to be someone you love being around.
2. Who is AVAILABLE to you?
What I mean there is-who is the person who is willing to invest their time in working w/ you?
This also plays into affordability. You’ve got to shoot for the best you can afford. But you don’t need to go broke at the same time. Who is willing to dig in with you to craft the record of your dreams? It’s a craft because, almost always, the really good ones take time.
3. Who complements your skill set?
No two producers are exactly alike. Some are extremely great instrumentalists, but have no lyrical savvy. Some play a little bit of everything and also happen to be great engineers and programmers. Some are as much songwriter as they are producer. Some are great singers which make them even stronger as vocal producers. This part is just about taking inventory of what you’re good at and what you’re not, then selecting a producer who can fill in the gaps.
So, how do you actually find a producer for your music? Well, I’m going to give you a list of ideas-but this is by no means every possibility.
Join Facebook groups. Facebook groups can be a great way to find thriving communities of talent to collaborate with.
Try Soundbetter. This is a great resource for finding mixing & mastering engineers, singers, songwriters, producers, and studio musicians for hire.
Co-write. Producers are often also songwriters. By co-writing you may end up finding someone who wants to finish out producing the songs that you write together. This is very common nowadays and often also can lead to a better deal financially as the producer is often already invested in your music. A great way to find co-writers is through our online community if songwriters, Song Chasers! You can find out more here.
Look at the credits of your favorite records. Spotify is good for this as is allmusic.com. Find out who the producer was on your favorite records and then send them a DM on socials. Or if you can find them or their manager’s emails’, send an email as well. Don’t expect to get responses from most of them, but with some, you might!
Go to live events. Lots of producers often attend live music industry events and seminars. To learn more about Full Circle’s annual conference, Music Makers Bootcamp, go here!
Look in the mirror. You just might see your producer staring back at you. It can pay dividends to buy a basic home studio setup and learn how to use Logic, Pro Tools, or Ableton. If you need help learning how to produce check out our Music Production Mastery Course here! Also, even if you don’t want to be your own producer, the course can help you make your own demos and provides helpful language for working with producers. (Producers love it when artists actually know how to give helpful feedback for making tweaks on their music.)
Finding the right producer can take some time and effort, but it’s all worth it once you find the right fit!
Are you a producer looking for more clients? Leave us a comment so people can find you!