producers
On a densely landscaped block in Miami, a stone’s throw from the Biscayne Bay coastline, a canopy of banyan trees, royal palms and bullet trees eventually gives way to a cave. At least, that’s how Pablo Díaz-Reixa, the musician-producer known as El Guincho, likes to describe his home studio in the city’s Coconut Grove area.
A dark, squat room tucked directly underneath his bedroom, the cave is where Díaz-Reixa spends most of his waking moments. Sometimes, he’ll notch 12 hours a day there noodling on potential beats, tinkering with the drums or listening through stacks of vinyl records he keeps by the mixing board. “The sensation I get when I’m in the studio, making music, is incomparable,” he tells me on the muggy September day when I visit his place.
Stepping just outside his pint-size studio, though, Díaz-Reixa’s own living space is ample and decidedly un-cavelike. With skylights scattered throughout its tall ceilings, his modernist abode exudes a sense of calm even with his toddler son’s toys strewn about. The place used to be a Buddhist temple, he tells me, which the Dalai Lama blessed over FaceTime before it could become a home.
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Though Díaz-Reixa misses his former (and longtime) home of Barcelona, which he and his wife traded for this Miami enclave in 2021, living in South Florida suits him. The Cuban influences here remind him of where he grew up, on the Canary Islands located off the northwest Africa coast. He prefers a quiet neighborhood like this to the overstimulating glitz of South Beach — a fitting turn for a man whose producer nom de plume name-checks a bird of prey prone to nesting in the same cozy spot for years. Miami’s proximity to Europe and other major U.S. cities for music, like New York and Los Angeles, doesn’t hurt. But living in this leafy environment has been a boon for the producer in other ways. “When you have something that’s expansive, big, with a view… well, you start to think bigger,” says Díaz-Reixa, 40, while taking gradual pulls from a cup of black coffee and kicking back on an earth-toned modular couch.
Were it not for Díaz-Reixa mentioning in passing that he’s preparing for studio sessions later that day with a certain artist (he’s tight-lipped about whom), he seems like any other area dad puttering around in house slippers, stealing away moments within the demands of childcare to mess around with songs on Ableton. The difference is that Díaz-Reixa happens to be a superproducer who frequently works alongside genre-defying and culture-shifting artists, including Björk, Rosalía, FKA Twigs and Charli XCX, and left-field Latin pop musicians like Kali Uchis and Nicki Nicole.
A former indie musician with a proclivity for making “very innovative, very freaky, very strange” music, as he puts it, in the mid- to late 2000s, Díaz-Reixa is now one of pop’s most in-demand producers, especially among artists looking to take creative risks. With his ear for distinctly outré sounds, Díaz-Reixa’s unconventional production is catalyzing pop’s transformation into something more amorphous and idiosyncratic. “I think he knows how to lead songs into a truly unique place by juxtaposing hard and soft sounds,” says Camila Cabello, who collaborated with Díaz-Reixa for every song on her 2024 album, C,XOXO. “Producers like him truly make my favorite pop music — bold and fresh.”
Díaz-Reixa’s ethos for producing music, pop and otherwise, is informed as much by his open ears as it is isolation. “I grew up without a lot of resources,” he says. “So for me, my way of listening to music was to make it myself.” While coming of age in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, one of the archipelago’s two capitals, he listened to salsa, African music and other genres coalescing there at the time. His grandmother, a talented pianist, taught him how to read music when he was a child, but she was hardly didactic about it. Those lessons unlocked something in him — as did his hunger to hear more of anything, everything, since he didn’t readily have access to top 40 radio or a bounty of record stores on the Canary Islands.
As a teenager, he played punk and hip-hop grooves on the drums, and around then he began experimenting with recording himself — mainly Neptunes-inspired beats he had whipped up and loops he made on cassettes. “I always had a lot of curiosity about the process of recording, without knowing what a producer or an engineer was,” he says. Still, he always knew that he wanted to work in music in some capacity. “I always had it super clear,” he says. “I said it, and people would always laugh at me on my island.”
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Eventually Díaz-Reixa moved to Barcelona. Around then, he played a solo gig as El Guincho at an underground Madrid club — with a sampler, a mic and a floor tom with an electronic trigger in tow — that changed his life. Young Turks (now Young)/XL Recordings, the tastemaking U.K. label group home to the likes of Radiohead and The xx, reached out to him on Myspace and signed him to a record deal shortly after, on the strength of that particular show. He began touring the world, and in 2008, he released his second album, Alegranza!, an avant-garde mélange of Tropicália, Afrobeats, looped vocals and other sounds.
Though he found a growing audience, especially in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico, Díaz-Reixa felt like an outsider even within the mid- to late-aughts heyday of inventive indie-pop. “There wasn’t a space for me in that music, nor in hip-hop, because of the themes I touched on,” he says. “I talked about love, identity. So I was in a kind of limbo as an artist. They didn’t know where to put me at festivals.”
In 2010, shortly after releasing his third album, Pop Negro, Díaz-Reixa got a call from Icelandic musician Björk. She wanted to work with him on her forthcoming album, Biophilia, so Díaz-Reixa made the trek to New York from Barcelona for the sessions. During that process, Björk said something that stunned him. “I remember that she told me, ‘You’re a producer.’ ” That didn’t totally sit right with Díaz-Reixa, who recalls thinking, “ ‘I’m an artist.’ ” Around then, his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and in 2012 — the same year he signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music — he returned to the Canary Islands, where he spent a little over two years with her until she died.
When Díaz-Reixa returned to Barcelona, and to music after pausing things for several years, he started reevaluating his career — and realized that Björk had been right: He was meant to be a producer, not an artist. “In truth, what she said made sense,” he says. “Because the part that I’ve most enjoyed is making songs. I liked shows, the connection. But I think my true calling is to spend as much time as possible in the studio, and the least amount of time possible on the other duties as an artist: promotions, doing two interviews a day, touring.” After that, he put together a new album, Hiperasia, that he used to “explore my skills as a producer and see who I was going to be as a producer,” he says. “I used that as a kind of school.”
A few years later, a musician he knew in Barcelona, Rosalía Vila Tobella, invited him to see her perform at a flamenco bar, or tablao. She was singing standards and accompanied by a guitarist, and he remembers being struck by the way she commanded the small room, putting on the type of show that wouldn’t be out of place in a massive stadium. But when Rosalía later reached out to Díaz-Reixa to collaborate, he at first demurred. “Obviously I saw her as a tremendous talent, but I wasn’t sure where I could help,” he says. “She was very traditional in a style of music that I was very ignorant about. So for me it was like, ‘How do I situate myself here?’ ” Once the two of them got to know each other, though, they clicked and started informally making music together.
Those meetups led to Díaz-Reixa eventually helping Rosalía co-write her staggeringly original 2018 album, El Mal Querer, the entirety of which he also produced. He declines to comment more specifically on what he imparted in those sessions, but following the success of the album — and the more he kept producing — he realized that the isolation of his youth translated into a major strength in the studio, in that he looks “in places that the majority of people overlook,” he says. “I’m neither the best instrumentalist nor the best singer. But I do have that little thing that I’m realizing something that, later, will appear in the session.”
That sensibility comes through in how, say, he might suggest a Gucci Mane sample for a Cabello song — which he did for the snippet that ended up undergirding the pop star’s “I LUV IT.” Or the way he subverts traditional song structure. “I always look for the element of surprise to arrive very soon in a song,” he says. “You don’t have to wait 40, 50 seconds until the hook.” Cabello, a fan of Díaz-Reixa’s work with Rosalía, says she found in the studio that Díaz-Reixa “adds that quality of a bloodhound on the hunt for something magical, and he doesn’t settle for anything less.”
While he’s partial to collaborating on full albums like El Mal Querer and C,XOXO, Díaz-Reixa still relishes working with artists on individual songs. Recently he collaborated with Charli XCX on “Everything is romantic,” a sweeping track from her album — and cultural phenomenon — brat. As Díaz-Reixa tells it, Charli already had brat’s campaign carefully defined by the time that, about midway through completing the album, she came to Miami for a week to record with him. Charli had a clear idea about what she wanted this particular song to be: “She had been in Italy with her partner, and she wanted to reflect,” he says. “She had something written, just lyrics.” He adds that she sought out a “grand” opening to the tune, and from there Díaz-Reixa swiftly assembled the piledriving beat at A2F Studios, where “Everything is romantic” came together, along with a few other tracks that didn’t make the final cut.
Ysa Pérez
Regardless of the project, Díaz-Reixa sees his job as a producer to meet artists where they are. “There are artists who have tremendous vision, and tremendous qualities to meet that vision, but they don’t have a way to convert the vision into music,” he says. “Other artists have a lot of qualities as musicians, but they need a bit of vision, or clarity. As a producer — and any colleague of mine would tell you this — what we have to do is just listen.”
Díaz-Reixa’s sought-after production skills, and his ongoing collaborations with boundary-pushing artists, are especially significant given that, for a while, he was a bit of an industry oddball. He stuck to his instincts for elevating music that was important to him — reggaetón, African music and off-kilter electronic music — for years, though it took a while for the world to catch up with him. “As in production, I made music that was kind of strange, indie,” he says. “There wasn’t space for people making music in Spanish with all those influences. Then suddenly, fast-forward 10 years later, that’s mainstream. Suddenly the world let its guard down and said: ‘No, all of these styles of music can be valuable, and they can be a part of a two-and-a-half-minute song that enchants the world.’ ”
His patience has paid off. Díaz-Reixa’s production work has nabbed him five Latin Grammys thus far and an MTV Video Music Award for “Con Altura,” a collaboration between Rosalía and J Balvin. He’s helping mentor the seven writer-producers signed to his label, Rico Publishing. He hasn’t yet sold his production catalog — though he has been approached about it. “It doesn’t interest me,” he says. “It’s not something that I see, for now. Also, when you’re a dad, you see a future there, too,” he adds, explaining that maybe his son could take on managing the catalog one day. More (secret) projects are also in motion. But at this point, Díaz-Reixa insists there’s no particular project or award left on his bucket list.
“Really, the greatest prize of making music is to keep making music,” he says. “My goal is much more artisanal: I love the process, I love to make music, and I want to keep dedicating myself to music — to be within the mystery of music, and to live inside that mystery.”
This article appears in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
By the mid-2000s, Swedish songwriter and producer ILYA — who was then in his late teens — was “grinding, grinding, grinding” without gaining much momentum. It wasn’t until years later, thanks to a fortuitous meeting, that his career finally took off.
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ILYA, now 38, recalls how meeting producer Shellback changed his life, as the latter introduced him to the acclaimed and mysterious Max Martin. Soon after, ILYA scored his first smash hit co-producing and co-writing on Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s 2014 collaboration “Problem,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His working relationship with Martin — and Grande — has continued, most recently on the pop star’s sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Eternal Sunshine.
The album produced two Hot 100 No. 1s: lead single “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” both of which credit ILYA. But those are from far the only hits he’s had a hand in this year; ILYA’s 2024 credits also include Conan Gray, Coldplay and Tate McRae, the latter of whom ILYA helped score her highest Hot 100 debut to date with “It’s ok I’m ok.”
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“It wasn’t that long after [McRae’s 2023 second album] Think Later that we were in the studio again,” says ILYA, who reveals that they ideated her current smash before Think Later even arrived. “It was just an idea that just popped back into our life and we were like, ‘Actually, let’s finish this thing.’ It’s just been continuous since that.”
You’ve worked with Tate before. What is your metric of, “I want to keep this relationship going?”
Nowadays, it’s just good vibes. I don’t want to be stressed at work because I’ve been doing it for such a long time now. So my main thing is just like, can we just have fun in the studio?
When did sessions start after her 2023 album, Think Later?
It was a little continuous because she loves writing and being in the studio. “It’s ok I’m ok” is one of those records where it was like, “Let’s just have fun; let’s make something weird.” I think it shows a brand-new side to her. The more I’ve worked with her, the more I feel like she knows herself as an artist. This one was [started] before Think Later — she knew that it wasn’t right for that moment, but she picked it back up and we really worked to make it into her vision of what she was seeing the song as. That, to me, is really amazing to see.
Tell me more about how the song came together.
The chorus started as a joke. We were in Sweden writing, and when she’s in the studio and so focused, she doesn’t want to eat or drink anything. She’s just like, “I need to finish this song now.” Me being the way I am, I’m always like, “Do you want something to drink? Do you want something to eat?” And she would be like, “It’s OK, I’m OK,” [always] in the same note. And I was just like, “Wait, that’s actually kind of catchy.” And now it’s a song. I like it because it came from her — that’s how she says it.
Do you have a favorite part of this song?
It’s harder for me to listen in that sense, because I’m a part of the song. But I do love when people pinpoint little details that you’ve put there on purpose. I love that.
You have to let go of analyzing. Once the song is out, depending on how people [react] to it, I’m also affected on how I’m listening. If a song comes out and it doesn’t work or it’s not a big thing, then I’m trying to analyze why it wasn’t instead of just enjoying the song. But nowadays I’m a little bit better at that.
Your credits in 2024 include other notable projects such as Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. With the Grammys approaching, what are your hopes?
I think next year’s Grammys [ceremony on Feb. 2] is going to be insane. I’m hoping we’re going to get nominated, but it’s going to be such a competitive year. It might be the best Grammys in a long time in the sense of who’s going to be nominated and what potential performances there might be. There was so much good music this year.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
Working behind the scenes, interpersonal connection is everything — so Billboard asked a variety of booked and busy producers to talk up the rising stars, in-demand innovators and still-evolving veterans they want more artists and listeners to know about.
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“These twin brothers who go by TWO FRESH. I met Sherwyn years ago at a writing camp and I liked what I was hearing, [so] I started following him on Insta and noticed he was doing the artist thing himself. Everything I heard was fire to me, and I felt more people must know about this. But it wasn’t until recently that I found out he and his brother [KingJet] were a producer duo and have done a lot of stuff together. They have this raw, alternative, funky, soulful sound. Sometimes they remind me of N.E.R.D or similar. They are like the cool cats to me.” —D’MILE (SILK SONIC, VICTORIA MONÉT, H.E.R.)
Sherwyn and Kingjet of Two Fresh
Ben Outherevisuals
“TWO FRESH are behind some of my favorite genre-bending music in recent years, working with artists like Tommy Newport — ‘Tangerine’ is a favorite of mine — Samara Cyn, Duckwrth and Master Peace. For years they’ve been doing what people are gravitating toward now, blending live music with R&B, indie, rock, rap. I was immediately hooked by their pocket and feel — it’s impeccable.” —JULIAN BUNETTA (ONE DIRECTION, SABRINA CARPENTER, THOMAS RHETT)
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“OKLOU’S debut album, Galore, from 2020 is easily one of my favorite albums of the last few years. Her productions always have an incredibly sparse sound palette — her virtuosic writing for keyboard, plus her ability and confidence keep things so minimal — and she consistently makes amazingly beautiful and subtle harmonic choices. I would be so interested to hear her produce or write for other artists too.” —EASYFUN (CHARLI XCX)
Oklou
Gus Stewart/Redferns
“CECILE BELIEVE’s production always feels critical to me — always poised regardless of how much is going on and how hard she pushes elements. Her experimental and bold production decisions never usurp the heart of the track — it remains curious and compelling. Small wonder she is called upon by visionary avant-pop artists like the late great SOPHIE, Dorian Elektra and Caroline Polachek to collaborate.” —CATE LE BON (WILCO, ST. VINCENT, KURT VILE)
Cecile Believe
Julian Buchan
“I first became acquainted with OJIVOLTA (Mark Williams and Raul Cubina) in 2015, when they were working at my manager’s studio, Electric Feel, on multiple songs with Jon Bellion. We had an extensive conversation about the nuances and various technical approaches to producing a record, and I was deeply impressed by their vast knowledge and musical versatility. Over the next several years, we ended up collaborating on a couple of records and projects, including Halsey’s ‘Graveyard’ and [Ye’s] DONDA. They continue to impress me. While staying low key has its advantages, I believe everyone in the industry should know who they are.” —LOUIS BELL (POST MALONE, TAYLOR SWIFT, MILEY CYRUS)
Mark Williams and Raul Cubina of Ojivolta
Ryan Jay
“I met BUDDY ROSS as a very talented piano and synths player. He played on some records I was producing, and during that time he showed me music he was making on his own, and I was very impressed and signed him to my publishing company, Heavy Duty. He later got hired as the touring keyboardist for Frank Ocean, who quickly picked up on his level of talent. Buddy went on to be one of the main producers on Frank’s album Blonde. On top of his gift as a player and ability to build sounds on samplers, modular synths, various computer programs, etc., he plays and makes sounds with an emotion that is very rare. Everything he does makes you feel something. He brings many levels of depth to any artist he works with.” —ARIEL RECHTSHAID (ADELE, HAIM, SKY FERREIRA, VAMPIRE WEEKEND)
Buddy Ross
Max Wang
“HARRISON PATRICK SMITH, who just released his first album as The Dare. Someone sent me [The Dare’s] ‘Girls’ and asked me if I’d want to meet with him. I didn’t initially love the song, but after a few listens it started growing on me. Then I had breakfast with him and started to get to know him as a person. Twenty-something Harrison reminded me a bit of twenty-something Rostam. He kept sending me songs he was working on; they would just pile up. He’s prolific, and eventually I realized I liked most of the music he was working on. I think Harrison understands the intersection of ‘the song’ and ‘the sound,’ and it’s in this intersection that I think we producers do our best work. It’s not only about the song, and it’s not only about the sound; it’s about both, always, and I think Harrison gets that.”—ROSTAM (HAIM, CARLY RAE JEPSEN, SANTIGOLD, MAGGIE ROGERS)
Harrison Patrick Smith
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“One of my favorite producers, and people, in the world is CHONG THE NOMAD! She’s an incredible producer, songwriter and DJ based in Seattle. I discovered her music around 2018 through my manager. I immediately knew that someone with a name like that had to be making something crazy and different. We set up a hang a few weeks later and ended up making six or seven crazy beats together. Her ability to bring something different to the table every time has been key in pushing her own sound as both an artist and beat-maker. Drum-wise, she’s in a lane of her own. Always taking risks and providing rhythmic pockets that push other producers and artists to go above and beyond. I can play the craziest jazz piano riff, and she will find a small clip she likes in two seconds, chop it, flip it and put an insane beat over it that sounds like nothing else.” —ROGÉT CHAHAYED (TRAVIS SCOTT, BIG SEAN, JACK HARLOW, DOJA CAT)
Chong the Nomad
Jason Murray
“I first discovered JAY JOYCE when Little Big Town released ‘Pontoon’ in 2012. There was just something unique about the sound of the mandolin he captured and the heavy slapback on the vocals that made me stop for a second and say, ‘Who did this? This is so cool and different!’ The rest of the record was equally as sonically interesting — and, comparing that to their previous work, highlighted how a producer can change the sound of an artist and put them on a different trajectory. Jay always strives to capture sounds in an outside-of-the-box way that makes a record stand out. He’s always using weird gear I’ve never heard of, like an amp that was custom-made out of an old film projector. I hear rumors of him drinking mass amounts of Diet Coke and staying up into the early hours just experimenting with sounds. He has a level of creative genius that makes so many artists want to work with him.” —ALEX KLINE (TENILLE ARTS, TIGIRLILY, TEDDY ROBB)
Jay Joyce
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“There is this kid I really admire; he goes by the name of TAIKO: a producer from Chile, super young but with a very interesting catalog. I discovered his music through Instagram, then a little time passed by and he was already doing stuff for J Balvin, Eladio Carrión, Mora, Jhayco. He even released an EP with all the Chile talent — that, for me, is a scene that we all should be more aware of. I don’t know which of his multiple talents is my favorite — I just think he creates these beats that carry a lot of personality and lead the artist to be inspired easily with his sound, having big songs in return.” —SKY ROMPIENDO (J BALVIN, FEID, BAD BUNNY)
Taiko
Jason Koerner/Getty Images
“I look up to JEFF BHASKER and MIKE ELIZONDO. I first became familiar with Mike when I was a studio assistant on an album for Muse at [Rick Rubin’s] Shangri-La. We never crossed paths, but he was working with them over at his studio, and hearing his name led me to do a deep dive into his catalog. [And] it’s hard for me to pinpoint when I became familiar with Jeff’s work — I kept seeing his name pop up on so many songs I loved. I first crossed paths with him in 2018 while I was a studio assistant at Shangri-La for the Harry Styles album Fine Line, and he was always so kind and encouraging to me as a young, aspiring producer.
Jeff Bhasker
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Mike Elizondo
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“Both of these guys are such sonic chameleons. Just extremely versatile. I love how Mike’s career has so many distinctive chapters — weaving from Eminem and 50 Cent to Fiona Apple to Avenged Sevenfold and Twenty One Pilots and Turnstile to even movies like Encanto. [And I’m] inspired by the fact that Jeff’s success really started kicking into gear in his 30s. I always respect and admire producers who paid their dues and had to grind out their path. Versatility is a huge factor in the longevity of both of these guys — which seems like an increasingly difficult feat these days. Both have weathered huge shifts in music and culture — and, in fact, have driven many of those shifts. They’re both musically fearless and follow their ears.” —ROB BISEL (SZA, KENDRICK LAMAR, DOJA CAT)
This article appears in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
Across genres, a new crop of producers has broken out in recent years (some as recently as this past one). Some have quickly established themselves as go-to hit-makers; others are talented newbies who’ve just gotten their first tastes of success. But regardless of experience level, these producers — selected based on their histories on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s Hot 100 producers chart, along with placements on other charts — are helping to define music’s future.
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Young but already established hit-makers, their big Hot 100 breakthroughs occurred within the past five years
Rob Bisel
The primary producer on SZA’s SOS, he’s charted 13 songs on the Hot 100 (12 by SZA, including “Kill Bill”); he’s also engineered big hits by Doja Cat, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator.
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Nik D
Debuted on the Hot 100 in 2019 with Travis Scott’s No. 1 “Highest in the Room”; returned with hits by Drake and Metro Boomin before co-producing Jack Harlow’s No. 1 “Lovin on Me.”
Jacob Durrett
Produced on seven Hot 100-charting songs — six of them by Morgan Wallen, including Durrett’s debut entry, the top 10 hit “Wasted on You” — all since 2021.
Omer Fedi
Has placed 23 songs on the Hot 100 since his chart debut in June 2020, including four No. 1s: 24kGoldn’s “Mood,” Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy.”
The Kid LAROI (left) and Omer Fedi
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Charlie Handsome
Of the 54 Hot 100-charting songs he’s produced or co-produced, 23 are by Post Malone and eight are by Morgan Wallen; seven reached the top 10; and two (Jack Harlow’s “First Class” and Post and Wallen’s “I Had Some Help”) reached No. 1.
Jasper Harris
Since 2019, has charted 17 songs on the Hot 100 as a producer, including his first two top 10s in 2022: Jack Harlow’s “First Class” and Post Malone and Doja Cat’s “I Like You (A Happier Song).”
Jasper Harris (left) and Lil Nas X
David Dickenson
Blake Slatkin
Produced on 12 Hot 100-charting songs since 2020, including four No. 1s: “Mood,” “Stay,” “Unholy” and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.” 2024 credits include Charli XCX, Omar Apollo and Wallows.
Leon Thomas III
Produced on SZA’s “Snooze,” plus Hot 100-charting hits by Drake, Jack Harlow and Ye/Ty Dolla $ign; he’s also worked on songs with Post Malone, Ariana Grande and Giveon.
Ty Dolla $ign (left) and Leon Thomas III attend Affinity Nightlife presents “Music Is Love | Love is Music” Grammys after party at Academy LA on Feb. 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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After some time in the production world, they recently broke through to the charts’ top tier
Evan Blair
Cracked the Hot 100 with Nessa Barrett’s “I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead” (2021), then moved up the chart with Dove Cameron’s No. 16-peaking “Boyfriend” (2022); earlier this year, reached No. 2 with Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.”
BNYX
Charted 13 songs on the Hot 100 as a producer, all since 2022. Four hit the top 10: Drake’s “Search & Rescue” and “IDGAF” and Travis Scott’s “K-Pop” and “Meltdown”; has also worked with Lil Tecca, Lil Uzi Vert and Yeat.
Yeat and BYNX
Jason Renaud
A.G. Cook
His first Hot 100 production credit was on Beyoncé’s “All Up in Your Mind” in 2022; this year, he returned with four Charli XCX tracks — “360,” “Girl, so confusing,” “Apple” and “Talk talk,” with Troye Sivan — which all hit the top 10 of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
Ernesto “Neto” Fernandez
One of the biggest current regional Mexican producers. First charted on the Hot 100 in February 2023 with Peso Pluma & Natanael Cano’s “PRC” and followed that with the No. 4-peaking “Ella Baila Sola” (the highest-charting regional Mexican song ever). He’s charted 19 total songs by Peso Pluma on the Hot 100, plus three by Xavi and one by Junior H.
Teo Halm
Has charted three songs on the Hot 100 as producer, all in 2022: Omar Apollo’s “Evergreen” and SZA’s “Notice Me” and “Open Arms.” Co-wrote Drake’s “Fair Trade,” which reached No. 3.
Sean Momberger
Produced on two recent No. 1s — Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” — after making his first Hot 100 appearance in 2018 with Chris Brown’s “Tempo” and returning with Gunna and Future’s “Too Easy” (2021) and Lil Baby’s “Everything” (2022).
Sean Momberger at the Spotify Best New Artist Party held at Paramount Studios on February 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Nova Wav
The veteran female duo produced on Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” which spent 35 weeks on the Hot 100 (reaching No. 6) and became her longest-charting song as lead artist, as well as on Bey’s “Jolene” from Cowboy Carter, which reached No. 7 earlier this year.
La Paciencia
The close Bad Bunny collaborator has charted 21 songs on the Hot 100 since June 2023, all by the Puerto Rican superstar, including two top 10s: “Where She Goes” (No. 8) and “Monaco” (No. 5).
RIOTUSA
Ice Spice’s right-hand producer charted six songs with her on the Hot 100, all since February 2023, including her two top 10s, “Princess Diana” (No. 4) and “Barbie World” (No. 7).
Austin Shawn
Produced all seven of Bailey Zimmerman’s Hot 100 entries, including the No. 10-peaking “Rock and a Hard Place” in 2023.
Gabe Simon
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Gabe Simon
First charted on the Hot 100 in 2022 with Jessie Murph’s “Pray” (No. 95) — then followed up with seven Noah Kahan hits, including “Stick Season” (No. 9), “Dial Drunk” and “Northern Attitude.” (The latter two made the top 40 and also topped the Triple A radio chart.) Earned two more Hot 100 top 40 entries this year with Koe Wetzel’s “Sweet Dreams” and Wetzel and Jessie Murph’s “High Road.”
They’re brand-new to the charts, but their achievements already make them worth watching
Grant Boutin
Charted for the first time in September 2023 with Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (which went to No. 3 on the Hot 100 and spent eight weeks atop Pop Airplay) and then with her “Run for the Hills.” He’s also worked with Meghan Trainor and Tomorrow X Together.
Sean Cook
Paul Russell’s inescapable “Lil Boo Thang” (No. 14 on the Hot 100) marked his first producer credit on the charts; he made a strong follow-up co-producing Shaboozey’s Hot 100 No. 1 “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Sean Cook
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Dave Hamelin
Charted for the first time on the Hot 100 this year with five songs from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter: “16 Carriages,” “Just for Fun,” “II Hands II Heaven,” “Tyrant” and “Amen.”
Hoskins
Charted for the first time on the Hot 100 with Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s No. 1 “I Had Some Help” and co-produced Post’s F-1 Trillion single “Guy for That” with Luke Combs (a No. 17 peak); previously had only produced one other charting song, Khalid’s “Present” (which spent a week on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 2021).
Gerreaux Katana
Broke onto the charts and reached No. 15 with ascendant rapper Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me.”
Florian Ongonga
Charted for the first time in July 2023 with three Gunna songs, including the No. 4-peaking “fukumean”; also produced Gunna’s “Prada Dem” featuring Offset, which reached No. 15 on Hot Rap Songs.
Tommy Richman’s Crew (Kavi, Mannyvelli, Jonah Roy, Sparkheem and Max Vossberg)
The breakout star’s creative inner circle all charted for the first time with their work on his Hot 100 topper “Million Dollar Baby;” Kavi, Roy and Vossberg followed that up with “Devil Is a Lie,” which peaked at No. 32.
Frank Rio
The go-to producer for Ivan Cornejo, he has produced on 16 Hot Latin Songs entries (including three top 10s) by the young singer-songwriter.
Frank Rio
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Jack Rochon
Three songs from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter became his Hot 100 entrée: “II Hands II Heaven,” “Protector” and “Jolene.” He’s also worked with 6LACK, H.E.R. and Kehlani.
Nevin Sastry and Shaboozey
Courtesy of Nevin Sastry
Nevin Sastry
Charted for the first time co-producing Shaboozey’s Hot 100 No. 1 “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”; also worked on the artist’s “My Fault” and “Drink Don’t Need No Mix,” which reached Hot Country Songs’ top 50.
This article appears in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
A collaboration between Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga was always going to have lofty expectations, but when the two wrote and recorded “Die With a Smile” at the latter’s Los Angeles studio earlier this year, there was no talk of topping the charts. They only wanted to follow where the song was naturally taking them, remembers hit-making songwriter-producer Andrew Watt, who previously worked with Gaga on The Rolling Stones’ 2023 Hackey Diamonds track “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.”
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“This was a pure, organic thing that both these artists who respect each other so much wanted to do together,” says Watt, who helped with the hit alongside D’Mile and James Fauntleroy. “This was about the love of making great music.”
That desire led to a sweeping, cinematic duet that has spent multiple weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 and racked up 625 million on-demand official streams worldwide since its Aug. 16 release (through Sept. 26), according to Luminate.
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“Seeing people reacting positively to it and it hitting them in their soul… it’s special,” Watt says. “This is a ballad with all-live instruments made to the human heartbeat. It’s not a formulaic song.”
He adds that Gaga and Mars were in the studio together within 24 hours of agreeing to collaborate, with Mars bringing in the initial idea for the song’s haunting vibe. Gaga fleshed it out on piano with Mars on guitar — exactly as they appear in the song’s retro Western music video (minus the costumes) — and stayed overnight until it was perfect.
And while Watt says the session was a blur, he recalls a key component to that night: finding a melodic structure that let Mars and Gaga sound like co-lead vocalists rather than one person harmonizing with the other. “When Gaga put her voice on top of Bruno’s, that’s the moment I remember… hearing their two voices together, you get lost in it.”
It had the same effect on Mars’ concert crowd at L.A.’s Intuit Dome the night the song dropped in August. As Gaga stepped onstage for the duet’s live debut, Watt recalls watching the moment unfold: “It was this wow factor of ‘Holy crap, [they’re] like the Avengers of music.’ “
This story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Since PinkPantheress started uploading her music to TikTok three years ago, her songs have gone from locked away on her hard drive to the Billboard charts — but the singer, songwriter and producer’s recording essentials remain the same: microphone, GarageBand-outfitted laptop and a killer ear for finding niche samples primed for her to mold into the next dance-pop earworm.
The 22-year-old from Bath, England, may have started enlisting fellow producers to help polish her work, as on her recent album Heaven Knows, but make no mistake: From her early viral single “Pain” to her 2023 hit “Boy’s a liar, Pt. 2” with Ice Spice, PinkPantheress has been the creative mastermind. In fact, the self-described perfectionist — whose team lovingly refers to her as “Pink” in lieu of divulging her real name — admits that she often finds herself seizing control of her studio sessions with collaborators.
“As soon as I’m at a point where I can’t do anything else, that’s where I go, ‘OK, now can you do the rest?’ ” she says of her process, laughing. “It ends up being a collaborative thing. I just like to get what I can do out of the way first.” When she comes across another artist’s track that she can’t stop obsessing over, that usually means it’s about to become the skeleton of her next project. “I’m just like, ‘I need to somehow make this my song,’ ” she says.
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She can recall only one time that she had to ax a track because she couldn’t get a sample — the original producer’s royalties demands were simply too high. But Billboard’s 2024 Women in Music Producer of the Year knew that what she brought to the table on her own was valuable — something that might inspire young girls who also want to make music — so she walked away.
“For whatever reason, I’ve always felt strongly about that,” she says of her sense of self-worth. “Obviously, it’s a good thing.”
Billboard’s last Producer of the Year honoree, Rosalía, gave you a shoutout during her Women in Music interview. Which female producers inspire you?
That’s really sweet. I didn’t know she knew who I was. Since she’s a [female] producer as well, it’s really cool. There’s obviously not many of us. I’m always going to say WondaGurl, just because she’s who I looked up to when I was starting. Obviously, Imogen Heap, but these are all veterans. I need to tap into more up-and-coming ones.
Sampling has been your bread and butter from the start. How has your process changed over time?
At the beginning, I wasn’t really adding anything to my samples. I was basically just singing over instrumentals. I didn’t mind sampling, but I didn’t like how people… I think people thought it was lazy, and part of me understood what they meant. I’m chopping them, speeding them up or slowing them down way more. I’m adding more instrumentation so it’s more hidden, whereas before it would kind of just be the actual track itself.
Lia Clay Miller
You’ve said before that some of your songs are “crap.” Do you really think that?
I’m one of those people who, in my whole life, nothing is ever good enough. For better or worse, this is just how I am. I’ll put out a song and think at the time, “This is 100% amazing.” It’s only when I’ve put it out that I doubt myself. Does that mean I think the song’s actually bad? No. Because at the end of the day, I know it’s still a bop.
What advice do you have for other female producers trying to hold their own in the industry?
It’s the vibe you go in with that people judge to see if they can get away with stuff. If you know what you want to make as soon as you step into the room, there should be nothing stopping you from actually doing it. What I’m saying is, if there’s a MIDI keyboard there, ask to use the MIDI keyboard. If [other producers] say no, then that’s wild and definitely leave. But chances are, they’ll say yes.
This story originally appeared in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
While Travis Scott performed a three-song medley at the Grammys earlier this month, the teams of some of the producers and songwriters who helped make his hit album Utopia were fuming — they didn’t yet have the signed paperwork that would get them paid for their work on the project.
At the time, at least four of the producers and writers involved with the album still didn’t have producer agreements or publishing splits finalized, according to four sources close to the project, meaning they cannot get fully compensated for their work. Some of Utopia‘s contributors do have their agreements completed: Ted Anastasiou, a rep for Scott, said in a statement that “the vast majority of payments for contributors on this album have been paid and that any outstanding payments are near complete.”
Artist managers and entertainment attorneys say it is increasingly common for acts to put out an album first and figure out all the clearances later. (Utopia came out more than six months ago, on July 28, 2023, and went on to become one of the biggest releases of the year.) “The amount of paperwork potentially required for clearing a single track has become so excessive that I think some music industry executives may have become desensitized to the importance of having everything in place before release,” says entertainment attorney Gandhar Savur.
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Although artists often enjoy revenue streams outside of recorded music — notably touring and merchandise — the same is not true for most songwriters and producers. Writers are usually financially dependent on publishing royalties from the songs they work on. Producers typically depend on a mix of master royalties (often just an advance unless an album recoups its budget, which is rare) and publishing royalties (but only if they contributed songwriting).
This means all but the most famous writers and producers are already in a precarious financial situation. On top of that, massively successful artists are often slow to finalize the deals that dictate what percentage of royalties writers and producers are owed, and what fee is thrown to producers. As the months tick by, collaborators’ frustration grows.
Anastasiou, Scott’s rep, said in his statement that “the challenge with contributor payments on albums with multiple participants on each track is that negotiations and issues frequently occur before and after an album’s release, as terms need to be agreed and are all interdependent. This becomes further complicated when some participants, like those quoted in the story, are relatively unknown and their minor contributions only came to our attention afterward.”
Anastasiou continued, “these challenges are not unique to Travis or any specific artist. Attributing any blame to Travis or his team for this common issue is both wrong and short-sighted, especially when Travis’ team has been more than proactive every step of the way and are hard at work to finalize the last few remaining payments.”
The Utopia contributors who spoke to Billboard about their experience would almost certainly dispute that they are “relatively unknown.” But as Anastasiou noted, the collaborative nature of much contemporary pop music does mean that there are mountains of paperwork and negotiations for an artist’s team to complete around each album release.
“Back in the day, a band could release a record and basically have a producer agreement, maybe a mixer agreement and a few session musicians, and possibly not much else,” Savur explains. “These days, commercial pop tracks can have multiple producers, outside people contributing beats or music beds, samples and interpolations, one or two featured artists or side artists who each need their own agreements and also waivers from their record labels, and sometimes a dozen or more co-writers who are all signed to different publishing companies.”
“I don’t know any attorney’s office that represents producers and songwriters that’s not completely underwater at the moment, scrambling to get all the deals done,” adds Dan Petel, founder of This Is Noise MGMT, another writer-producer management company. He says the problem is compounded by artists releasing music more frequently in order to keep their fan bases engaged.
To make things even more complicated: Artists’ teams are usually responsible for all the clearances on their albums, but the money paid to the producers will usually come from a label. For producers, “the lack of a direct contractual relationship [with the label] yields an uncomfortable disconnect between who creates the music and who pays for it,” says Matt Buser, an entertainment attorney.
And once an album is released, artists often hit the road, meaning their attention — and their team’s attention — is focused elsewhere. Still, “the labels insist that the producer agreements be finalized and signed by both parties [producers and artist] for the producers to be paid their fees in full,” explains Maytav Koter, founder of Good Company MGMT, which works with songwriters and producers. But one of those parties might be bouncing from town to town on tour.
Most writers and producers have little recourse to ensure clearances get done in a timely fashion. “I’ve not gotten a cohesive response as to what the f— is going on,” says a source close to a person involved with making Utopia who is still waiting on paperwork. “Why is it so hard to ask people to do good business?” asks a member of another frustrated Utopia producer’s team.
Savur says that extensive back-and-forths over email are routine for post-release clearances. The only other option is to try to take down the track or sue the artist who put it out — without a signed producer agreement in place, for example, that artist has released that producer’s work without permission. Writers and producers hardly ever take this route, though. They most likely want to stay in the good graces of the artists they work with — especially if they are stars — and suits are costly and time-consuming.
That means all that’s left for collaborators is following up with the artist’s team week after week, and making personal appeals. As one source whose client is waiting on finalized Utopia paperwork puts it, “don’t you want to make the people who write your hit songs happy?”
Quincy Jones said it best,” explains Nile Rodgers: “A producer of a record is like the director of a film.” From his first production credits on tracks by Luther Vandross, Sister Sledge and Diana Ross to his more recent work with Beyoncé, Daft Punk and Coldplay, Rodgers is one of the rare producers who bridges the gap between the classic understanding of a record producer and today’s digital music-maker.
In the 20th century, Rodgers and his contemporaries recorded songs to lumbering rolls of tape, bringing the visions of artists and songwriters to life with their ornamentation, arrangement and technical skill. While that is still true for some producers, the trade has changed dramatically. Around the turn of the millennium, increasingly powerful DIY recording tools and the piracy-inflicted bust of the music business drove recording from fancy studios and into musicians’ homes — shifts that democratized who could be viewed as a producer and blurred the lines between the processes of songwriting and recording. How producers are compensated has also evolved, with greater distinctions for payment by genre, widely varying upfront fees and greater possibilities to earn publishing income than ever.
Producer Fees
The most reliable form of income for producers: a sum owed for their work before the song comes out. Fees tend to start around $15,000 to do a track for a major-label-affiliated pop or R&B/hip-hop artist; a superstar-level producer might charge up to $75,000 (or higher), but $30,000 to $40,000 is considered a good range for one who is well-established and working with a major-label act.
When producers work across an entire album of songs, it’s common to reduce per-track rates. “It might be $30,000 for the first three songs, $20,000 for the second two and $10,000 for the last song,” says Lucas Keller, founder of producer management firm Milk & Honey.
These fees are paid half upfront and half upon the delivery of a record that the label deems “commercially satisfactory.” While that first half is a producer’s to keep, the second is an advance against master royalties earned from the song. In today’s streaming economy, however, many tracks don’t recoup their fees.
Independent artists and/or those with little-to-no recording budget sometimes get more creative in paying producers what they are owed. Instead of a fee, “a lot of producers are getting 50% of the master monies, either in perpetuity or until the artist makes the producer’s fee back,” says Audrey Benoualid, partner at Myman Greenspan. Producers can also receive a fee under the aforementioned $15,000 for their work.
Points
The percentage of master royalties producers receive for their work. Earning from two to five percentage points of a record is common today, starting at two points for a newcomer and four to five for a well-established, in-demand producer. This amount is subtracted from the act’s percentage share of the recording; labels aren’t expected to cede any of their share to compensate a producer.
In rare cases, a superstar talent may command six to eight points: Rodgers and his manager, Hipgnosis founder and CEO Merck Mercuriadis, confirm that, on average, Rodgers earns six points, but every song is a unique negotiation. As Keller explains, things can get more complicated when two producers are involved: “Let’s say two sizable producers want four points each. We likely won’t get to take eight all together, so what about we try to split six points down the middle?”
Publishing
Because modern musicians often write and record as they go, the line between songwriter and producer is blurrier than ever. Many creatives that are now primarily classified as producers are also part of the songwriting process — and these multihyphenates earn publishing in addition to fees and points.
“Back in the day, when people talked about what a songwriter did, it was the guy who wrote melody, lyrics and chords. Today, if you come up with the beat, like many producers do, you can also be credited as a songwriter,” Mercuriadis says.
This is especially true in hip-hop. Michael Sukin, a top music attorney who has worked in the business since the 1970s, credits the genre’s emergence as a big part of redefining what a producer does. Timmy Haehl, senior director of publishing at Big Machine’s Los Angeles office, says, “In hip-hop, publishing is sometimes split down the middle: 50% for the top line, 50% for the track.” (In pop and other genres, there isn’t a standard amount of publishing a producer-songwriter can expect; that share of the composition is negotiated on a case-by-case basis.)
Extra Earnings
Some producers can pocket extra income through neighboring rights — performance royalties earned on the master side of income in many countries outside the United States. This, however, “has to be for a qualified record or qualified person,” Benoualid says. “You can’t be a U.S. citizen, unless you record in London and the studio is credited on the album — then you qualify for neighboring rights there.”
Producers in the United States qualify to earn a similar (but more limited) royalty from their masters playing on digital radio stations like SiriusXM, Pandora and other noninteractive digital transmissions. This is paid by SoundExchange, but producers aren’t entitled to this income unless the artists they worked with tell SoundExchange to pay the producers part of their royalty directly.
Nowadays, veteran hit-makers like Dr. Luke and Max Martin may also sign protégés to production deals or joint ventures with publishers to earn additional income, allowing them to, as Keller puts it, “amass a huge catalog with real enterprise value.” The younger producers, in exchange for part of their monies, in turn get introductions to, Haehl says, “people in [the veteran hit-makers’] network [and] special opportunities with artists.”
This story originally appeared in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Whether you’re a math-and-science whiz or an intuitive creative, there’s a prestigious audio engineering program that can prepare you for a career as a producer — or for whatever studio path you might follow — while emphasizing a well-rounded education in the process.
Here’s a selection of some of the best academic programs, along with sage professional advice from those who lead them.
Belmont University Audio Engineering Technology
The program: Heavy on math and science, the curriculum teaches students to design systems, components and processes and prepare for careers as recording-studio and live-sound engineers and audio-software designers. “If it makes a noise or records a sound, somebody has to think about it, create it, program it, build it, use it, apply it,” program chair Michael Janas says.
The skills producers need most now: “Motivation. If they’re trying to force themselves as a square peg into a round hole, they’re going to struggle.”
Berklee College Of Music Music Production and Engineering
The program: Working with artists, writers and other engineers, students learn technical skills (microphone placement, signal flow) and personal skills (critical listening, communication). “Reading the room, leveraging the strengths of artists, how you speak to people, deliver bad news — these are incredibly sensitive, difficult things,” program chair Rob Jaczko says. (Alums include Charlie Puth and Abe Laboriel Jr., Paul McCartney’s longtime drummer.)
The skills producers need most now: “Understanding the business landscape. We all need to have a better understanding of how we monetize our work.”
Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University
The program: With six available studios, students here learn everything they need to know about becoming a producer or engineer — except for heavy-duty technical instruction. “We want to get them up and running and confident,” says Nick Sansano, program chair. “We’re not necessarily teaching them all the mathematics and circuitry.”
The top issues facing producers now: “Lack of access to money. You need some support to get things off the ground.”
Drexel University Recording Arts and Music Production
The program: Students learn the basics of recording, production, arranging, composition, postproduction, mixing and mastering. In one sound-recording course, experienced artists (recently, members of John Legend’s band) work with students directly. After their sophomore year, students spend the summer working in live-sound engineering or another music-business sector. “They can go out and explore an area,” says Ryan Moys, who oversees the RAMP curriculum. “Sometimes you figure out what you don’t like.”
The skills producers need most now: “Knowing different software platforms: We teach Pro Tools, Ableton and Logic. And great communication skills. It all comes back to you’ve got to be a cool person to hang out with.”
Fredonia, State University of New York (SUNY)Sound Recording Technology
The program: Drawing from European “tonmeister” curricula of the 1940s, which combine technical and musical instruction, the 35-year-old SRT program offers training in studio hardware, live sound, recording, editing, signal processing and sound reinforcement. “[Bachelor’s of science students] have a fairly good handle on the science side of the recording business,” says Bernd Gottinger, the professor who oversees the degree.
The top issues facing producers now: “Responsibility and trust. Gaining that trust is probably the most difficult achievement you can look at as a producer. Usually, it gets established by long years of working in a different world, until the band says, ‘Listen, you’ve been doing these recordings for us for 20 years, why don’t you actually produce them for us?’”
Frost School Of Music, University Of Miami Music Engineering
The program: Developed in 1977, Frost centers on a recording studio with three full-size consoles. “Half our students end up at a company, like Dolby or Bose or Amazon Lab126 or Shure,” department chair Christopher Bennett says. “They work on the innards of devices that end up in the studios.”
The skills producers need most now: “The more you can learn under the hood, the better engineer or producer you’ll be. If they understand things like room acoustics and theory, it empowers them to make more creative choices.”
Jacobs School Of Music, Indiana University Bloomington Audio Engineering and Sound Production
The program: Among IU’s 1,600 music students, prospective engineers and producers get hands-on experience in pursuit of their 80-recording-hours-per-semester standard as part of this 41-year-old program. “That level of responsibility makes a big difference,” department chair Michael Stucker says.
The skills producers need most now: “Signal flow is a concept that’s really important to us. Physics and acoustics as well.”
Middle Tennessee State University Audio Production
The program: With five recording studios, plus a postproduction studio and separate labs for mixing, mastering and electronic music, students learn mixing and sound reinforcement and put on end-of-semester shows for live audiences. “We don’t really think of ourselves as training people for a job as a music producer,” says Bill Crabtree, director of the master of fine arts program in recording arts and technologies. “That’s not the kind of entry-level job you’re going to get right after college. It takes a while.” (Alums include Luke Laird, who has written No. 1 hits for Carrie Underwood and Eric Church, among others.)
The top issue facing producers now: “Artificial intelligence has the potential to disrupt a lot of things. However, it will be a tool. Having those skills — we think that’s important.”
Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART)
The program: OIART emphasizes highly technical skills for careers in music production and audio engineering and recording. “We’re not selling dreams of gold records. We’re very realistic with our employment goals and the types of careers students can expect,” says Lee While, OIART’s chief operating officer.
The skills producers need most now: “The student group has aspirations to work in a major studio and be a producer. But somebody who aspires to be a hip-hop producer suddenly discovers they have a real talent for sound design for video games.”
Peabody Institute, Johns HopkinsMusic Engineering and Technology
The program: Bachelor’s degree programs range from highly technical, five-year studies emphasizing electrical engineering, math, science and computer science to a two-year graduate program working with classical ensembles and rock bands. “Some find, ‘I’m interested in how loudspeakers are designed or getting into programming with signal processing,’ ” program chair Scott Metcalfe says. “Others embrace their composition side.”
The skills producers need most now: “Musicianship. Understanding the goal of the artist and what the market is.”
Purchase College, State University Of New York Studio Production
The program: With nine studios at their disposal, students get hands-on experience, from arranging their own pieces to engineering sound in the Dolby Atmos format, in genres from classical to hip-hop. “We want them to be able to do everything. We don’t want people to be button-pushers,” says Peter Denenberg, coordinator of the music and technology program. (Alums include Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Samara Joy.)
The top issue facing producers now: “Being forced to deliver projects in spatial audio is an incredibly difficult ask. It just adds a level of complexity and difficulty.”
Steinhardt School Of Culture, Education And Human Development, New York University Music Technology
The program: Director Paul Geluso says graduates of the program are “skilled professionals” who know hardware and software product design, audio engineering, and performance and composition: “The students do a little bit of everything their first two years and [then] they gravitate to one area.”
The skills producers need most now: “Our students take theory and history. We’re definitely music-first in our approach to our engineering side.”
Thornton School Of Music, University Of Southern California Music Technology
The program: Offering a bachelor’s degree in music production and minors in production and recording, Thornton emphasizes songwriting. “We build this program around our students being strong musicians with a technical inclination,” program chair Rick Schmunk says. “They can write the song, arrange it, produce it, record, edit, mix, master.”
The skills producers need most now: “Arranging and songwriting. We don’t have much trouble finding students with enough technical skills to be effective.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” spent six weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. But the track wasn’t recorded anywhere near Nashville — it was crafted alongside producer Ryan Hadlock, over 2,000 miles away at Bear Creek, the rustic barn-turned-studio that Hadlock’s parents had built in 1977 just outside of Seattle, not far from the birthplace of grunge. The genre-fluid song didn’t just top the country chart — it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, too.
“Even the term ‘country music’ is almost becoming passé in some ways because in working with Zach, in a lot of ways, he doesn’t really consider himself a straight-up country musician,” says Hadlock, who also produced Bryan’s “From Austin.” “He’s a singer-songwriter who happens to be from Oklahoma, has an accent and sings about the world he’s in… I think he will be doing amazing things for a really long time.”
Within Nashville, too, a similar genre-mashing ethos has bubbled up on hits such as Morgan Wallen’s muted, acoustic-based chart juggernaut “Last Night,” which spent 16 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2023. “He has one of those magical voices that allows him to span multiple formats, really,” says producer Joey Moi, who has worked with Wallen since his debut album. “He can sing a traditional country song, or over a hip-hop, contemporary production or a contemporary country production, and it still sounds like a Morgan Wallen song.”
As more and more country tracks have risen to the upper reaches of the Hot 100 this past year, many of the standouts — not only “Something in the Orange” and “Last Night,” in addition to other tracks by Bryan and Wallen, but also Luke Combs’ rendition of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” (which reached No. 2), Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” (which hit the top 10) and Jelly Roll’s rock and country-blending “Need a Favor” (which broke into the top 20) — demonstrate an instinct for crafting sounds that appeal beyond the genre.
A mix of newcomers and veterans, they include Hadlock; Wallen’s “Last Night” producers, Moi and Charlie Handsome; Zimmerman producer Austin Shawn; Combs’ “Fast Car” co-producers, Jonathan Singleton and Chip Matthews; and Jelly Roll producer Austin Nivarel.
Notably, many of these studio creatives have résumés that extend beyond country. Before working with Big Loud artists like Wallen and Florida Georgia Line, Moi produced Canadian rock band Nickelback. Hadlock has worked with names ranging from Foo Fighters to Brandi Carlile, while Handsome’s credits include Post Malone, Kanye West, Juice WRLD and Lil Wayne.
For Wallen and Bryan, scaled-back production proved essential to the genre-traversing success of their respective hits. “We purposefully kept it simple,” Moi says of “Last Night.” “There are a handful of parts going on, but it’s more about the negative space and making it about the story, the vocal and the instrumental that runs throughout. It lends itself to being accessible by more lanes as far as radio formats; it was tougher to define as just a country song, or just a pop song or [adult top 40] song. It kind of fit everywhere.”
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Moi says the song’s sparse production partially resulted from Wallen’s own creative inclinations. “My natural instinct is to build these larger-than-life productions, and Morgan is great about coming behind me and being like, ‘Take this out and that part out,’ making sure I’m not doing too much on certain things,” Moi says. “I’d say he has had his best opportunity on the last two records to really imprint upon every aspect of it, from the songwriting to demos to our approach to tracking in the studio and postproduction. You can hear his contemporary, youthful thoughts over all of it.”
Similarly, Hadlock notes the minimal production on “Something in the Orange,” which utilized vintage mics and gear. “Sometimes old equipment is better at capturing emotion, and part of it is having a good room; I think people don’t always realize how much an instrument the room is that people are playing in,” says Hadlock, whose goal was a recording that sounded like Bryan was “playing right in front of you,” that would make “people listen to it and say, ‘Wow, that’s an amazing live recording.’ ”
For Shawn, the freedom to experiment was key in landing the right feel for Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place.” He and Zimmerman produced the song a half-dozen different ways before landing on the approach they used for the final recording. “We produced an almost John Mayer-esque, real smooth-sounding [version], then the acoustic version and one that was a dark piano ballad, with strings and fiddle that sounded almost like you were listening to a country Goo Goo Dolls song,” Shawn says.
As he did with “Fall in Love,” Shawn incorporated a “three-minute-long sample of just wind” into “Rock and a Hard Place.” “It feels like you are in a desert, and I wanted to feel that open style — we added fiddle and pedal steel, just subtly to bring out the emotive aspect. We wanted this song to feel like you could play it on acoustic guitar, but at the same time, it can still fit into a country radio modern format.”
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Shawn, who co-wrote Zimmerman’s “Fall in Love,” recalls the no-barriers approach he and Zimmerman took early on in developing his sound. “We thought about the kinds of songs he would want to hear and made the music as fans, just encompassing everything we love… There’s no gimmicks with this kid. His gift is making the music that defines him and his lifestyle.”
Ultimately, producers who encourage such experimentation — whether Combs’ cover of a 1980s folk-pop classic, Bryan’s poetic blend of country, folk and rock or Wallen’s country-to-hip-hop range — have shaped songs that are resonating with a multitude of listeners.
“He has always wanted to stay in the country lane, but we all knew he had a sort of contemporary side,” Moi says of Wallen. “If we planted our roots and built our foundation in a good spot, [we knew] we’d have the opportunity to explore other genres, and I think we’re in a sweet spot for that right now.”
This story originally appeared in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.