Music production is a full time job for most people and it consists of varying amounts of working hours for each day per producer.
A producer is almost always at liberty to choose how long they work but the average is between 4 to 12 hours per day.
There are a lot of factors that influence how much time a music producer
spends in the studio and we’ll look at some of these factors in order to have
a better understanding.
Factors that influence how many hours a producer works:
Clientele
Ofcourse one of the very first things that will influence how long a music producer works is how big of a clientele the producer has.
A producer that gets a minimum of 4 clients a day, all assigned 2 hours of studio time will mean an 8 hour work day for the producer.
Music production is a service business therefore; the more demand for the service,
the longer the producer has to stay in the studio working to absorb that demand.
Schedule
Schedule is everything in the music production business.
A career in music production doesn’t begin and end in the studio.
There are many things involved such as meetings, interviews, press runs, travelling, deals etc.
A music producer can set a time for all these things and they’ll greatly i
nfluence how long of a day they stay at their work.
Signed to a label or not
It also matters whether the producer is signed to a label or not.
An independent music producer will have more of a say on how long they
work a day as compared to someone that has to work according to a
schedule that is set for them by a record company.
As far as time is concerned; a producer that has their own establishment working independently will have more power over their time.
Heavy workload allocation
Music producers usually set a time apart to work on processing songs,
mixing, and mastering.
Since these tasks take a lot longer to finish having a separate day to do them
can help lessen the amount of time spent in the studio.
For example a producer that dedicates the weekend to work on finishing
projects will have to spend less hours during the week in the studio because
the workload would be a lot lighter.
What usually lengthens studio sessions more than the recording process itself,
is the actual mixing of the song and some artists may demand to have their records worked on the very moment that they are recorded.
If a producer can allocate separate days for this kind of work, their time in the studio will definitely shorten.
Backlog
Music production like any other service business will have a backlog of work
that needs to be done and delivered to clients.
Therefore a music producer with a heavy backlog will automatically spend
more time in the studio to clear up their back log.
This will impact the amount they spend in the studio heavily.
Level of status
Music production comes with the possibility of fame.
A producer that has attained a certain level of status that makes them sought after,
will definitely have to work more hours and dedicate some of their time to travel and things of that nature.
High status will mean a great amount of work in the studio for some
producer and it may mean the complete opposite for other producers.
Working solo
A producer that has to handle all their workload by themselves will have to spend more time at work.
Music production requires alot of duties therefore working solo will mean
more time in the studio because you have to handle everything by yourself.
Tips a producer can use to work lesser hours:
Define clientele per day
A good way to manage your working hours as a music producer is by setting
a limit of how many clients you attend to in a day.
This can be a great way to bring some order around the studio and regain
back some of the time that you would otherwise not have if you’re running a lot
of sessions in a day.
Set specific times for heavy work
Allocating time or days to work on projects that require mixing and
mastering can save you alot of time to work on other things.
Handling everything all at once can be a serious drain and mean a lot of studio hours.
Therefore allocated days or times for heavy work can help you get rid of the extra stress and free up some time to work on other things.
Hire a team
Team work makes the dream work.
Music production is a stress heavy job that will take its toll on you.
Tasks such as engineering, recording etc. require loads of time to be done the right way.
Therefore having someone to whom you can allocate some of this workload
can help you stay on top of things and manage your time a whole lot better.
A team can be two people or one person, so long as some work can be delegated to another.
Get organised
One of the reasons why it’s difficult for music producer’s to manage their time well is their use of time management.
Its very difficult to work efficiently if you cannot get a handle on things.
Therefore organize your time and schedule well in order to work much lesser and more efficiently.
Get better, get faster
The better you become at your job, the more faster you can work.
Therefore nurture your skills and try to work a lot faster without sacrificing quality,
this can help you free up time and squeeze in more clients or basically free up time for yourself.
The more efficient you become the less time you’ll spend on your job and you’ll get better at it.
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