Some artists want a producer to be a kind of svengali - someone who actually creates a sound for them.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Most bands have a sound that they're already identified with, so for the producer it becomes a process of helping them find their muse in the studio to make a record that will not only satisfy them artistically, but will also do something in the marketplace.
A producer should only be there to enable an artist to be himself.
My definition of a producer is 'the man with the dream.'
I'm obviously really opinionated, but as a producer, you don't necessarily want the person you're working with to try to impress you - you want them to just be themselves. Then you can edit or mess around with what they've come up with. But you have to allow the artist that space.
Our job as producers is to make the music sound as good as possible.
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speak.
In general, I don't feel artists should need producers.
There are a lot of producers who basically have their sound, and if the artist works with them, you almost know what the record's going to sound like before it comes out.
Producers are men who will keep their heads in the noisy presence of writers and directors and not be carried away by art in any of its subversive guises. Their task is to guard against the unusual. They are the trusted loyalists of cliche.
As a producer, you're pretty much creating a body of work that an artist has to stand behind.