How to Become a Professional Music Producer

Edited by Brandywine, Eric, KnowItSome, Be Happy and 18 others

Working in the world of music is both fun and challenging. Most wannabe music pros remain just that, however--wannabes. This articles explains how to rise above the competition, work with talented performers, and succeed in the world of entertainment.

Steps

1
Choose a market and know it well - for most of us, our target market is the town or city where we live. There's nothing that says you can't have your market be somewhere else, but you'll need the budget to spend a lot of time there. Knowing your market means knowing its venues and its local talent. Immerse yourself in the "scene."
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2
If you don't do so already, start attending every performance you can. Successful producers are not only makers of entertainment, they are consumers. Attending lots of performances will help you separate the real talent from the "weekend warriors," and will show you which bands and performers consistently attract large local crowds. You'll start to notice the attributes of those artists with real potential, which will help you down the line when you start "breaking out" new talent.
3
Talk to bands and venue managers at each event you attend. With performers, find out the minimum amount of money they'll accept to play a show. With venues, find out how booked up they are and what their policies are for booking agents. Once you've approached a band or venue manager and they seem open to working with you, add them to your portfolio. Potential talent is going to want to know what venues you can get them into. Venues are going to want to know what talent you can bring to them.
4
Start learning about the recording studios in your area. A simple call to a studio will probably get you a chance to attend a recording session. This will help you learn the recording process. If a professional producer is at the session, watch how he/she interacts with the talent and the engineer to help make everyone happy while achieving the desired result. Being a producer usually involves mediating between the talent and the technicians. Good producers get results by making everyone comfortable so that they can do their best.
5
You are a middleman. Be prepared to show everyone how you can help them get what they want; it's the only way you'll find success. Venues want to book talent that brings out large crowds. Talent wants to expose new audiences to their music, sell lots of tickets, and make great records that get noticed.
6
Be creative and different. Just because you can remake songs doesn't mean you are cut out for the industry. As in any service industry, particularly a highly competitive one such as this, you must offer a reason--and an easily discernible one--why a client should hire YOU rather than someone else.
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Video

Tips

Be completely familiar with the fees/compensation/commissions other local producers are charging their clients. You can make yourself more attractive to hire by undercutting those prices, and may be able to connect with newer venues/performers as a result (since such potential clients are usually very cost-conscious).