Creating an album and the roles involved

There are many roles in the music production process, starting with the jobs within a recording studio session: It is an artist's job to perform a song which may be written by them, or a songwriter (a different job). An artist’s job is one of the most important jobs in the process as, without them, there is no product to record, mix, master, manufacture, distribute, promote or sell. Therefore, this role allows all the other roles to exist. If it wasn’t for the artist, there would be no tracks, so the other jobs (sound engineer, producer, manufacturer, distributor, etc) could not be carried out. This is because an artist’s contribution to the process (the lyrics, chords, etc) are what the other roles build on and, without the artist, the rest of the roles simply wouldn’t exist.

An artist is constantly in the eye of the media/press, and has to be friendly and sociable, or the public will not like them and will not buy their products. Audiences spend money on artists’ products and are loyal to them, so they expect someone who appreciates this support and who seems approachable. If the artist is unfriendly and rude then the audience will not want to support them and spend their hard-earned money on their product. An artist should have a close relationship with their fans or their fans will feel like they aren’t appreciated for supporting the artist. Without fans, there is nobody to buy the product, and the artist’s career will be cut short- or never take off in the first place!

An artist has to also work effectively with producers, engineers and session musicians, in order to make an album successful. This means having good communication skills and the ability to accept constructive criticism and follow advice. Without these skills, there will always be conflict with artists who think they know best. A lot of artists don’t want to compromise on their vision, but producing an album can become a very inefficient process if the artist isn’t open-minded, as producers and sound engineers tend to understand the practicalities more. This could result in deadlines not being met, bad relationships between artists and producers and even artists not being allowed to work with the label anymore.

A session musician is someone who is hired to play an instrument in a recording studio. This is a person who has a variety of musical skills, and has to be very advanced on their chosen instrument/s. A label will not pay for someone who is heavily restricted with their instrumental ability. If a session musician is not at an extremely advanced level on their instrument, it may mean they have to do so many takes that more studio time is needed, straining the album’s budget and deadline. A lack of ability could also restrict the potential of an album if the artist or producer wants something to be played a certain way, or at a certain speed, and the musician is unable to do this due to their lack of ability.

A session musician also has to be able to communicate well with the artist, producer and engineer and should (preferably) be experienced in recording studios, as this will make them appear more professional, and easier to work with. This role is important because it allows you to include a better variety of instruments in an album, but is not imperative, as modern technology allows us to recreate most instruments’ sounds with synths, MIDI instruments and DAWs. Without this role, the instrument’s sound could still be created, it just wouldn’t be as ‘human’ and interesting. You also get the expertise of someone who has (probably) spent most of their life playing that instrument. Using substitutes (such as MIDI) means that the sound is created by someone who specialises in computer-based music, so the music will not be as authentic as it would be if a proper instrumentalist played it. A session musician also makes a live event a lot more interesting but, again, is not imperative.

A sound engineer is someone who works in a recording studio. This job involves setting up equipment, troubleshooting, using creative recording techniques and ensuring a high quality recording. This role is very important, as a sound engineer is based at a particular studio, so they get to know it very well and have experience using all of the equipment, which allows them to be more proficient and creative. As this job is so technical, there may not be anyone who could carry it out if there was no sound engineer. I enjoyed my experience as a sound engineer, as I felt in control of making the recordings the best quality. I had to communicate constantly with the producer, artist and session musician to ensure that everybody knew what I was doing and why. I also had to troubleshoot, which involved finding an error when something wasn’t working. When setting up, an engineer also has to consider the health and safety of the recording session. This includes ensuring that microphones are attached properly, the cables are snaked around the mic stands and the boom stick is over a mic stand leg, to prevent it from falling over. The sound engineer’s job is highly technical, as it involves working the desk and DAW. A sound engineer also has to be able to fix minor problems that arise. This means that the role of a sound engineer is very important as, without them and their expertise, a recording as professional as one that takes place in a studio would not be possible, resulting in a much lower quality track, which may not be as pleasurable for the listener.

A producer is hired by a label to act like a consultant for an artist/band. They generally have the most authority in a recording session, as they are a representative of the label, who are paying for the recording session, and they will have a lot of musical experience and genre-specific knowledge. Their job is to guide an artist or band that has strayed away from what they have been asked to create, or who aren’t delivering on time and identify what the music is missing, so they can rectify it. A producer has to be extremely organised, and have the ability to ‘think outside of the box’ and guide an artist or band, musically. This role is vitally important as a lack of musical guidance, where required, could prevent a new artist from achieving success (or an existing artist from maintaining it). A producer has to be in control of a recording session and communicate articulately with all of the members of that session (artist, session musician, engineer) and feed back to the label. A producer is not required in every scenario, but in one where they are required, they play a vital role. If it wasn’t for the producer and their vast musical knowledge and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, an artist may not know how to develop their music or add a ‘missing ingredient’. This could result in fans losing interest very quickly, and the artist’s career even being cut short, which would mean that the label has wasted money, or can’t make more money.

These are the people who may potentially be a part of production team meetings, which are usually informal. The purpose of this is to discuss musical, technical and creative elements of a recording session. A production meeting may also involve the artist’s manager. These meetings are important so that everyone is on the same page when recording, and everything is approved by the producer. If no production meeting was held, people might spend too much time in a recording session dealing with issues such as tempo and microphone techniques, which takes time away from the recording session. This could result in more studio time being required, which would cost the label more money and blow the album’s budget, or at least take money from other areas of the album, affecting their quality or simply their existence. This could mean that money is wasted on unnecessary studio time that doesn’t actually need to be spent in a studio.

When planning and organising a recording session, the most important thing is to take target setting into consideration. As long as targets are met (especially long term targets, such as releasing an album on time), not timing a session regimentally may benefit the outcome. This is because having the time to be creative and express themselves, freely, can allow an artist to produce some of their best work. If you didn’t give artists this time, then studio sessions would be very formulated and it wouldn’t give an artist’s work its uniqueness, which would make their songs sound like every other artists’. As long as everything is done that needs to be done in the session (recording the instruments and setting up/ packing away) and deadlines are met, then not all of the time in the whole session has to be filled and planned out. It is also important to include plenty of breaks for all members of the session, and to accommodate musicians’ needs and consider complications, such as a drummer wanting to play alongside a bassist when you planned for them to play separately. Then you would very quickly have to take spill into consideration, and this can complicate the set up that you had planned. If an engineer ignores the musician/artists' needs, then they won’t perform as well and won’t have the same passion, which will mean the track doesn’t sound as neat and exciting/dynamic and the listener isn’t as interested in it as they would be. When planning a recording session, you have to be able to make relatively accurate assumptions, regarding time and the needs of musicians and artists. You may not know exactly how long recording one instrument may take, especially if you don’t know the musician. However, you have to set a (rough) time for this task, so you are forced to estimate. This means that a sound engineer, who plans the session, has to have a realistic idea of time.

An editing session consists of a mix and a master. An engineer will typically do a mix, as the file will still have all of the individual stems and can be done from the studio. The file will then be bounced down to a single, stereo file and sent to a mastering engineer, which can be a separate job (a sound engineer may also master). It is a good idea to use a separate mastering engineer because getting a different pair of ears to listen to a track, fresh, can offer a whole different perspective. If the sound engineer and mixing engineer is the same person as the mastering engineer, then they will have watched the track be created from nothing, as well as listened to it hundreds of times, so getting an outsider to hear the track means it is listened to in a completely different way. If you used the same person as the sound engineer, mixing engineer and mastering engineer, it could still result in a good-quality album, but it is all down to one person’s perception, which can limit the potential of the album because a separate mastering engineer may want something to sound slightly different in the master.

When producing an album, it is important to take budgets and costing into consideration. The cost of a recording studio can be dependent on many factors (quality of equipment, reputation, size). A basic studio can cost roughly £10/h-£15/h. A mid-range studio can cost roughly £15/h-£25/h. A fully professional studio with an extensive supply of high-quality equipment can cost anywhere between £25/h-£100/h.

A master can be very expensive. A mastering engineer who you found online and may not be reputable can cost roughly £150-£250. However, a known, reputable mastering engineer can cost £250-£1000. It is important to know whether an artist or band is worth the more high-end studios and masters, or whether they aren’t. It can be very easy to just pick the most interesting/exciting-looking studio without looking into the actual equipment, expertise and reputation that it offers. If there wasn’t a rigid budget then costs could very quickly get out of hand and a label could end up spending thousands of pounds unnecessarily and inefficiently.

Manufacturing can involve CD, Vinyl, digital and other, unique/’limited edition’ formats. Digital is widely used and is free to upload onto, which makes this a very attractive choice. However, there are still people who aren’t on the internet who still use CDs, and some people who enjoy the nostalgia of vinyl. This means that there is still money to be made from these formats. I would argue that, in this technological age, digital is the biggest focus and is where an album will get the most attention, then vinyl, as there is an increase in users, then CDs. 500 CDs can cost roughly £750 (£1.50/unit), 1000 can cost £1400 (£1.40/unit), 2000 can cost £2200 (£1.10/unit) and 5000 can cost £3000 (£0.60/unit). The reason the individual unit price goes down is because of the Economy of Scale, which means that the more units you order, the cheaper each unit gets. This means that it is important to find the right balance. This way you can take advantage of the Economy of Scale to get the best value, while still ensuring you won’t be left with large amounts of unsold CDs. The Economy of Scale is so relevant and important to know because it encourages people to buy more units. This means the manufacturer gets more orders and the customer gets better value if they buy more units. Without this, customers of manufacturers may be reluctant to buy more units to save money, so not as many people would get the opportunity to hear the artist’s work in these formats.

Marketing and promoting can be vital to an album’s success. Social media is a modern way to promote an album as it is used mainly by younger people who typically follow musical trends, more than older people. Businesses also use social media, which could be useful for collaborations and advertising. A tour is another effective way to promote an album, as it lets people listen to some songs on the new album, live. The gigs can also be a good place to sell copies of the album as merchandise. If it wasn’t for effective marketing and promoting, then the album would exist on its various platforms (streaming platforms, shops, etc) without people knowing about it. Telling people about the album and giving them previews of some of the music can let audiences know that it exists and throwing some new songs into a live performance can target the artist’s actual audience, as they have already bought tickets to the show, so you know that they are already the correct market for the artist's music, however this means that the artist’s market does not expand.

The whole of this process combined is organised using a production schedule. This focuses on the timing/deadlines of an album, and its budget. This is important as, without a deadline or appropriate budgeting, the release will be open-ended and money could get out of control. This could lead to fans getting irritated and boycotting their once-favourite artists and could lead to record labels unnecessarily losing large amounts of money. It will also mean that the processes will be run very inefficiently which will waste time and money.