There are many factors as to why radio won’t play your music but one of the major ones is that no-one knows about you. Producers can provide a plan and project timeline for artists with no industry contacts, or else utilize your contact base to fast-track the timeline.

First time success in this industry is very rare and it’s usually a case of profile build-up with 3 tracks over a 12-18 month timeline for a new artist.

Traditionally artists have looked towards New Zealand on Air’s single budget ($5,000 + GST) as a rough estimate for what a professionally single recorded should cost. The emphasis here is on professionally RECORDED. This figure concentrates on the recording aspect of a single and unfortunately does not take into account what a producer can bring to the table with regards to song, sonic direction, arrangement, contacts, and the work involved to complete a recording which has a higher chance of commercial success.

You could argue that if a song has received this funding then it should probably have a good chance of commercial success anyway but if you look at the statistics as to which songs have a life after NZOA funding then more often than not they are the ones which have involved a producer.

A video is more important than ever as it is likely the first point of contact with a potential fan – usually online via sites such as YouTube.

As soon as possible. Having an experience producer involved from the onset of a project can provide realistic estimates on costs, time, and artistic statements. What you may spend getting a producer involved early on can make a huge difference to savings further down the line as more often than not artists will find themselves rewriting, retracking, and remixing material to try and break themselves into the industry.

They can be but it depends on the situation. What labels still have is the established contact networks within the media, marketing and industry distribution channels. If a project takes off no-one as yet is in a position to challenge the speed and resources a major label can bring to the table in those circumstances. Most artists these days will be aligning themselves with an independent label or management who will try and do some of the traditional record company’s role(s). A producer can also help here as they often have a network of contacts to help achieve the artist’s goals.