Not everyone behind beats is a music producer – Mix Master Garzy sets the record straight

Famous Ghanaian sound engineer and producer Mix Master Garzy is pushing back against the casual use of the title “music producer,” arguing that many in the industry misuse the term without truly earning it.

In a recent interview on Hitz FM, Garzy stressed that being a music producer goes far beyond creating beats, it requires mastery across the entire creative and technical spectrum of music production.

“Before you call yourself a producer, you have to know how to produce, how to make beats, how to engineer audio, meaning proper recording as a recording engineer. You need to know how to mix, how to direct, how to write, maybe even how to sing. All of these are part of being a full producer,” he said.

Garzy, who has worked with a long list of top-tier artists both locally and internationally, said too many people are claiming the producer title after contributing only in narrow roles like beat-making or audio mixing.

“Some people are just beat makers, some are mixing engineers, others are recording engineers,” he added.

To him, a true producer is someone capable of overseeing and influencing every phase of music creation—from sound design to mixing, vocal direction to arrangement, and even songwriting or performance when needed.

“Some people are just beat makers, but because they can record, they assume they can mix too. It’s time they understand the difference,” he stated.

Recalling his own early development, Garzy attributed his holistic expertise to the fact that he learned all aspects of music production from the ground up. His diverse skill set, he says, justifies the professional identity he’s built over the years.

“Where I’m coming from, I was fortunate to learn all of these skills together, and that’s why I’m ‘Mix Master Garzy,” Mix Master Garzy explained.