asking three producers how they listen to music
A few weeks go I got curious about how music professionals listen to, organise and digest music. Here are three that told me; I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
Liam Brown (two blinks, I love you) - musician, producer
As much as I’d love to be an album person, most of the time it’s kind of algorithmic. Well, I am an album person for the core bands I really like, but I also use Spotify.
It’s often super helpful, and the algorithm is pretty fine-tuned in terms of curating specific playlists for moods, days, seasons and the bands. I’ve not been too good with it lately, but I’ll make a monthly playlist and name it May 2024 or something and just later it with what I find that month.
When I was a kid, my music consumption was often advert music - like, early Apple adverts or car adverts that would have some really interesting independent artists that I thought were really cool. One of my favourite songs is from a Sony TV ad - it’s kinda mad to think about finding a favourite band through these corporate avenues…
Then again, I think ads and even TV and moves are often quicker to engage with smaller artists, perhaps because of the costs and because those artists are hungry for exposure too, so you do find loads of interesting stuff this way.
When I’m really engaged with the artist I find it well more palatable to listen to 12 songs or something by then. Perhaps my attention span is flawed, but when I really like an artist or band and I’m out and about I’m more likely to properly ingest an album. At home no, but when I’m going round the corner for a coffee, on trains, or flying? That works best.
When I go out to venues, say there’s a friend doing a night, it’s a nice way to get out and spend time together and there’s always a band on the bill I’ve never heard of so that’s another way of finding new music. And then festivals like Green Man, I probably don’t know 90% of the bill but by going I’ve found bands I’d never ever have heard of otherwise. Those smaller, grassroots festivals really help find bands that might not even be online yet.
Jon Lawton (Crosstown Studios) - musician, producer
I’ve never done playlists - I don’t understand it really. And I don’t listen to the radio, I never have.
I’m squarely an albums guy, I like the format, and so vinyl is the main way that I listen to music even though its not getting any cheaper. So that means, when I’m looking for new music I’m paying attention to the links that suggest that I’m going to like it. For instance, paying attention to which producer has worked on the album, or if the guitarist from x-band is now playing with this y-band - it’s quite old school really; I’m trying to spend less time on the internet.
Sometimes I do find things through YouTube or Instagram if I see a mix engineer I like working on something, I will check it out. But I do still just take a punt on a record. I also have a club with a couple of friends who also buy records which helps. Once a month we get together, have a beer and listen to what everyone’s bought recently.
Running a studio changes the way you listen to music. You know just how hard it is to make an album, so it’s difficult to think about people cherry picking tracks they like. I actually just feel like ‘My god, there’s so much more to discover.’
And there’s another element: I think you listen to music differently when you’ve spent money on it. For instance, I remember buying an album from The Dillinger Escape Plan on CD and it being £16, £17, something like that.
I got home and I didn’t like it. But it cost me £17 quid, so I started again and now they’re one of my favourite bands - I’ve seen them live a few times and listen to them all the time. I like it when you have to work a bit to get into it.
Laura Marie Brown - producer, writer
I like to think my organisational skills when it comes to my music library is fairly organic, but it isn’t. It’s likely a bleed from the professional aspect of how I interact with music.
My playlists are heavily divided into genre, style and area which helps with work like the radio show, Arab Music Masterclass, that I used to produce with Melodic Distraction.
There are other contexts, too, where I rely on digital playlists. For instance, I walk everywhere and so playlists act as a mood board for my minds narrative as it sorts through organising my plans. The playlists I lean to here range a bit - one is comprised of intro tracks for a a film night I was part of called Cheap Thrills at Liverpools Small Cinema.
Another I add to regularly is called Arab Bangers that’s filled with anything from Arab trap to Palestinian hip hop and Somali disco. Since I am Creative Producer at Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, I’m often listening to artists with an ear on how they might play in Liverpool.
On the other hand, my physical music is a blend of chaos, diversion therapy and mess. The vinyl is organised by genre (not too high fidelity). The cassettes are in a organisational style mainly called « how am I going to tidy these » and the CDs are total chaos. Just absolute wild abandon, I do not know what to do with lunacy.
Open drawers in a random room and you’re as likely to find CD as discarded lighters and bank statements. My husband was a music reviewer so we have a lot of old CDs he’s been sent that we’ve never organised. When I was a journalist I wrote a bit of pop punk online so have a few freebies from that. But genuinely, CDs are like a dirty secret hidden in dark corners… that tells its own story.
Get down on it:
10/05 – Otra w/ Coco Maria (RA, Skiddle)
11/05 - Jasmine Myra (Future Yard)
11/05 – BIG SPECIAL (Skiddle)
11/05 - YUNGMORPHEUS (RA)
11/05 – Sonic Yootha (RA)
13/05 Fergus McCreadie Trio (Philharmonic)
On repeat this week:
Send me a postcard (Shocking Blue)
Babys (Courting)
Boy Cuisinier (Pierre Sandwidi)
Mis Sentimientos (Los Ángeles Azules ft. Ximena Sariñana)