Given the ever-expanding popularity of music production and a renewed focus on new sounds, Tru Ambassador Entertainment’s production whiz Alton “Falconn” Bennett helps to break down the differences and roles of a producer and composer.
Speaking with Sleek entertainment the “Thunda” hitmaker noted that producers are persons who take on the overall responsibility of a song’s complete production, such as the provision of the studio, marketing and promotion of the song(s) in addition to contributing to the final sound of the track(s).
” He makes sure the song has artwork, it [gets] videos, it’s distributed on the [respective] stores (streaming platforms) he spends money on production basically everything, him produce the track.“
While the producer role extends beyond music and deals with the overall packaging of a song, “a composer is a person who just creates the beats..basically the beat builder” the “Gyal Thief” producer noted.
He also shared that while a producer may not be the person to play the actual instruments, they may enlist the services of musicians or beatmakers to create sound concepts to match the ideas they have.
“You have producers that don’t create.. [the beats but] oversees [the production] to make sure everything goes [a specific way]… you have producers that have different ears,” Falconn said, adding, he “doesn’t necessarily make the beat, but he has an ear for it…so he knows how he wants it to sound, so he would hire people to create what he hears in his head.”
He continued, “Whereas you have other producers that create the beat and know exactly how they want it to sound. So dem ago just mek it.”
Typically, ‘co-production’ credit on a song is shared but ultimately boils down to the agreement between the producer and composer, which further goes into the business aspect of publishing and royalties splits on the songs, he noted.
For Instance, rock band “No Doubt” is credited as a joint producer of the Grammy-winning” hit “Hey Baby” featuring Bounty Killer, despite a large portion of the track’s production being created by riddim twins Sly and Robbie.
Overall, while there are specific functions between the two, in the production process, their symbiotic relationship ensures a successful and meaningful final product.