The secrets of the people behind your favourite singles.

Behind every great single, there is a great producer. That perfectly crafted riff on Mr Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”? Thank his producer, Mr Quincy Jones, who pushed the singer to go beyond his limits. When Jay-Z wanted The Black Album to be a hit, he called Mr Rick Rubin, who encouraged him to bend genres. When there are more than 30 million songs on Spotify, producers are the ones who cut through that noise and push good tracks to the next level.

“There are different types of producer,” says Ms Olga FitzRoy, a producer, mixer and engineer who has worked with Coldplay, Mr Hans Zimmer and Foo Fighters and is a member of the Music Producers Guild. “Stormzy has Hannah V, who is a co-writing producer. There are engineer-producers who decide how things sound, usually with the artist. The third type is the maverick, who guides the artist’s creative vision. I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with both George Martin, The Beatles’ producer, and Brian Eno, who work in this way, and one of the most striking things about them is their charm and people skills.”

Successful producers are associated with signature sounds. Mr Martin pioneered psychedelic soundscapes and experimented with leaving in feedback on Beatles albums. Mr Phil Spector created the Wall Of Sound and Mr Kanye West samples soul classics. But how do they do it? What makes a truly great producer? Read on to find out.

It’s the producer’s job to realise an artist’s vision. Mr Hugh Worskett, a producer, writer and label owner who has worked with Ms Rae Morris, Birdy, Kawala and Mr Michael Kiwanuka, describes his role as enabling the artist’s creativity. “You always leave your ego out,” he says. “The mechanics of the process can include writing, restructuring, arrangement, sonics, mixing, engineering, performance coaching. Popularity can’t be guaranteed by any one decision you make as a producer. There are too many factors at play that go far beyond the confines of the studio. But you want to remove barriers that might limit appeal. The aim is to make a record as coherent as possible for as broad an audience as possible without sacrificing artistic intent and credibility.”

Producers do a lot of listening. “The best artists know what they are after,” says songwriter and producer Mr Guy Chambers, who has worked with Mr Robbie Williams. “But before we start, I listen to their previous work to find out what they are missing in their catalogue. Do they need something quirky or upbeat? I always arrive with something to present to the artist, sketches or a song I think they should listen to.”

There often will be disagreements. “If you’re not disagreeing occasionally with the artist, you are probably not exploring the potential of the music enough,” says Mr Dan Cox of Urchin Studios, a producer for Ms Laura Marling and Mr Thurston Moore.

At first, Mr Williams didn’t like “Rock DJ”, which he was working on with Mr Chambers. “It took three months to produce because Rob thought it was cheesy and not cool, but it became one of his biggest hits, so fortunately he came round to it,” says Mr Chambers. “Artists can be fragile, so tread carefully. They are easily bruised. And they don’t give compliments. If they work with you again, that’s the best compliment.”

A fundamental part of the producer’s role is to make a song sound its best. “On a basic level, that means balancing the instruments and sounds in the song against each other,” says Mr Cox. “That’s when I get the sense of having done a good job.”

It can take anything from a day to a few months to do this, although the process has sped up since the 1980s, partly due to commercial pressures. “Some songs need a mix to bring the best out of them,” says Mr Cox. “You can sculpt a landscape when mixing, doing things like turning up the drums or amplifying the vocals.”

For Mr Roy Kerr, who has worked with London Grammar and Sir Paul McCartney, “every sound must be there for a reason”. It’s about the package. “A great song can make the worst singer in the world a star,” Mr Jones has said. “A bad song can’t be saved by the three best singers in the world.”

The audience is always at the front of producers’ minds. Songs have become longer since the 1950s, from an average of 2.36 minutes to 4.26, but you still need to get to the point quickly. “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus,” says Mr Rufus Wainwright.

“You need to make the audience feel something in around three minutes,” says Mr Chambers. “The biggest songs have a chorus before 40 seconds. If the chorus is after a minute, you have a problem. You have to grab people, especially with streaming services offering so much choice.”

There are algorithms for hits and music-production software now allows anyone to make a song. But for Mr Cox, the best music can come from mistakes. “The unpredictability of the creative process is fascinating,” he says. “You might press the wrong button and create a masterpiece.”

Writer’s block afflicts musical artists, too. Mr Kerr worked on the song “Strong” with London Grammar. “We went through so many incarnations to the point where the band was ready to leave it off the album,” he says. “Eventually, it came together. You don’t want to overthink it.”

This is where unorthodox methods can come into play. Mr Cox has put blankets over singers’ heads to change their perspective. He encourages them to pick up instruments they don’t know how to play and experiment (“It’s good for resetting”), to sing to inanimate objects or to slow the melody down.

When Mr Chambers was working with Mr Williams, the singer often recorded with no clothes on. Mr Chambers once blindfolded a singer to make her less self-conscious about her voice. “Artists can become tired, especially if they are working with a lot of writers and producers,” he says. “They can forget who they are. That becomes problematic and they won’t give their best material.”

A producer has to understand the artist. Mr Alex Gilbert, who is a producer for Birdy, Biffy Clyro and MØ, says some artists don’t want to sing until later in the day. “You have to be willing to try a fresh approach quickly if things aren’t working out,” he says. “Or just drink loads of red wine. That usually helps.”

In 2017, the Music Producers Guild Awards added a category for self-producing artists to recognise the increasing number of people producing their own work. Even so, there is still a team behind every song. “You need a group of the right people to get the best out of the music,” says Mr Cox. And never underestimate the sound engineer. They are becoming more pivotal as modern pop music develops. “A good one gives you a massive headstart,” says Mr Chambers.

Other producers go large. An emerging way of making music is to work on a grand scale, at a hit factory. For Rihanna’s “Man Down”, Def Jam Recordings spent an estimated $1m on gathering the best talent in the industry together to churn out far more material than was needed. Mr Kerr’s studio hosted one such collaborative session. “They took over every room and made around 70 demos,” he says. “They can take one and add it to another. It worked. At its best, you can meet new people and learn new techniques.”

Hit factories have their origins in the 1960s, specifically the Brill Building in New York. Ms Carole King started out there, prolifically writing hits for other artists before striking out on her own. This group working takes a certain type of producer. “It worked for Girls Aloud with their producer Brian Higgins,” says Mr Chambers. “I can’t work like that. I’m probably too sensitive.” He acknowledges the huge amount of pressure on producers. “Everybody wants hits,” he says. “Albums are less important than they were, so artists come to you for hit singles and it’s a lot of pressure.”

Before you start the creative process, Mr Chambers advises deciding how you will split any profits. This is as much a key skill as having a good ear. “There’s an unspoken rule that you divide it equally,” he says. “If there are three people working on the song, they should get a third each. Some artists have tried to pull the trick of saying they did more and others disagree.”

Unless you are working with big stars, Mr Chambers says many producers work on a shoestring budget. “Finances are tight now,” he says. “Everyone wants to do it as quickly as possible and as cheaply as possible, and to try to make a record in a week. Some artists can become upset if they feel the producer isn’t completely focused on them and vice versa if the producer feels the artist isn’t committed.” So, if you want success and don’t want a row, it pays to make a deal at the outset.

Shop all audio tech here