4 Important Advantages of Music Production Programs for Recording Artists

Let's take a look at some of the advantages of Music Production Programs & Courses.

Producers employ all their varied skills toward a single goal: Create Great Music. Not just great sound, but irresistible marketable SONGS! The smart musician and performing artist will understand that nothing can propel a music career faster than learning production skills for themselves.

Here are 4 reasons you should participate in Music Production Programs:

1. Control. The more removed a musician becomes from the ever changing digital tools, the less control that performer will have over their own product. Audio editing platforms, digital workstations, Midi, post production...all this stuff is going to effect your music. The musician who doesn't know how to employ these tools will deliver his vision over to someone else. And sometimes that "producer" in the fancy downtown studio with the cool lights and big board really is nothing more than a knob turning engineer. And that's the irony: By NOT knowing all the new cutting edge digital production techniques, the artist's final recording often sounds more mechanical, not less.

2. Getting Signed. Musicians, singers and performing recording artists who know production techniques have a nearly unbeatable set of advantages over the competition. Let's just consider one: The beloved Demo Recording which emerging artists collectively crank out by the millions. There are three types of demos:

(a) Those recorded in a bath-tub which sound so awful it becomes impossible to take the artist or band seriously.

(b) Those recorded in a professional studio. The clock and budget concerns will inevitably creep into the music. I have NEVER met a band or singer who was really satisfied with that 4 song demo recorded in the fancy studio for 1,200 bucks. They're always rushed. It never quite captures their vision going in. They always hear something a few days after final production (or a lot of things) they wish they could do over.

(c) Demos made in modest home studios where someone knows production techniques. Those bands and performers put out better Demos. They can work more songs. They can forget the clock, forget their wallets and create great music. They get do overs. The "home made" Demo with someone who knows production at the helm can be very close in audio quality to anything an emerging recording artist or band can make in a professional studio. Sure, if you're the Rolling Stones or Kanye West you have a zillion dollars, and the big studio will be an advantage. But the new artist can't buy enough studio time for it to make any real difference. Those resources are much better spent getting decent home studio gear and learning production techniques to record as many songs as you want. Music Production Programs teach you how to tweak the sound and, with the creativity a musician brings to production, you are MUCH more likely to record gems the fans and A & R people at the labels will fall in love with. It's a numbers game when you're trying to get to the next level: The more you record, the more likely you are to create hits. The more chances you give yourself to actually get a potential hit on disc, the FAR BETTER your chances of getting signed, whether it be to a label, distribution or booking deal.

3. Composing Hit Songs. Good producers are good musicians and good writers. The music industry is always in a state of change. Lately, those changes have been particularly challenging. But the smart musician will realize one thing never changes: Fans will go nuts over a great song. Online Music Production Programs offer unprecedented opportunities to make you a better songwriter. The tools are not the music - that comes from the brain, heart and motivation of the writer. But learning music production will show you how great songs are structured. Good producers are song builders, and you can learn these skills quickly.

4. Becoming a music producer is a pretty good gig. And it seems the people who run the best Music Production Programs always have great industry contacts. These programs and online courses can provide you with a foot in the door, whether it be as a performer or a producer, or both.

Keywords: