Two sets of ears are better than one
The process of recording music keeps evolving alongside technology. But even now with thousands of ‘bedroom pop stars’- the heart of music creation remains the same.
3 things are required to successfully create and release music.
You need to be able to perform, listen and adjust.
Artists who venture out of their bedroom to a professional studio get the benefit of working with a producer in the room. The producer provides an objective ear for the artist. While the artist focuses on the quality of their own performance, the producer can adjust the overall sound of the song and keep track of broader goals. You could say— the producer thinks about the listener and the artist thinks about the song.
The process now looks something like this:
Now the process has two circuits.
The artist can focus on executing while the producer makes sure the effort of the artist is pointed in the right direction.
When these two circuits are working together at the highest level you get teams like Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Thriller was the result of both Jackson’s instincts behind the mic, his moment to moment performance choices and Jones’ broader perspective as a composer and trained Jazz arranger.
People who’ve covered the making of Thriller know there were many times when Jackson overrode Jones and also times when it was the other way around. This back and forth is what refined the final product, and their two different perspectives created a well rounded piece of art and debatably one of the best pop recordings of all time.
To simplify this back-and-forth here’s a abstracted version of the above pattern:
For a music producer, ‘taste’ can only be developed by observing how people react to music in a natural setting. You need to have an understanding of how the public responds to different sounds, tempos and genres in order to produce an artist successfully.
How does this relate to product design?
‘Taste’ in product design works the same way. ‘Taste’ comes from having a complete understanding of the user and harnessing that understanding to identify and prioritize what to build.
If someone wants to launch an app that delivers tacos, they need to first figure out how to actually complete that task. The early stages of the product’s life will mostly be spent in the “talent” circuit — focusing on user success rates and asking the question “Is the product effective at doing what it says it can?
The 2nd circuit asks a different question.
“What do people want this product to do?”
Many products remain in this 1st circuit and see moderate success. But just like the popstar who stays in their bedroom, they might not be living up to their full potential.
