Unlock Your Potential: How to Become a Music Producer

Published 12am, 09 Aug 2023

Your journey into music production starts here

Music production is an exciting and varied endeavor. It covers a lot of different aspects of the music creation process. Part artistic and part technical, there are a lot of other disciplines you need to know on your way to learning how to become a music producer.

Here, we will discuss the main areas you need to know and answer any questions on how to make a career in music production.

What Is A Music Producer?

If you’ve arrived here from googling how to become a record producer or how to become a DJ producer, well both of these questions fall under the umbrella of becoming a Music Producer - they are basically the same thing.

Music production requires various music-related skills, including Songwriting, sound design, arranging, mixing, and mastering.

It’s the music producer’s job to oversee all these creative and technical aspects by working with other people or by doing them yourself to create a professional, engaging piece of music.

How Do I Start A Music Production Career?

The good news is that today, it’s a lot easier to become a music producer than it used to be. Most music producers are self-taught, and thanks to the internet, there are plenty of online courses, articles, and ways to collaborate with others and professionals to learn your craft.

If you’re serious about making a career in music production, educating yourself on what you need to be a music producer is the best way to start.

Private schools and colleges are available, but the cheapest and easiest way to become a music producer is by taking courses online.

These courses will cover all the technical aspects, such as using a DAW, mixing, mastering, arranging, and understanding genres, along with music theory, which will teach you the fundamentals in chord creation and progressions, sound design, melodies, and more.

If you are just starting out in music production you need to watch our Beginner’s Guide To Music Production video we have made below - Its absolutely FREE and is essential viewing

Can Anyone Be A Music Producer?

Thanks to technological advancements, it is now more accessible than ever for anyone to become a music producer and learn how to get into producing music.

You no longer need access to expensive studios, equipment, or hardware, as music producers nowadays can recreate practically all that with just a laptop and a DAW.

Learning how to become a music producer is now a much more achievable feat. These tools that used to be only accessible to those with lots of money is now often available as a cheaper emulated digital plugin that will get you most, if not all, of the way there when creating your tracks.

So long as you have passion, are willing to work hard, and take time to learn what skills you need to be a music producer, then a career in music production is open to anyone.

So, what else do you need to be a music producer? Well, some other equipment that will undoubtedly help, but are not necessarily essential, are:

A MIDI controller - such as a keyboard synthesizer
An Audio Interface - which will allow non-MIDI instruments such as a guitar or your voice to communicate with your DAW
A studio microphone - to record any non-digital formats
A good set of studio headphones or speakers - to hear any tonal issues that may need fixing

Is It Hard To Become A Music Producer?

This is a good question and depends on the individual. If you love learning, whether that be new instruments and music theory, the technical side of things, or ideally both, then it will be an enjoyable experience rather than a difficult one.

It can take time, and there will always be new things to learn, especially as technology changes, and again, some people will learn quicker than others.

The process can be made more accessible by learning from others and ensuring you are up-to-date with current trends in music production, so if you want to learn how to become a music producer quicker, online courses are the cheapest and fastest way.

At what age can you become a music producer?

There are no rules here, and learning how to get into music production can be done at any age! As mentioned above, thanks to technological advances, music production has become more and more accessible through apps and software that all age groups can use.

Some kids as young as five have become social media stars with their music productions, and there are still 80-year-olds producing and performing to huge crowds. If you want to learn how to become a producer of music, then do not let age become a defining factor!

What education is needed to become a music producer

So, what education and skills do you need to be a music producer? There are many different paths and specialized careers within music production that you can learn, but here are some of the fundamental areas you should be expected to know, along with some of the music producer requirements:

Knowledge

Arguably, the most crucial area is musical knowledge. You must produce music people want to listen to to succeed in your career. Without musical knowledge, this isn’t going to happen! You must understand the music and audio theory of what and why it sounds good. Often, it will help if you have learned how to play an instrument, as this will give you many of the basics required in this area. It will also help you during the creative songwriting process

Passion

This leads us to the next important area when looking at how to get into producing music. You need to be passionate about creating and expressing yourself artistically. That means you need to be able to find inspiration to continue making new music. Suppose you’re passionate about creating music and can train yourself to find the motivation to keep creating new music. In that case, you will find it easier to become a better music producer over time and, therefore, have more chances of success.

Listening & Critique

The more music you create and listen to, the better your hearing and ears will become at noticing the good and the bad in music production. This will help hugely when learning how to become a music producer. It will improve your music theory, such as learning chords and what notes work well with others, but also where there are issues with unwanted frequencies, poor arrangement, or a bad mix. Remember, it’s all about producing music people want to listen to!

Technical Abilities

The next important area to educate yourself in is the technical aspect of music production. Learning in-depth how your Digital Audio Workstation and equipment operate will speed up your workflow. This will mean you can create music faster, know how to fix issues, and successfully achieve your desired result. Luckily, there are plenty of online courses that can help you!

Patience

One thing that all music producers need to know when learning how to become a music producer is patience. You will often be frustrated, and music production isn’t something you learn and then know 100%. It is a constant learning curve. You will often find yourself going back over your music productions many times to get the result you want, and it takes time. Just remember the feeling you have when completing an awesome track is like nothing else, so have patience because it will be worth it!

Communication

Finally, although music production can sometimes be a solitary endeavor, you must always communicate with others to succeed. The ability to engage with people is therefore paramount whether it’s a record label, audio engineer, other artists, or your audience; communication and people skills will always help you in the long run. Many online courses will have forums where you can chat with like-minded people and professionals in the business. This will help you gain new knowledge and understanding of how to communicate successfully with the different areas in the music industry.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Music Producer?

What’s most important here is that people like your music. It doesn’t matter if you have any qualifications, and it doesn’t matter what road you took when first learning how to get into music production.

There are some careers in music production where having a degree or qualification will certainly help, and it is always a good thing to study if you have the ability and time. Ultimately, it’s about achieving the desired results, and there are many different ways to learn how to get into producing music, whether it be from a qualification or from experience.

Another common question in this area is what education is available for music producers?

Many online resources are available when learning how to become a producer for music. Sonic Academy has over 1500 Hours of content that can guide you from complete beginner to superstar producer!

Many of our courses focus on specific genres - so if you are interested in how to become an EDM producer then look no further!

Look at our Tutorials page and watch the video below to see what we have to offer.

Summary

So, if you want to learn how to get into producing music and get a career in music production, the good news is that there’s never been an easier time!

In this article, we have covered some of the most frequently asked questions, such as ‘What does it take to become a music producer?’, ‘What skills do you need to be a music producer?’ and ‘How long does it take to become a music producer?’

To sum it up, having a passion and thirst for knowledge and giving yourself time to educate yourself is the real key to being successful.

Most of all, it’s to have fun and enjoy learning!

Below is a list of great courses to help you learn how to get into music production.