Regarding Taiwan, China's current music industry, what does a producer need to do?

What does the "producer" do in the song production process?!

Many people must be full of questions: what exactly does the so-called "music producer" do?! A "music producer" is actually very much like the director and producer of a film. They connect the people involved in every part of the process, supervise the product, and decide the final musical style and the quality of the finished product.

Why does producing one song cost more than 100,000 yuan?

A producer's work can be divided into three stages:

Stage One

(Lyrics or music 30,000 UP/TW) The first thing a song needs is lyrics and music, so do they have a so-called price? Strictly speaking, no. But there is generally a so-called advance royalty: "lyrics" are generally 12,000/song, and "music" is 18,000/song. So what is a so-called advance royalty? It means paying you in advance the income that the "lyrics/music" will bring. When the song's income exceeds the above price, the "lyrics/music" author continues to receive money.

"Is it possible for the advance royalty to be higher?" When many people ask this teacher to write songs, or when their fame is high, their price will of course be higher. There is also relatively little so-called standard for the price in this part. So an advance unit price of more than 50,000 or 100,000 is also possible.

(Arrangement 30,000 UP/Tw) What is arrangement? Simply put, arrangement is the background music behind everyone singing "karaoke." And for whether a song is good or bad, arrangement accounts for a large part of the score. There is a saying: "A good arrangement sends you to heaven, a bad arrangement sends you to hell."

(Guitar, bass 6,000 UP/Tw) In arrangement, some instruments cannot be replaced by computer sound sources or hardware sound sources. Most of these are string instruments, and it just so happens that most arrangers are keyboard players and do not use string instruments. As for the price, it also rises according to the guitarist's level, and 6,000 to 30,000 are all possible. Of course, if you have money, you can also invite a foreign guitar master to play for you, but the price is absolutely sky-high; the same goes for bass.

(Strings 30,000 UP-Tw) Of course, the string part depends on the individual, because current production budgets are generally getting smaller and smaller; if the production budget is sufficient, choosing to pair it with real strings will raise the level of the whole song another step. The price in this part is usually divided into three parts: string arrangement, recording studio, and musicians.

(Harmony 8,000 UP-Tw) Harmony is also an important part of arrangement. Therefore, it also keeps the "main vocal track" from being so lonely, adding "points" to the richness of the whole song. Of course, the price also "increases" according to the teacher's level and fame.

Stage Two

(Recording studio 20,000 UP-Tw) Take a recording studio in Taipei - a ten-million recording studio as an example. The recording studio including the recording engineer is '2500Tw per 1H'; then, taking the minimum time needed to record one song as "the singer records for 8 hours" and "harmony recording for 4 hours" to calculate and add up the price, that is the "price needed" during recording. Also, often because of budget constraints, the producer himself plays "the role of recording engineer," thereby saving the budget for a recording engineer. So in the recording engineer world, there is also a rumored saying: 'It is very stressful to be a recording engineer now, because you cannot move slower than the producer, or else you will have no food to eat.'

(Vocal coaching 20,000 UP-Tw) So-called vocal coaching is guiding the singer in singing, in the parts of technique, emotion, and interpretation of the song. Of course, the price of vocal coaching rises according to the teacher's level. Of course, many producers also have the ability to coach vocals, and often because of budget constraints, the producer can only coach vocals "himself."

(Sound editing, editing, pitch correction - producer fee 30,000 to 50,000 UP-Tw) Many people easily misunderstand this part and think it is the work of the "recording engineer" or "mixing engineer." In fact, the recording engineer is only responsible for recording. Most of this work falls on the "producer," and it is also included in the producer's fee.

Stage Three

(Mixing 10,000 UP-Tw / top-tier 20,000 to 60,000 UP-Tw) Mixing, which is also what everyone often hears as "mixing the song," involves balancing the volume of each instrument and vocal "stem file" in the song, spatial reverb, timbre processing, sound positioning, and the dynamics of some instruments' emotions. "Audio" or whether to let the track pass through special hardware, finally achieving the feeling the "producer" wants and the sound most suitable for this song. Adjusting it to the most perfect state. This is also an extremely and most important task for a song: 'A good mixing engineer takes you to heaven, a bad mixing engineer takes you to hell.'

(Mixing room / mixing space 10,000 UP-Tw) The price of the mixing space is usually determined by equipment and environment. Does the quality of the equipment make a difference? Of course it does. The quality of the equipment affects the final quality of the song. Taking a ten-million recording studio as an example, the rental fee for the mixing room is (20000-25000-Tw/per session).

Final Stage

(Post-production mastering 4,000 UP-Tw) Many people often do not understand what "post-production mastering" is, and it is often confused with mixing, but the two are completely different things. What the mixing engineer has to think about and handle is: "There may be as many as 100 tracks of all instruments and audio tracks. How can the song achieve perfect volume balance, and does it need effects to handle it?" "Audio" or whether to let the track pass through special hardware, finally achieving the feeling the "producer" wants and the sound most suitable for this song.

Post-production mastering usually handles the remaining stereo file L or R that comes out "after the mixing engineer's work stage." The work of "post-production mastering" is the "expression of spatial dynamics" of the entire sound, continuing and strengthening the direction interpreted by the producer, singer, and mixing engineer. Also, when there are many songs, the volume of each song needs to be balanced, so that when listening, it will not suddenly be very loud or suddenly very quiet when "skipping to the next song."

Let us add up the above fees using the lowest quotes. (Calculated with the price of having your own recording studio space, and many of the above items have already been removed.) Lyrics and music 30,000 + arrangement 30,000 + mixing 20,000 + post-production mastering 4,000 + producer fee 30,000 = 114,000 = already off the charts!!

It turns out that completing a "high-quality" finished product requires paying so much and going through such a tedious "behind-the-scenes project," and the "producer" is absolutely one of the indispensable elements. The above explanation is hoped to help everyone understand. Of course, many producers have multiple abilities at the same time and also own their own recording studios (space including equipment), so most of them absorb a lot of the costs themselves. For many commercial songs, things are also often under urgent time pressure, so here I speak up for many producers: they use their lives to work overtime, plus special abilities, and use their livers to "rush work day and night." Please also be more considerate of the bitterness of "music producers."

Qidong Music Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd.

Qidong Music was officially established in August 2015. The team is composed of songwriters, musicians, harmony singers, arrangers, producers, and well-known mixing engineers from Taiwan, China. Adhering to the creation of beautiful music, it insists on suitable project content, excellent service quality, and affordable prices, providing good equipment and efficient work quality. It has participated in record production for many singers and bands, as well as music for government and corporate events or image advertisements.