Ghost production is still a sensitive topic in the dance music industry, with polarizing opinions on the subject from DJs and producers in the scene. While some oppose it, others are in favour of it, as long as the concerned person is credited for his work.
While artists such as Martin Garrix, KSHMR and Ashley Wallbridge have served as ghost producers at a point in their careers, Maarten Vorwerk still remains one of the biggest ghost producers in the scene today. Having produced for a number of high profile artists, the producer recently sat down with We Rave You for an exclusive interview, discussing his views on the whole practice, his beginnings as a music producer, and much more. Check out some excerpts from the interview here below.
Speaking about ghost producing in the dance music industry, he said:
I’m quite open about the fact that I am a music producer. I don’t really see that as a sensitive subject, especially since I have been doing that for the last 16 years. Let me take the opportunity now to clear up some confusion. There are people claiming that a ghost producer is someone who doesn’t get credited at all and there are people claiming that a ghost producer is someone who doesn’t feature as an artist, and is paid to do so, but is still mentioned in the credits. I’ll let the reader decide what their personal view on the matter is. Now since the digital era it isn’t so easy to see anymore who created what. Back in the day you just took the CD out of the closet and looked on the back who was involved. Unfortunately that isn’t so easy anymore. I think that that is the reason people get confused when they found out that their favorite artist hasn’t produced his own track. They might even feel betrayed. Nevertheless you have to realize that this isn’t something new and occurs in every creative industry. Realize for instance that a superstar artist like Rihanna doesn’t (always) write and produce her own tracks.
Talking about how the price for a ghost produced track is calculated, he reveals:
It’s better to focus on the real problem here. You have DJ’s who earn between $10k to above $100k per show. Now let’s put that of against the ‘standard’ payout of a Spotify stream at $0.005 per stream (which is currently the number 1 source of music royalty income). Let’s say you get a million streams which grosses at $5000. Now split that between the label, and the other artists involved and minus some recouped costs and you have made yourself $500. Meaning that a producer has to create about 80 of those tracks to get a gross salary of around $40k a year. Which of course is impossible. My personal opinion is that this is one of the reasons that there are ‘ghost producers’ in the first place. You need to be paid to get something made because royalties alone ain’t gonna cut it.
When asked about why he’s never DJed, he said:
Being a DJ has never appealed to me. Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing people enjoying my music. But to always be on the road while only seeing clubs and festivals would be a real brain killer for me. I love to travel but not in a DJ fashion. If I would DJ it would be solely for the money. In the end I really like to be more on the creative and business side of things.
Check out the full interview here.
H/T: We Rave You
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