Who controls the session?

[ATmusic]

The Producer.

The producer should also have an open mind to taking in inputs from artists during the session. Know when it´s valuable and when it´s not. Reminds me of that interview with Primo about working on the Christina Aguilera Project.

Sometimes you learn a lot from Artists, then again sometimes they are just off like spoiled Brats so you gotta put your foot down.

Overall, the Producer is incharge of the music piece soundshaping and needs to be seasoned enough to know when to listen to others and when to ignore "idle chatter"

 

[7thangel]

despite experience, it's based on track record. if your choice ends up bricking, what kind of responsibility are you gonna take to rectify your mistake. are you gonna hire an arranger to shape up the music and/or lyrics?

even then, if you make an artist uncomfortable with what you have them doing, the result will be less than stellar and may end up as a rank piece of shit. also, if a label hasn't given you the cash and the authority to choose the studio, engineers, outside help, etc then you're on the same footing as the artist.

some may have gotten your music and may take some direction but they may not want anymore input than the regular shit. going into a session assuming they don't know what they want or is good is walking the plank of ig'nant with a blindfold and an empty bottle jack.

the executive producer has the final say, they're paying. a producer may try to mold the outcome but it takes an 'art of war' subtlety to subconsciously affect the artist in a way that has them thinking it was their idea from the start.

 

[djswivel]

I think it depends on who has the most experience. Whoever has the best body of work and knows what they are doing should "run" the session. If I produced Nas or Busta, I would listen to WTF they had 2 say and learn from their experience

Of course its a team effort, but experience generally takes precedence. If you're a brand new producer working with a seasoned MC, the MC will probably make most of the calls. And vice versa if you're working with a producer like Pharrell, or Dre etc. Then you have situations where the artist isnt there for the mixes, and the engineer makes many of those decisions. Also, in some cases the A&R is there for the mixing/recording, and they will make certain decisions. It's all a collaborative effort.

For example, when we were working on Ghostface's new album recently, everyone was making those minor decisions. Ghostface wasnt there for the mixes, he was on tour, so it was a collaborative effort between, Duro, myself, Ghost's A&R at Def Jam (Lenny S), and his manager as well. Changes would be made, then they would be sent to Ghost for final approval, and in most cases he was cool with everything we did. There is a certain amount of trust you put in your team

 

[TheMost]

i Say producer of course but......

If youre a mc hiring a producer well youre paying him the big bucks to let him produce so let him do his job.
But sometimes if the mc realy wants seomthing and i dont see eye to eye with him and he's paying everything studio time, cd's and shows and touring well if he realy wants it a certain way fine.