As an artist, do you wonder about how to find a producer for your next music release? In this episode, I talk with Emily Satterlee about the difficulties artists have working with producers, how they’ve been disappointed, overcharged and their opinions disregarded and how she started ItyDity to solve these problems through Producer Matching.
About Emily
Emily is a singer-songwriter in her mid 30s. She has been playing live in bars and coffee shops throughout Southern California. She had a lot of difficult experiences working with producers. Some weren’t a good match for her songs. Some would be expensive but she wasn’t really happy with how it turned out. Sometimes she had great experiences and she wondered how people can have a great producer match. She did a number of startups before ItyDity. She ran the biggest meet up for Orange County Songwriters. She educated songwriters on how the producers work and matched them with who may be a good fit for them. In 2016, she eventually started ItyDity to do that at scale. It’s basically a program that allows artists to be in the power seat. Eventually she brought her program online.
At first, she didn’t realize she was doing a startup until people saw what she was doing and advised her to pitch it to investors. Emily thinks it was a blessing that she experienced all the difficulty that songwriters had before she had an investor, because that way, she really understands everything a songwriter has to go through just to find the right producer. If she found funding early on, she thinks she may just create a robust solution and not really understand what needs to be done.
It is important to know how to find a producer that has the same vision as the artist. With ItyDity, because of the artist development process you go through and the music producer that work with you, your music is going to be authentic. It wasn’t going to just be matchmaking but also more on artist development. Using ItyDity will be more of a collaboration rather than having the music producer have the full reign.
ItyDity also conducted a survey in our free Facebook group, Female Indie Musician Community, about experiences with music producers. Emily was surprised because there were a lot of responses and people were really engaged. This is something that songwriters experienced but they haven’t really had an outlet to share it. People were apalled and wanted to share their experience in the comments. Whenever ItyDity talked with their clients, it wasn’t just a sales call but they shared their experiences. Emily realized she wasn’t the only one who went through those experiences and it was a healing process for her.
ItyDity is great not just for rebounders or those who had negative experience and are just coming back, but is also really good for first timershow to find a producer because the whole process is guided and supportive. You don’t really need to know the process. They also have a production assistant who helps them. So there are a lot of advantages with using ItyDity, especially if you’re a first timer.
What is a producer? First, if you hear a song on the radio like for example Sheryl Crow and she has a band in her background, the producer is one who has either contributed in playing those instruments for her or orchestrated it. Second is mixing, wherein the producer applies alterations or effects to those instruments or sounds. The producer brings those sounds and instruments to industry standards, so that’s where things like EQ and compression come in, so songs sound professional and have the right volume through speakers. So basically, good producers know what to take away and what to add on the track.
How Does ItyDity Work?
1. Artist Development
It’s a program to develop your sound. ItyDity asks for your influences and you get a blueprint of what instruments would match your vision.
2. Matching with Producers
Producers will check your blueprint and send you pitches about what they can do for you. As an artist, you can also ask for a sketch — you get a rough draft of what they can do for your song. Then you can choose your favorite producer.
3. Collaboration with a Music Producer
This is where you get the production assistant. This part is a step by step program where you refine your song until it’s perfect.
Emily wanted to remind artists that about producing your songs and protecting yourself as a songwriter, remember that you are the artist, the songwriter and it is your song. You have the right to take it seriously and evaluate all your options. ItyDity is gonna help you do that. You’re going to live with a higher level of confidence and the pride in the music you created. You’re going to get a song that sounds like you.
ItyDity also has built-in contracts and terms of service. It protects your copyright, protects you and you will always retain 100% of your ownership and your master recording.
This podcast was originally published on The Profitable Musician Show.
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