What's the point of a producer if you do it yourself.

Back to explain things from the industry again. I seems to bump into this quite many times. Today it's the urge to work with a producer. In all artist's career they suddenly start to think that a producer is a key to their success. Often with no knowledge what a producer really means.

To have a producer means that you handle your material over to another person.

To have a producer is not that a genius comes into the studio and give compliments to all your musical ideas. No, this person is here to take that stuff to another level. And in many of cases, you will not agree on the things they actually change. Yes, they ill take of that long nice drum solo that you like. Literally, they will come in and just change the look of your baby.

 The artist thinks they need to spend a lot of money on a hotshot producer. This is also a cliche that you get really often. The more money or things they have done is better! In so many cases it's not.
Yes in many ways a producer can make wonderful things with the material. The artist can learn from their creative process and discover new dimensions. But that is if the artist is open to new ideas and also have a balance to know what can be changed what can not. If they are not open then you can spend as much money you like around it.

If the artist clicks with the producer they also stay with the same producer. In the end, the producer is just as a member of the band. But then also the around and everything stays the same. In the majority of the cases, the artist goes back and starts to produce themself. And it can be a costly adventure to make that lesson. 

The problem is that the artist just thinks the producer adds some small things to the sound. A bit of echo here and some reverb there. In reality, if they do their job they take everything down and grind it and build it up again. A reason why artists just hate different producers even how successful the producer made them. A good example is Bob Rock with Metallica and AC/DC. Still, they have not got close to the albums Bob did in sales. Still, they will not work with him again.

It is the reason I don't bring in a producer until the artist knows what they want. I have spent too many hours with artists throwing out of the window stupid ideas not letting the producer doing their job and in the end, coming out with something mediocre just to pleas all member will.

More or less if you hire a creative person for projet you need to let them do their work. You hired them for their knowledge. If you try to press their things into a box fitting your idea it won't be perfect. 

Also, don't hire a person that is doing the things exactly as you would do it. If the dynamic is gone you just surrounded yourself with people that say the same. Then you just hired a bunch of friends to hang out in the studio.