How can I help a "one man band" give up some contr

[egr]

The vast majority of artists I deal with are "one man band" deals. They write, record, and mix all of their material and feel that what they send to the label is a finished and marketable product (which usually includes artwork, blurbs, everything).

Sometimes it's not. (To be fair, usually it is.)

In the cases where I have to tell a dude that we need to do some more work on his project, it can get a little touchy and always turns into a lengthy back and forth with tiny incremental improvement.

Is it more important for me to get involved in the process sooner or to be more stern at the end? Anybody else deal with a lot of OMB situations?
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[Nick Sevilla]

Involvement: The sooner the better.
Advice: Uphill battle.
Returns: Worth the battle?
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The Song. Nothing else really matters.

[chris harris]

What's your role in this? Producer? Engineer? Both? Don't assume. This is something that should be a clear agreement between you and the artists before you ever start work.
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[egr]

[Nick Sevilla]

So, you're a Label:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=78677

OK.

You do need to define your role more precisely.
It seems from all that you wrote so far, that you really specialize in the distribution / duplication / promotion side of things, and not on the actual production.
Up until now, you get a finished project, and do very little interference (that is what the artist will probably look at your "suggestions" as) so far.
Every now and then you get a shit record.
Well, you can do what every other label does when they get a shit record :
1.- Tell the artist to give you something else because this sucks. Be honest with them
or
2.- Tell the artist you want to produce their album, with all the attendant work that this will require. THis is the part you want to do. Do you really want to do this? Because the more you do this, the less of the workings of your label you will be able to do.
Ask yourself, what do I REALLY LOVE DOING?
And then, do that.

Cheers
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The Song. Nothing else really matters.

[chris harris]

I've produced and/or engineered several of the records that I've released on my label. I truly LOVE doing both! Both are also BUSINESSES that most people would recommend avoiding like the plague, in 2012. So, you really do have to love it.

With the label, I've never agreed to release an album for an artist without being absolutely sure that I'm going to love what they bring me. I guess a situation could arise where they might bring me something radically different than what they led me to believe I'd be getting. If that happened, I guess it could lead to a situation like, "welllllllllll...... let's talk about this recording....." In that case it shouldn't be uncomfortable at all. However, from being an engineer/producer, there are things on almost every record I've released on my label that I maybe would have done differently if I was engineering/producing. In the end, it's their record. If I like it, I put it out. If I didn't, I would just pass. I assume that at the level we're talking about, these "label" releases are just licensed from the band and there's no label ownership of masters, or huge pre-manufacturing advances to recoup. No big deal...

With projects I produce, whether my label is involved or not, there is no awkwardness at all with making suggestions about the recording/songs/performances/etc., because, y'know, that's the job.
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[dfuruta]

I have a one man band, and I've had releases on a number of small labels. At this level, I'd be kind of offended if a label tried to tell me what to do, creatively, instead of just saying "no".

[egr]

[dfuruta]

[egr]

[Chris Graham Mastering]

I think there's a general misconception among many of todays artist was a producer really "is". I think a big upfront convo about what producing a project really means is helpful. Finding a mastering engineer that will give mix feedback is nice as well to have a third party to bounce things off of.

I find that OMB guys usually tend to like their vocals way to low or way to high depending on their ego or lackthereof.
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[teleharmonium]

The way I see it is that there are many possible types of relationships between labels and artists and producers and artists. So it's wise to be clear from an early stage as to how you see your role and what the expectations are, which would be in effect unless negotiated otherwise.

If you're wearing both of those hats, even more so.

As stated above, if you're not commissioning new work as such, but rather receiving what the artists feel to be finished products and accepting or rejecting them, the simplicity of that relationship relies on you doing just that and not trying to take control at a late stage when that doesn't seem to have been part of established goodwill.

On the other hand, if you're looking for certain specific kinds of results or want to only use your time on projects with a high likelihood of working out, getting involved earlier deeper seems like the way to make that happen.

My personal viewpoint is that the narcissistic rampage our society is on coupled with generalized bad attitudes about the music business and music production has led to a lot of people considering themselves to be auteurs in the possession of genius that should be presumed to be better than and beyond the reach of any critique.

I don't think I would want to be in the position of dealing with that all the time. I think those attitudes are a hallmark of younger people and tend to get worn down by real world experience and interaction with others. This can improve a persons work, or destroy their aspirations through what they learn about their limits... at least, if they make it through, they'll be more humble, and usually they will have better people skills.

I think it takes a lot of that to get the point that you're not likely to be improved by objective input from others - and even then, a lot of the greats are known to seek out and relish such input. Not that it's easy to find the right input (in content and delivery style), or that it isn't a two way street with the producer/label being able to compromise as well or maybe improve their understanding of meaning or goals.
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[sears]

Great thread. Keep it going. I always wondered how labels deal with one man bands.

I like "Charzard."
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[fossiltooth]