The design of an album...

I'm not exactly talking about the graphic design of an album here, although that too will help your album's saleability and marketability... I'm actually talking about the entire design of your album... from start to finish.

As a producer, my job is to help 'create' or 'design' your album by helping to structure, restructure, or just adding fresh vision and light to this project. I have to be able to somewhat look past the technical part of the recording and find a way to make what is coming from your mouth, hands, guitars, come to life and sell records. From my seat, I have to look at the big picture of any project... beyond wondering if this 4 minute guitar solo should make the cut or not. What I'm constantly looking at is, "If this 4 minute guitar solo goes in, will a radio station even play the song for time purposes?"...

When you put it like that, it kind of becomes an "Ah-ha!" moment for many.

So, say you're a Tate Music Group artist and you've just begun production...
First things first, lets prioritize here... I'll usually sit down and listen through your songs and I will try to find what I think are some of your catchiest tunes... the ones that I know people will be humming once they hear this song on the radio or singing along to once they've bought your CD! If there are songs that lack what we call the "hook" (a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener"), then it is my job to help create one or harness one from what we've got.

Now, also note that all artists should try to put their best foot forward in the writing process, working to make each song as catchy as possible, however, we know that's not always possible... look at Ricky Martin post "Livin' La Vida Loca" days... okay, okay, bad example.

A good rule of thumb is that a good catchy song for radio should be no more than 3 and a half minutes long, and definitely no longer than 4 and a half. Most radio stations won't play long songs, and most listeners will get bored if the song doesn't take off in the first few lines... just an unfortunate truth because I know deep down, you're really wanting everyone to hear your 4 minute bass solo that will never get aired. (no matter how cool it is... also one reason you don't hear a lot of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones on the radio).

Another good rule is that from note one, the listener should be "hooked" in to your song...the first part should hook them into whats coming in part 2, into the chorus, etc... whether that be a guitar riff that gets the song started, or just a vocal hook on the chorus that keeps that interest. One way to write catchy vocal lines is to keep them short and simple and in many cases, repetitive. Not annoyingly repetitive, but maybe repeating the same 3 notes in a major scale using different lyrics each time... (just an example).

So we bring it down to simple truths. My job as producer is to help harness that marketability and make some structural changes to your songs to make them their best! We have to be aware of all genres of music, what's popular for the time, what's selling and what's not selling. If this means updating a 1980's sound to a more modern sound, or replacing your synth line with a guitar lick... those are the changes. However, sometimes, its just making the verse go half as long and extending the chorus because its catchy!

As a songwriter and performer myself, it is tough to let someone else share that creative control over the songs I write... it's a little nerve racking to hear changes someone has made to my "musical masterpiece", but know, I'm not putting my songs in the hands of an amateur to make those changes. I would give them to one of our other producers here in the Tate Music Group studios in a heartbeat because I know they are completely and totally immersed in the music industry on a daily basis and that they would know how to make my album sell! They would know how to design my album if you will. It's what they do, day in and day out and I trust that they will take and run with any creativity thrown their way.

Just some food for thought...

Of all the artists that have come through the Tate Music Group facilities that have come in with an open mind and willing to do whatever it takes to make their album sell, they've all gone on to do great things so far and have really seen the greatest return!