Whenever I receive an inquiry for production I always want to meet the person who took the time out to express interest in working with me and my production team. Anyone who takes time out of their day to not only listen to the music we’ve put out but to also reach out is never taken for granted. Out of all the producers they could’ve reached out to they decided to give us a chance. At the end of meeting the artist I’m always surprised when they tell me how not only appreciative they are that I took time out to listen to their music and meet with them but also that I was willing to hear the idea they had about another record. That’s odd to me because one of the main things a producer does is to create a record based on an artist’s idea. So why are these artists not experiencing other producers taking time out to meet with them or at least listen to their music to see if they even want to work with them? I don’t think the problem is the internet. I think it deals with the fact that we have been in an era of production becoming transactional instead of a collaboration.
The first artist I ever produced for was a guy named B-$imm$. B-$imm$ was a raunchy lyricist yet always had the catchiest hooks. He once dropped an album called “Too Fat for Skinny Jeans” and I swear every song on there had a hook that would get stuck in your head. For our collaboration B-$imm$ wanted a song that he could use to promote his new sports blog as well as something he could use for his album. The record we worked on was called “Touchdown.” It was 808 heavy and had horns every where. The trumpets blared through the speakers and was mixed purposely to where the only sound you focused on were the trumpets and his voice. It was boisterous and raw. The song eventually made it into the rotation of Austin’s KAZI FM Radio station for a short while. During the creation process we discussed a few things he wanted changed. He was even open to pushback but everything he pitched was great. Song came out great and performed well given that the mix needed a lot of work, honestly. It would take a few years of experience for me to realize that the process we both went through to create that record isn’t really that common. Nowadays beats are sent to emails blindly and the producer later finds out that he made it on someone’s album. The sad part about this is that half the time the producer doesn’t even like the record. I’ll be honest here. A lot of producers have stated this to me in confidence and the one common denominator is that they were willing to send beats off to anyone at any time. Nothing wrong with searching the hashtag “send beats” but you may want to listen to that artist’s music first. Hence, why some artists can’t get the producer to repost the song even on their Soundcloud. It says a lot when the person who made the beat won’t even promote the record.
The artist and producer relationship is the most important, yet volatile, things when it comes to creating records. Its two minds coming together with the goal of creating something both parties like. Even if the record doesn’t perform well you should still have a sense of pride about the record. Granted, I also sell beats online and have for awhile. Luckily for me most of the artists that have purchased a license of one of my beats have released some great music. I’ve been debating on shutting down my beat store for awhile but I’ll leave it up as more up and coming artists discover me and may want a Hänz Nobe beat but don’t have the budget for full production.
Producers should make more of an effort to create records for artist and build a relationship with them; especially if they are paying for production. As I stated in a previous post, music production has an element of consulting that should be utilize to make something the artist loves performing. Take the time out and see why the artist sent a DM saying, “ay, send beats.” What are they working on? Is it a single? An album? Maybe they are just testing the waters to see if they even want to put music out. All of these things should be taken into account before sending anything off. I know in hip hop this isn’t a common practice and I get it but the artist reached out to you. So therefore, they have some respect for your craft and you should show it back.
Respect goes a long way.
