Whether you’re a skilled musician curious about the music industry or someone who dreamed about becoming the next Dr. Dre, you should know that breaking into the music business as a producer is not as complicated as some people may think. We’re not saying that it’s easy, but there are so many opportunities out there for producers, and if you’re willing to grind, then there is a real chance that you might get a break if you are actually talented. Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to do to become a professional music producer.
Study the Craft
The very first thing we would suggest you do is to pick the type of music you want to produce, check for some of your favorite tracks of the genre and look at how these tracks were made. There are millions of videos on YouTube of people reproducing popular songs, and if the songs you pick are somewhat known, you should find a tutorial on how to reproduce them using common tools.
This will allow you to know if you truly like the process and if you could see yourself doing it. If the process seems exciting and you want to take the next step, you will need to start building a foundation.
Consider Taking Classes
Some music producers came into the business with no or virtually no formal musical education. But, in most cases, music producers, no matter the genre, will have at least a foundation.
If we were to suggest that you learn one thing at least, it would be the keyboard. If you can use the keyboard properly, then you can play virtually any instrument through a DAW and not need anything else. But, if you want to be a master producer, understand a wide variety of tools, and take the guesswork out of the equation, we suggest you get an actual producer course.
You could get an online course for producing on a site like Masterclass, but you could go for something more serious and attend a school like Los Angeles Academy for Artists and Music Production or the Berklee College of Music in New York, for instance. This will give you all the tools needed to make solid and professional-sounding productions.
Get the Gear
You also need to get the startup gear to make your first tracks and to practice. You will need to look at a few DAWs like Fruity Loops, Ableton Live, and Cubase, midi controllers, and an audio interface. You’ll also need to have a computer that can run all of this.
Picking a desktop such as Lenovo PCs for music production will be the logical option here since you’ll most likely be doing most of your work from a fixed location. You’ll also get a much more powerful machine for the price.
Start Building Your Portfolio and Get Representation
The next step is starting to make your own production and posting them online for feedback. YouTube and Soundcloud are all great places for that. Make sure that you have a solid Instagram account and are active too.
You can then use the criticism you get to shape your production. If you notice that people are excited about your music, you can start looking for an agent. You could also close deals directly with artists if some approach you, but you will need to find a music business attorney to draft contracts and protect your intellectual property.
Conclusion
This is really all you need if you want to start a career as a music producer. Everything else is about networking, becoming better, and considering all opportunities, even those that might not look the most glamorous.
