By Darrell “Digga” Branch

What is “production credit?” Well, according to the dictionary, a credit is “an acknowledgment of something as due or properly attributable to a person.” So, in the music world, a production credit is awarded to a person to acknowledge their music production. This seems like something that is easily obtainable for a producer right? Not so fast. Credit might be the single most important asset in the music industry other than music publishing. Just look at how some songs are promoted today: “The new smash single produced by ‘Such and Such’.” The mention of the music producer adds tremendous value to the success of the song. Even megastar Beyonce is credited as a producer on the majority on her songs (Hmm, I’ll explain in a future article). Production credit is really that important; not only to producers but also to anyone who can obtain it. 

For today’s music producer, credit is more than just simple text in the liner notes in the packaging of an album cover, but an acknowledgment or “props” within the music industry. Don’t get it twisted either, shouting your name at the beginning of each beat doesn’t exactly guarantee props by your peeps, especially since that’s the cool thing to say “Digga On The Beat!” Ideally, you want to be taken seriously and develop credibility within the industry. The only way to do that is by being credited with doing quality production. This leads me to a few important points. The term “ghost production” or “ghost producer” was essentially created as a title for a person who doesn’t receive credit. Why would anyone want that title? If I were a chef, why would I allow someone to take credit for a wonderful dinner I prepared? 

I know what you might be saying: “This might be my shot to get into the industry.” I slightly disagree with that statement. If you have the opportunity to become an intern or an apprentice at a production company, make sure you gain knowledge about the production business process. There is so much more to music production than programming beats and melodies but I’ll save that discussion for another article. Anyway, don’t assume that you will miraculously inherit a production credit by sharing your ideas with people within the industry. Like I said, a production credit is an asset worth a lot of money, especially on a major label release. If a record is a success and you receive the proper credit, you will forever be linked to that success. The production quality and sound you provide will likely attract new artists to collaborate with you just because you were given the proper credit for your previous work. Do you think people would care if you went around saying “I’m the one that really produced that song but my name’s not on there?”

To support my point, there is a public dispute going on between two producers over the Lil Wayne song “A Milli.” Shondrae “Bangladesh” Crawford and the song’s co-producer Cha-Lo have been involved in a public dispute over who actually created the track. Bangladesh has gone on record and said that Cha-Lo’s production contribution was minor and that he gave Cha-Lo an opportunity. While some of the details are sketchy, we do know that Cha-Lo did receive a publishing share and production credit on a triple-platinum album. I don’t know any of these guys personally but I do wonder why Bangladesh would be so generous to Cha-Lo if his contribution were so limited? The main point you should get from this situation is that Cha-Lo did receive a publishing share and the production credit on a 3xs platinum album. Remember what I said earlier, you will be forever linked to the success of a hit record. 

Finally, don’t take your production credit for granted. Don’t allow your music to be displayed without getting the proper credit, especially now in the digital era. Music is flying across the web so try to tag your mp3 files and ask website owners and bloggers to add a credit when publishing your work. No matter what stage of your production career you may be in, make sure you get the credit you deserve. 

Darrell “Digga” Branch, founder of Six Figga Entertainment, Inc. started his professional production career in 1995.  He executive produced Cam’ron’s debut album, Confessions of Fire. He has also provided production work for industry heavyweights like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface, Big L and Young Gunz to name a few. He has contributed to over 30 million records sold. In 2008, Digga formed Producers Skill Inc., the parent company of OnlineBeatTutor.com and Pskill University.net.