Last week, trance producer Ashley Wallbridge spoke out on the controversial practice of ghost producing, revealing he’d secretly penned “10 Beatport #1 records” for other DJs before deciding he’d no longer be taking part in the practice. It turns out he’s not the only one with serious misgivings, with producer Collin McLoughlin not mincing words in a recent Medium post.
“It’s a widespread practice that’s hurting producers, writers, artists, and fans,” McLoughlin says, following his claim that ghost producing is killing dance music.
“I am writing this to urge newer musicians to realize that they do not need to resort to ghost production to have a successful career as a producer or DJ, and that ghost production oftentimes can hurt more than it can help,” he says.
As well as helping found online mastering service eMastered , McLoughlin has collaborated with the likes of Dash Berlin , Hardwell , Laidback Luke and Vicetone in the studio.
“In each of these cases the artists had no issue crediting me for my contributions. I am lucky to have been able to work with brilliant musicians who have good integrity.”
However, he affirms that the practice of ghost producing has helped propel DJs into the spotlight with no real creative skills, as well as sidelining those with real production talent.
“I’ve met artists who can’t even operate a DAW (digital audio workstation) to create original music even if they wanted to, yet they ‘release’ a steady stream of records each year to throngs of hungry listeners. Some of my friends have had their creative work played on Top 40 radio around the world without even being named in the title or credits of the records they’ve created.”
McLoughlin argues that while many artists believe ghost producing will help them get noticed in a saturated musical landscape, the reality is that it allows established artists to stay in the limelight longer than they would otherwise, shrinking the space for new breakthroughs.
“By allowing artists to persist through ghost production, the more established acts will consistently have a new, fresh sound to keep up with the times, which keeps them relevant for far longer than they could remain otherwise,” he claims.
“It’s my hope… musicians understand that by continuing to ghost produce, they might in fact be making their dreams even harder to realize. David eventually beat Goliath, but what would’ve happened if David gave Goliath the slingshot instead of keeping it for himself?”
Check out “Why I’ll Never Be a Ghost Producer—It’s Killing EDM” over at Medium for the full article.
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