Ghost Producing (Part 1)
LAST_UPDATED2 Written by Trauma Thursday, 29 July 2010 16:48
Ghost Producing (Part 1)
I honestly don’t know where to begin with this one. Maybe because I have such mixed feelings about it but let me just jump into the definition and let it fly from there. Ok… Ghost producing is pretty much when one producer (usually unknown to the masses) works under a big name producer. The name producer would take beats from his ghost producer(s) and shop them or get them placed as his own on projects. Name producer of course will get full credit for producing the track and the unknown producer would get percent of the advance money and all of his publishing (depending on what kind of deal you make cause some name producers may want in on that too being it’s a lot of money).
Now this tactic isn’t really knew, it’s been around for quite awhile. Just think about Dr Dre and his team of producers, including Scott Storch at one time….oh wait hold on…lol..you thought Dre produced those Chronic albums himself? Lol Your sadly mistaken, time for a wake up call. To be honest, most of the big name producers we give praise to have some producers under them working in the lab 24/7 while they
are out shaking hands, meeting other celebs, getting interviews, write ups, awards, endorsement deals, downing bottles at the club, f*kn bad b*tches , lol..etc.. ok u get the point. Maybe it’s not exactly like that…….but then again…..maybe it is. Hmmm Ok now you may ask why would the name producer have ghost producers? Doesn’t he have talent? Didn’t he get to where he is today by doing beats?
Well yeah, but what happens is its pretty difficult as solo producer with a big name to keep up with the demand. How is he suppose to be at every function, work on 10 different artist tracks, oversee his homies album, be in 3 cities, be at a photo shoot, make a video appearance and be home in time to drive little Jr. to school and tweet about it? Even Arkatech Beatz, a production duo…2 people is difficult still…I wont front. (Like how do I even find time to type this, I need to be making a beat……but anyway). So what the name producer does is get some producers under him to give him some breathing room so he can do all the other things. Not saying the name producer does nothing, it just gives him some room so he doesn’t have to make a beat every day. Not to mention it gets hard to get in your creative modes at time so it’s cool to have that support system when your creativeness is on hiatus as well as some fresh ears, ideas and other talent to feed off of. Here is a quick break down of pros & cons for a name producer who has a ghost producer(s) working for them.
Pros
- Able to pump out more music for more projects
- Able to feed off ghost producers ideas and influence
- Able to offer a wider variety of music (Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, etc)
- Able to land more various deals because of all the work that’s being put out.
- Name recognition, adding worth to the brand
- Don’t have to be in the studio everyday working on a beat (honestly
I don’t mind working on a beat everyday but you do need your days or rest. (Even God chilled one day)
Cons
- You may not have actually produced the record, so you don’t own any
part of record including publishing (depending on deal that is made)
- If you don’t own any publishing, you cant make a good publishing
deal..and that’s where the real money is at.
- If word gets out too fast that you don’t make your beats, rarely but
it is possible that your brand can be damaged.
- Loss of respect (if that even bothers you)
I’m sure there are more pros and cons…but basically everything is depending on the type of deal and what you agree to.
Next article we’ll talk about ghost producing from the unknown producer who takes the deal, being exclusive, gag orders, pros and cons and what else to expect. Lol..maaaan Its about to get real interesting so stay tuned.
Mike “Trauma” D twitter.com/arkatechbeatz
