I’ve seen you argue about it on Facebook. A beat maker is the same thing as a music producer, right? Not exactly. There are a few differences between being a beat maker and a music producer.
Unfortunately, beat making isn’t necessarily music production. It’s more like entry-level production but you’re not always the producer. Beat making is more about crafting the beat which includes making drums, melodies, pads, and chord tracks. Then the beat is sold to an artist who will finish the song. You usually aren’t working with any vocals and structure the track in a way to leave room for them.
Production, on the other hand, is about getting a finished product to market. A music producer oversees every part of making a song to include arranging, recording, mixing, and mastering. The producer will usually work closely with the artist to craft a vision for a song or album.
Not much music theory is needed to be a beat maker. You can get around without knowing much with software, sampling, and plug-ins. But good beat makers do know enough music theory to structure a track to be made into a song. If you want to be a music producer, you must be strong on music theory.
Both beat maker and music producer must learn music software and/or hardware. Both also must learn about the music business to know how they get paid.
Overall, the difference between the two has to do with the end-product. A beat maker is one part of the song making process and makes their money from selling a beat. A producer is about making a finished song. A beat maker can be a producer if they aren’t trying to get an artist on any of their tracks and are selling them as instrumental songs. That’s the kind of producer I am these days.