Sound vendors. Music producer

Alexander Sakharov (Clan Soprano Studio) Producer, composer, lyricist, sound engineer, producer and author of over 100 tracks, 5 of which were #1 on the Russian radio chart.

The classic said that we all come from childhood. Many agree that from there, from childhood, all the features, troubles and in many ways the character of the individual. So the Russian show business comes from the 90s and is still experiencing its children's complexes. And this is reflected not only on the participants themselves, but also on the public.

In view ordinary person the situation is as follows: there is an artist, he has a producer who comes with the artist to some abstract studio, there they record some song that seems to come from nowhere right away, then they shoot a clip and show it on TV. And that's it - the star is ready.

So it was in the 90s, and then partly. Then there was a lot of creativity and energy of the new time, the music industry began to develop rapidly, and somewhere even brazenly, giving rise to many new heroes. “Tender May” appeared, then “Hands Up”, old stars more or less successfully adapted to the new laws, rap culture began to develop, and in addition, former rebel rockers, for example, Viktor Tsoi and the group "Kino" (yes, their latest albums were released and promoted according to all the canons of the pop music industry).

As a result, we entered the 21st century with a completely new show business, bright in ideas, but very artisanal and timid in terms of the professionalism of the participants. Everything was done on the knee, but this suited the audience, since no one could imagine that it could be somehow different. And after the cumbersome and clumsy Soviet stage, people were ready to perceive music of any quality, as long as it was different.

Therefore, a producer in Russia spontaneously began to be considered one who, through his efforts of various kinds, from investing money to organizing concerts or distributing cassettes, will provide the artist with popularity. And everything would have continued like this, if integration with the world show business and the availability of information on the Internet did not let us all understand that “there” everything is somehow different. Producers are people like Timbaland and Pharrel Williams. Diplo and Skrillex win Grammys as producers of Justin Bieber's Where Are Ü Now. And these guys do not at all correspond to the philistine image of the producer as "guys with a belly who listens to girls, lounging on the couch."

Therefore, let's figure out who is called what and most importantly - who is responsible for what. A producer is a person who is responsible for what product the public will eventually hear. A producer can do everything himself, that is, completely write a song, make an arrangement, record vocals, mix a track, create a concept for a video sequence. Can delegate a part of these functions. But still, the decision on what should happen in the final is made solely by the producer. And in dance music it happens that a successful track is made without an artist at all. And in this case, the title person of such a track is the producer himself. As an example, such very successful tracks can be cited: Martin Garrix - Animals - almost an instrumental track or Chainsmokers - Don "t Let Me Down, where the vocalist's voice sounds, but, in fact, is not fundamental, and the singer is simply invited by the producers to implement them ideas.

Fortunately, in Russia, the understanding of the significance and role of the producer is gradually coming, because a randomly bought song from Internet mailing lists such as “Songs for Sale. Part 3 "does not bring the desired result to the artist. Just something to sing is not enough. It is necessary to create the concept of an artist, to pull out of him the very cool, honest, strong that he has, to invent and qualitatively embody an interesting sound, to look for bright ways to realize the final musical product. And that's all - the task of the producer. And the one who invests money is called an investor. The person who directs the administrative process is called the executive director or manager. Concert Director organizes concerts; the tour manager is directly on tour with the artist.

But this process is slow, and for the time being at our awards they continue to distribute “plates” to singers. And at this time, at the Grammy, the award is awarded not so much to the performer as to the producer, just open the list of winners on Wikipedia, and you will see this information:

Record of the Year: "Uptown Funk" - Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Produced by Jeff Basker, Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson. Recording - Josh Blair, Serban Ghenea, Wayne Gordon, John Hanes, Inaam Haq, Boo Mitchell, Charles Moniz & Mark Ronson, mastering engineer - Tom Coyne.

Here you can see who created this track and made the decision. Note that Bruno Mars is both a co-author and a co-producer here, because a new generation of singers is sure to take part in creating music, they have a feeling that they want to tell people through music. And those singers who continue to believe that it doesn’t matter what to sing and how, and who will do it, as long as there are a lot of rotations on the radio, now they are increasingly being “overboard”. And the public has become more literate, has begun to understand how and who creates music, and its quality requirements are growing strongly.

Therefore, a real leap in the development of show business in Russia is possible only if all participants understand these principles, everyone does their own thing, develop professionally, understand sound recording, the studio process, be relevant and follow all the innovations in the world. music industry. Only then, after some time, Russian music in no way will it lag behind the world.

Surely you have heard about such a profession as a music producer. There are real legends about these people, all beginning bands and musicians-soloists dream of meeting them, and for good producer literally put up a fight.

But who is this person? Why is he so important in music and why is he always behind the scenes?

We tried to answer all these questions and talk about one of the most controversial modern professions.

How we introduce the producer

Situation: a talented guy Artemka pleases friends and neighbors every evening with cool songs accompanied by a guitar. He wrote them all himself. They sound really good. And then all the friends agree: "Theme, you urgently need a producer"!

According to the established opinion of the majority, this same producer looks like some kind of respectable uncle (less often - an aunt) with a large press of carbohydrates that has swollen and an even greater press of evergreen bills.

The producer smells money talent a mile away and is ready to take on the promotion of a young (not always) talent, getting his pretty percentage for this.

As soon as our talented Artem finds that same producer, in a few days he will wake up famous, and his dreams of a spacious apartment in the center of the capital, expensive cars and exclusive clothes will become closer.

Airs on the radio, clips, promotion of albums - this truly universal person will do all this. In reality, everything is completely different.

Who is the real producer?

The word "producer" itself comes from English word"product" - product. It is not difficult to guess that the producer's task is to produce a finished musical product that will be sold.

After a cursory acquaintance with our hero Artem, the producer asks to show all the musical achievements that the talented boy has.

The future star better get used to good sound. An audiophile portable player with a completely redesigned design. But the beauty in this model is not only outside, but also inside. At FiiO X7 II there are all the trump cards in order to play music as naturally as possible.

Imagine, the player has a 4-core RK3188 processor, 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of memory, as well as a new Pro-level ESS Saber 9028 DAC. Complementing the sound delight is the ability to change amplifiers to suit your mood.

The producer demands absolutely everything: from unfinished texts, clumsy sketches of not the most harmonious chords to seemingly ready-made songs. All this material will have to be reworked and streamlined in such a way that either a full-fledged album or, at worst, a tolerable single will turn out.

The task of the producer is to help the novice musician to make ready-made musical material in order to successfully sell it later. It is he who sets the accents in music and, in fact, creates the image of a future performer or band.

A music producer has a lot of goals and objectives. Only on condition that he understands all the intricacies of producing, the project will be doomed to success.

What are the responsibilities of a producer?

Unlike the film industry, a music producer has dozens of tasks at once. The Executive Producer is responsible for:

Quality control of both whole albums and individual songs;
- music recording control, style definition, arrangements approval;
- selection of scenarios for clips;
- development of the image and thinking through the public image;
- selection of technical personnel: from musicians to sound engineers and editors;
- financial control and financial effect from the production of tracks and albums;
- negotiating with radio stations and television studios to promote the product.

In the life of our hero Artem, the producer is both the king and God. It is with this person that a novice musician or band spends as much time as possible.

Being an executive producer, the same "authoritative uncle" can also play the role of a sound producer. It is this person who helps to make music scraps and text scraps good composition, which, as they say, is "grabbed by the people."

The sound producer separates all the husks and prepares for the future track only best material. He also evaluates the song and acts as the main critic of the potential star.

What are producers

In fact, the producer means a whole string of specialists from different areas. In addition to the music and executive producer, there are also:

Theatrical producer;
- Television producer;
- Producer of computer games;
- Line producer - manages the work of the staff and deals with issues that do not relate to creativity;
- General producer.

The peculiarity of producing is that one person can perform the duties of several specialties at once. In reality Russian show business often this is exactly what happens.

How much does a producer earn

This is the question that worries almost any musician. The producer's fee directly depends on a number of factors:

Experience and credibility in the music industry - than famous producer the more expensive his services will cost;
- success musical group: number of concerts, chart positions, album sales;
- his own ability to "be in trend" - the producer must feel that today the majority is listening and that, in literally words, will be sold.

A producer who earns well is simply obliged to listen to music in its original form. New reincarnation of the player FiiO X5 III is the choice of those who understand what truly high-quality sound means. However, it is more likely not a player, but a real music computer with Android OS on board.

The manufacturer has provided two slots for microSD cards, built in a Wi-Fi module and added three audio ports at once: balanced, "minijack" and coaxial, combined with linear. Two independent AK4490 chips are used as a DAC.

Another feature of the model is the ability to use it as a USB DAC. No competitor is capable of this.

It is almost impossible to name the range of the producer's financial reward. A young but talented producer can raise an aspiring musician to the peak of popularity in a few months (let's be realistic: if they give show business sharks), taking a symbolic amount for this.

Where to find it

Artem wants to become famous and famous, but how can he do it? Where to look for a producer? There are several options here.

Firstly, recent times talents are especially promoted through shows like The Voice and the like. So, the same producer can wait for Artem in the hall, or be a member of the jury. And if the guy impresses the producer, he'll get a counter offer.

Secondly, production centers are scattered throughout the country, where the management promises to make a star out of almost every little bit. talented singer or a musician. Of course, not for free, and not always with a result of 100%.

Finally, if you are confident in your own abilities, get ready for an independent assault on the producer you are interested in, who has been leading one of your favorite bands for several years. Prepare a disk with records and forward to the siege of the fortress. Assertiveness is the main advantage in show business.

On the way to the production center, you need to mentally recharge yourself with determination from Lossless music. The recipe for a "cocktail for the assault" is simple: load the tracks into the player FiiO X3 III, connect headphones to a balanced port, classic "jack" or pair via Bluetooth, and enjoy the unique sound.

The FiiO X3 II uses dual PCM5242 chips, which have excellent performance in signal-to-noise ratio. This model simply does not allow musical distortions.

We will not talk about “unofficial” ways to contact producers. In the end, the producer is the same person and he has his weaknesses.

On July 29, Igor Krutoy was born, who became the personification of the concept of "music producer" in Russia. The word "producer" in our country, as a rule, was understood as "sponsor-manager". Yuri Aizenshpis or Bari Alibasov are monsters and professionals in their field, but those who can not only find money and the right artists, but also compose the right songs for them, are such a few. All of them are in the ELLE review.

A man who fully justifies his surname, went, as they wrote in the Soviet press, a thorny path to glory. A graduate of the Nikolaev Conservatory, Krutoy worked in various philharmonic societies until he settled in Moscow, where he began to make acquaintances in the pop environment and took up composing songs. The breakthrough happened in 1987 with a song written for Alexander Serov: the powerful number "Madonna" then thundered from every iron. Then Krutoy made a very right move, converting success not only into writing new songs, but also into business. In the late 80s, Igor Yakovlevich became the artistic director of the ARS company, and ten years later he completely headed it. What is ARS? These are assets in the form of radio stations, a TV channel, the organization of large-scale concert shows etc.

Surprisingly, all this time Krutoy continued to write songs, and Russian artists continued to carry them out with great success. The list of those who worked with Igor Yakovlevich is so huge that it makes no sense to bring it up: point your finger at any category A performer and, be sure, you will not lose.

The career of the creator of "Lube" and "Ivanushki" began, as it should be for a gifted professional who wanted to engage in pop music in the Soviet Union, with work in the VIA. With the advent of perestroika, Matvienko dived into the nascent show business, getting a job as an editor at the legendary Record Studio, the first of its kind music conglomerate full cycle, where they composed songs, and promoted artists, and arranged a super show.

It was there that Matvienko came up with and launched Lube, bringing his old friend Nikolai Rastorguev there. Long before the current fashion for patriotism, the Lyube group took this topic into service, making a phenomenal career and turning into a truly folk group.

In the mid-90s, Matvienko launched his second main project - "Ivanushki International". Being in fact a boy band, Ivanushki is still functioning, despite the fact that two of its three members are well over forty.

In addition to Lube and Ivanushki, Igor Igorevich worked extremely well as a producer of one of the seasons of the Star Factory TV show: two of the teams that Matvienko put together as a result of the show - Roots and Factory - were a huge success.

The most poetic and deepest of the pop composers was not particularly sprayed, dealing mainly with two artists - his brother Valery and the group VIA Gra. Gradually, the list expanded - Rotaru, Pugacheva, Orbakaite, Valeria, Ani Lorak, Vera Brezhneva, Polina Gagarina, Leps and others. As a result, today the main "clients" of Konstantin are Valery Meladze, all the same beauties from VIA Gra and a graduate of this pop sex trio, she is also the wife of the composer. And Konstantin also surprisingly accurately works with artists, as the viewers of Star Factory 7 could see in 2009.

A rocker by nature, a westerner by force of circumstances, the smiling Drobysh appeared in the field of view of the public at the beginning of the 2000s, and seemed to be there. Songs for Kristina Orbakaite, Abraham Russo, of course, Valeria, and then a whole platoon of graduates of the next Star Factory, from Stas Piekha to Zara, went in jambs. As befits a respectful and far-sighted composer, Drobysh acquired his own production center named after himself, worked with young artists, and then catapulted into the chair of the general producer of the National Music Corporation. Victor is full of energy: now he takes care of the Eurovision participants, is engaged in television projects, and defends copyrights.

Fadeev appeared on the pop horizon in the late 80s, striking the audience of the Jurmala festival with his completely "branded" performance. Then he worked in Moscow, arranging songs for mainstream pop artists like Larisa Dolina. And then the singer Svetlana Geiman appeared in Fadeev's life, whom Maxim turned into Linda. Under the sign of Linda, for many, the nineties, in fact, passed. And the pop sound and the general pop landscape of the 2000s were seriously determined by the artists of the second Star Factory, which was produced by Fadeev. Yulia Savicheva, Polina Gagarina, Irakli, Pierre Narcisse - them, albeit one-day ones, but hits sounded everywhere then. The second main project of Maxim in those years was the singer Glukoza, who impressed both the "simple" public and snobs. Another creation of Fadeev, the trio "Silver", also reconciled and still reconciles the people and aesthetes, issuing killer hits, the deliberate vulgarity of which is set off by irony and (without this, Fadeev can't do it) fantastically sticky melodies.

The process of transition of the economy to market conditions has affected all spheres of economic and cultural activity, including the music industry. In this area, as in any other area of ​​culture, fundamental changes have taken place. First of all, it should be noted the allocation of the economic block of relations in the music industry. Yes, the economy musical project, along with creativity, is increasingly being promoted as a necessary part of the production activity in music business. The interaction of these two components - economy and creativity - ensures both the competitiveness and originality of musical projects that are the object of close attention of the public.

Music producer(English) music producer) - a person responsible for the image, musical style of performers and the recording process. He is usually in charge of sound quality control, determination of the repertoire and the general ideology of the project (album, single 3, radio programs, etc.). The producer selects sound engineers 4 , editors 5 , assistants. As a rule, major labels 6 have their own studio producers, often musicians themselves invite outside producers of interest to them.

Producing activity (producing) is some creative process implementation of any project from start to finish. 7

The profession of "producer" is only now beginning to appear in Moscow universities. And those who became producers before that were kind of pioneers, they relied only on their own intuition.

Activities in the field of show business have their own distinctive features, technology, "pitfalls", but at the same time, they are subject to laws that are also characteristic of other types of social activities. It includes many processes. Among them are financial, personnel, social and many others. Thus, the economics of a musical project is one of the most important components of management and entrepreneurship in this area.

Consider all the components of show business, united by the managerial lever, for which the producer is responsible (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. The main components of the public activities of the producer.

As can be seen from the figure, the music industry includes such elements as economics, creativity, law and management. How do all these components fit together in the music business? The need for a creative and economic component is obvious without further explanation. The organization of any project is provided by managerial relations based on the personal factor. In addition, the organization of any musical project begins with the selection of artists and other participants responsible for various parts of the process. This is where professional management is needed. And the legal principles that are reflected in the legislation and contractual regulation ensure managerial relations at a civilized level.

Music production or production of a musical project is a complex multi-level process that requires a producer as a creative and managerial figure to give a lot of effort, time and nerves.

The concept of a producer as a person responsible for financing, producing and distributing cultural products, in particular a musical product, has been in practice for a long time. But it gets its recognition from official structures gradually.

Producing activity is closely connected with other spheres of culture - cinema, theater, television. This is due to the fact that the show project is a synthesis various kinds arts. It includes musical material, directing, the work of a clip maker, an image maker, etc. But one way or another, the main object of the producer's interest is intellectual property. First of all, it has a certain value as an object of culture, and in the producer's business, the price for which this property is acquired is also of interest.

The versatility of production activities in the music industry is associated with a powerful promotion of the project, which includes not only traditional promotion methods (for example, concert and touring activities, information support, etc.), but also specific ones - merchandising 8 , participation in prestigious music festivals , creating a promotional campaign 9 on the Internet. Despite such a versatile activity, the producer, as a rule, relies on one or more directions. Thus, projects appear, the foundation of which is either original idea, or the vocal data of the performers, or the skill of the composer.

Naturally, the producer is interested in covering all aspects of the project, but it is quite easy to see the main focus, the main focus.

As noted, the music business includes the organization of a large number of different-level events, people and processes. All of them are somehow connected with the generation of an idea, the creation of a project, promotion to the market, keeping the creative and commercial potential at a certain level. For the financial stability of their activities, the producer needs to take into account its creative, economic, managerial and legal specifics. This became especially important during the period of the formation of contractual relations to a civilized level.

Under concepts producer activity and producing means activities aimed at organizing and solving the set tasks aimed at the implementation of the project.

There are many branches of production activity, which act as independent professions in various branches of the world of art and show business. Studio Producer cooperates with film studios and does not deal with financial matters. His task is only the artistic side of the project. However, along with this, it does not carry any risks. Independent Producer looking for sponsors for his project, dealing with distribution issues. General producer bears full responsibility for the project, determines the project budget, concludes contracts with contractors. Executive producer in fact, he does all the work, oversees the development of the project, creative and organizational moments. Line Producer leads the unit related to the implementation of the project, monitors the filming schedule. Sound producer deals with sound recording, quality musical material.

Thus, under the concept producer means the organizer of multi-level creative, managerial, legal and economic events, processes and phenomena.

Who are they music producers? Here's what Wikipedia tells us: A music producer is a person responsible for developing the style of a musical project, creating a public image of the project, as well as organizing, financing, and monitoring the implementation of related work.

A music producer can work both with the project as a whole and on its individual albums, songs, videos, and/or concert performances.

Initially, the music producer is in charge of the process of recording music, determining the style of the repertoire, selecting poems, music, and arrangements. But besides this, he can select scripts - for clips or concert performances. Also, a music producer can determine the general line of conduct of the project, develop the image and develop the created public image.

The music producer is obliged to supervise the process of writing and recording songs, less often - filming clips, even more rarely - organizing concert performances of the project.

The music producer selects technical staff for the project - assistants, editors, screenwriters, cameramen, directors, sound engineers, sound engineers, sound producers.

As a rule, large recording studios have their own music producers, but often musicians themselves invite outside producers of interest to them, and in some cases they carry out musical production of their project on their own.

The work of a music producer can be compared to the work of an art director. However, unlike artistic director, the duties of a music producer include not only the management of the creative part of the project, but also the organization and control of the logistics of these works.

Bold I highlighted in my opinion especially egregious facts. Tell me, if the producer does all this, then what does the musician, composer do?

That's just who a producer is. performing any project.
In other words, speaking in simple Russian, the music is now made by merchants.

What is music and why is it needed?

Music (adjective from Greek - muse) - art, a means of embodiment artistic images for which are sound and silence, organized in a special way in time.

Music content

Like other forms of art, music does not have a pronounced material value, since its intangible results are manifested primarily in the spiritual life of a person and society. Influencing the inner world of people, art is able to create or change moral and spiritual values, having a certain content. Unlike many other art forms, musical content is difficult to formalize and describe, as it requires a non-conceptual nature of thinking. The impact of music is carried out on a wide front, affecting not only emotions and feelings, the psyche and bodily motor skills, but also affecting the ability to intuition, play, contemplation, and fantasy. Hence the frequent consideration of the content of music as a sacred art form. The contradiction between the apparent ability of music to influence a person and the inability to clearly express the content that influenced, has led to significant diversity in the answer to the question of what exactly music “tells” a person, what message it contains. Art historians, thinkers and composers gave the following answers:
music is a direct imprint of the person himself, his thoughts, emotions, intellect, his subconscious;
music is a depiction of the extrahuman: God, the essence of being, the surrounding reality, the category of the positive.

There are also intermediate opinions between these poles, trying to connect them with each other, for example, that “music is a reflection of reality in the emotions and ideas of a person”, and a group of statements is also distinguished separately, reducing music only to sounds (“music is everything that sounds ").

Trying to give the most comprehensive formulation, Doctor of Art History Kazantseva L.P. gives the following definition of musical content:
“Musical content is the spiritual side of music embodied in sound, generated by the composer with the help of the objectified constants that have developed in it (genres, pitch systems, composition techniques, forms, etc.), updated by the performing musician and formed in the listener’s perception.”

At the same time, the system of artistic representations that arise under the influence of music and develop into musical content is placed as the basis for understanding. Being a complex product of the activity of the human psyche, these representations have as their subject side the intertwining and interpenetrating concepts of a person, the world around him and the music itself. The task of music is to generate these representations, to organize them among themselves with the help of musical means and methods. The basic tool here is intonation, which allows you to control ideas, building them in the right sequence and concentration. Skillful use of musical material makes it possible to create generalizations of varying degrees from representations - from musical images to musical and artistic themes and ideas. Wherein important feature music is the continuous reorganization of the system of ideas generated by it, which, in addition to the richness of images, also gives dynamic enthusiasm, the ability to capture the listener along with it.

Created by the composer musical composition is the embodiment of part of it inner peace. Reflecting, the author rethinks the material at his disposal, creating new images. The richness of the material used by the composer is enormous, and in some cases it can even put pressure on the creator, preventing him from creating freely. However, the author cannot exist in a vacuum, one way or another, he is initially the bearer of musical cultural traditions and exists in the field of developed musical forms, styles, pitch systems, genres, techniques, symbols musical instruments, semantic roles of keys and other things. If the experience of predecessors is not used, then there is a possibility that the musical content of the work will remain incomprehensible to the listener, who actually exists in exactly the same cultural atmosphere. Thus, the well-known material helps the communication of the work with the listener and can serve as a “means of delivery” of the content needed by the author, his artistic ideas up to a person.

What do we get as a result?

Music is now made by music producers, performers and musicians, just puppets in their hands. What kind of culture of spirituality can we talk about in this music if it was made by just a huckster?

We are what we listen to and it's absolutely terrible. Someone may object to me, saying that not everything in our music is the fruit of the activities of producers, and this will be fair, but I want to note that those musicians who do not have this notorious producer are in an extremely deplorable position, and it is the merchants who flourish. Take, for example, the most famous Psy and Justin Bieber today - one hundred percent production projects. It's the same on our stage, here are the most successful Russian-speaking performers of 2012. 1. Ivan Dorn 2. Nyusha 3. Dima Bilan.