Traditionally a record producer was someone who controlled the recording sessions, coached and guided the musicians, organized and scheduled production budgets and resources, and supervised the recording process from tracking, through to mixing, and mastering to ensure that it was completed time, within budget, and met the record label’s requirements.

With the advent of cheaper recording technology and the rise of independent artists, the role of a producer has shifted and these days a producer is often performing a variety of tasks which were traditionally handled by the record label. These tasks include selecting and arranging songs, overseeing recording sessions (and often engineering the recordings), and even writing the material. Producers have also become the main intermediary between artist and record label, signing new artists to production contracts, producing the recordings, and then licensing the finished product to record labels for pressing, promotion and sale.