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Hi my name is Niclas Molinder.

I'm a songwriter and music producer.

I've been doing that for many years and I've been creating music for artists all over the world.

Music producer.

Studio producer.

Record producer.

Same thing.

In this role I help a performer or recording artist record a musical work and I'm usually responsible for the whole recording process.

Sometimes the music producers are independent and sometimes they're employed by a record label.

Depending on this and what the particular scenario is, the music producer’s rights can vary.

Like if you're employed by a record label the record label will own the recording.

You're paid by your salary and don't get any rights in the sound recording.

If you're independent then you as a producer, might get a flat fee and a percentage of the royalties of the sound recording.

This is also called points, where one point equals 1% of the revenue earned from the sound recording.

When a producer works with a self-releasing artist it's common that the artist and the producer share the split of the royalties on the sound recording.

But overall the producer can add a lot.

Sometimes I also work with songwriters creating beats, melodies, and lyrics and such.

When I do this then in addition to my producer role, I'm also credited as a songwriter and will own a percentage share of the copyright of the musical work too.

Since there are no standard rules around this though it all needs to be negotiated for each sound recording.

For more info check out our pages on Sound Recording Splits and our section on Songwriting.

What Is a Music Producer?

2 min read

Understand the role a music producer may play in songwriting.

A music producer is in charge of the recording and can sometimes also be part of the songwriting process.

A , sometimes called a studio producer or record producer, typically helps a record a . A music producer is usually responsible for the entire recording process and can own a share of the of the made. But music producers can also play a role as a .

Can a music producer also be a songwriter?

Especially in some music genres like rap, music producers can also be part of the creation of a musical work, making contributions including writing , adding instrumentation, or manipulating a beat. These contributions can all be considered songwriting, making a music producer a songwriter in some cases.

Copyright ownership for producers

Under , music producers can be considered if they made an contribution to the musical work. This means they can own a share of the rights in the musical work.

If you are a music producer and you have a share of the rights in the musical work, and you also own all or part of the sound recording, you will have different rights in each of them, and will earn separate for each.

If you are a music producer and you have not made any original contribution to the musical work, you do not qualify as an author under copyright law, so you do not own rights in the musical work.

Learn more in the Recording and Getting Credited and Paid topics.

Music producers who have multiple creative roles

If you are a producer, you might also have additional roles when writing or recording a musical work, in which case you might also have additional shares in the ownership of that musical work and the sound recording.

Find out more about how this works in the Recording topic. To learn more about authors' rights, visit the Music Creators’ Rights topic.

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Video Credit: Tiffany Orvet, Dilun Riad Edmon, Daniel Hjellum, Tim Ljungstedt, David Lebna, Artu Kontkanen, Tobias Leo Nordquist, Ponny Höijer, William Engström, Parapix