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Music Production at Offbeat

Offbeat Music Producer Iain McKinna can only take on so many music production projects every year here at Offbeat and to make sure that he is the right fit for your music and that you are able to do what it takes to promote a production you can find everything you need to know in this section of the website.

An important aspect of a production is creating a recording schedule that's planned around the budget of the recordings. 

Creating A Production Schedule

Planned Around The Budget

The schedule is adhered to as closely as possible as one of the dangers of artists producing their own records is that costs can easily run out of control if not closely monitored. 

Each stage of the recording also has to be carefully planned to make sure there's enough time for pre-production, recording, mixing, post-production and mastering.

The Schedule

1

Pre-Production

What needs to be done prior to going to the studio. The total length of the material to be recorded and instrumentation required. Working out the estimated studio bookings required based on the budget. 

2

Recording

Working out the tempos and keys of the songs/tracks prior to track laying. Midi guides are then recorded along with guide vocals and instruments. This is followed by final performances of all the vocals and instrumentation as well as adding experimental parts. Recording in stages is recommended so that the  process can be reviewed along the way.

3

Mixing

Quite often the song/track is slowly being mixed as the recording process develops. Once all the parts are recorded and there are no tracks left to record, the serious mixing begins. As with the recording process, this can be reviewed in stages which allows for any remixes for the final mix stage.

4

Post Production

Once the final mixes for the project are done, any radio, club or 'live' performance mixes (minus any parts) are then produced. 

5

Mastering

Processing the final mixes to achieve a finished track is known as the mastering stage. The stereo mixes are processed through signal processing, typically EQ (tone control), Compression and Limiting are applied to optimise the completed mixes. The final programming of the masters will also include : Track spacing, Volume differences between tracks and the embedding of data into the tracks. ISRC codes (which identify tracks when played on radio). Barcode information as well as composers, producers, engineer and studio data.

Things You Need To Be Aware Of
When Hiring A Producer.

Production Costs

Studio costs and Production costs are two distinct elements of a recording budget.

SIGNED ARTISTS

When employed through a record label the producer is normally paid on a royalty basis, some of which can be paid in the form of an agreed advance. The subsequent royalties earned are then deducted from the advance at a later stage.

A producers royalty is negotiable but is normally equal to around 20% of the artists share of royalties.

If the artist is signed to a label in which the artist receives 15% then the producer's royalty (around 3%) is normally deducted from this and paid direct to the producer from the label.

SELF FUNDED ARTISTS

When an artist is self funded a producer can be paid on a non-royalty basis as the job of administering royalties is not usually practical for an artist to undertake. At Offbeat we have devised an affordable method of being able to employ a producer so that when the project is completed the artist doesn't have to account to the producer for future sales.
See Our Production Costs.

Get in touch with us to find out about our range of affordable production costs

CONTACT US!
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