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Written by Just Plain Folks Mentor John Braheny JPFolks Mentor Page
Typically, these people have their own studio, use great musicians that they can get cheaply, have a producer who has a good track record with some major artists names attached but the credits are 10 + years old. They ask you to pay a lot of money up front. Enough that, if they don't get you a deal, they've already made their money on the project and they go on to the next one. Everyone in the industry, particularly those who have been around for a while and are at least semi-successful, knows record company executives who will listen to the project. However, the record company is also quite aware of the type of business this person is involved in. Labels would rather sign an artist directly, just pay the producer points and not have to pay the "override" to a production company. They also don't have control, obviously, over the way the record sounds as there is usually not the involvement in the artist's career, developing a "sound" and image, etc., that is involved when a producer puts up his own money and gambles.
A record company would rather work WITH the producer, not be locked into something after it's finished. Also, if the label loves the artist but decides they don't like the production, they're stuck with having to buy you out of the contract you signed with the production company, then pay for another production. Not a good position to begin with. (Remember, all this will be deducted from your artist royalties.)
This type of production arrangement has always been quite common in Nashville and other music centers and is fueled by the dreams and ignorance of people who are not educated about the industry. What they do is not unlike songsharks, not illegal but considered a scam. I know several artists over the years who have been involved in this type of arrangement and were sorry about it later. If you go into it, you have to consider it a self-production, "vanity press" situation and, since you've paid for the masters, you should own them.
I should note here that there are great producers out there charging a reasonable fee to do what they do best. You are paying for their expertise. The scam part is when they promise you a deal or convince you that they'll have no problem getting you a deal. I have known several major producers at the peak of their careers who had pet projects they couldn't get signed, so understand it's a very big promise to make. Shop for producers and ignore all promises of deals as a consideration in making your choice. Ask for tapes of their recent productions and compare them to what you hear on the radio. However, country music is so much about the quality of the songs, you can get a good demo recording for under $500 per song. You don't really need master recordings to shop a deal as a country artist. Pop and rock are different. They're more dependent on a sound, and an experienced rock producer can make a big difference in what you present to labels.
With country, you ultimately need to compare what you're being asked to pay the producer in question to the cost of hiring the studio yourself and asking their in-house engineer/producers to produce 3- 4 songs as demos, then hiring a songplugger or attorney to shop the tapes. Ultimately, they'll stand or fall on the quality of the songs (Will they hear a song they feel is a hit?), the vocal style and identity and the ability to perform live. So the producer is a very small factor in that equation before you have a record deal, regardless of what they will tell you to get your business.
Website: www.johnbraheny.com