How do you pay Music Producers?
From time to time, we at BAND Royalty get the opportunity to make advances against or to buy some or all of a music producer’s royalties. Let’s take a deeper look at the relationship producers have to a music project.
“How do you pay music producers?”
There are usually three distinctive ways to pay a producer, depending on their personal preference. You can either offer a flat fee, pay by the hour, or by the number of completed recordings. Additionally, a producer also questions about the royalty from the overall sale of the record. On these types of agreements, you will have to make regular royalty payments to the producer, depending on the sales of your recordings.
How Much Does a Record Producer Generally Charge?
Having a professional music producer impacts an artist’s album tremendously. Dr. Dre -mostly known for birthing the hip-hop careers of Snoop, Nate Dogg, and Eminem- charges anywhere from $75,000 per track for special projects to his regular price of $250,000 per track, as reported by music beats licenser OnFireBEATS.
Some incredibly talented -yet not as well-known producers- usually charge up to $15,000 per track. The range can vary from as little as $500 to $15,000, with various royalty splits built in along the way.
How Involved is the Record Producer?
A producer’s job is to listen to the artist’s material and choose the best songs -not as simple as it may seem. A record producer has to keenly observe and select songs according to the audience’s demand.
A record producer selects the commercial songs and album tracks, along with a vague “hit song.” Subsequently, the singer and the producer carefully go through the music pieces to thrash out the arrangement of the songs on the album.
Moreover, record producers also look for instruments clashes in songs to make them catchy, distinctive, and exquisitely unique. Other than the vocals, the producers also emphasize the guitar, drums, and bass.
After this thorough observation comes the next step -adjusting the tracks and developing the stereo mix, which is then sent over to the mastering house, where it is toned down to reduce the harshness. And lastly, compression is added to put the mix together.
How can you pay the Record Producers?
Contract and terms vary based on each song, album, and producer. Everything ranging from the genre to the bargaining power determines how much money the producer can demand. However, there are mainly two generalities:
- Advances
- Royalties
Let’s discuss a little of both to clarify what the terms mean indeed.
Advances:
Someone new to the business might not receive an advance in the beginning. Such producers are entirely working to gain experience and build an impressive portfolio. On the other hand, producers who have worked with a few artists charge per song; this mainly depends on the singer’s experience and success.
Some singers pay a flat fee; this is more suitable for artists who are new to the industry. Besides, it is more cost-effective as well for both the singer and the record producer.
Royalties:
Most producers often receive some percentage of the singer’s royalties earned on a given song or album. The percentage here is known as points, and every point equals 1%.
Conventionally, this royalty depends on how the singer gets paid, mainly the percentage of the record’s sale multiplied by the total number of downloads or albums sold.
The record royalty of a music producer is usually 3% to 4% of the total sale’s price, or 20% to 25% of the singer’s royalties. Music producers with an extensive body of work find those royalty payments stacking up over the years and may end up needing an alternative -like BAND Royalty is, to unlock their full earning potential.
