Requirements for Producers:

• Has songwriting and performing experience

• Agrees to attend all workshop/recording dates and times

• Agrees to attend a two-hour orientation with other Producers and Engineers, in advance of the workshops

• Can pass a background check

• Is comfortable singing with a group of kids

• Plays a musical instrument, in order to help a band compose music (preferred; if a Producer doesn’t play a specific instrument, they could be paired with someone who does)

• Has experience in a recording setting and can lead a vocal recording session (preferred; the Program Coordinator will give a tutorial on how the recording process works)

Time Commitment and Compensation

Applications for song Producers will open on July 1st, 2026. The deadline for applications is August 14, 2026. After the deadline, all Producer applications will be reviewed, and producers will be contacted with an offer no later than August 21, 2026. 

Unless an exception is granted by the Program Coordinator, Producers are required to commit to all of the following:

• Two-hour song club orientation, with Program Coordinators, Producers and Engineers (in person at Cherrywood Center, early September, date TBD)

• Four workshop dates, (9:30a to 2:30p, in-person at Cherrywood Center:)

  • Saturday, September 26th

  • Saturday, October 3rd

  • Saturday, October 10th

  • Saturday, October 17th

• One-hour meeting with Program Coordinator, as needed

  • For Producers who are new to spilled milk song club, a check-in with the Program Coordinator will be helpful, in between workshop dates, and as determined by the Producer and Program Coordinator; this could be a phone call, online meeting or in-person meeting

• One-hour pre-production meeting with the Engineer

  • Once a song is almost or completely written, a meeting between the Producer and Engineer is necessary, to discuss the band’s intentions for the song:

    • Time signature and tempo for the song (BPM needs to be established)

    • Genre/style of the song (what artists/songs have the song creators referenced during workshops?)

    • Instrumentation (will the Engineer program any instruments, etc.? Will there be live instruments? Will the Producer record anything?)

    • Song arrangement/structure (ie. 8-count intro, verse, chorus…)

  • This meeting must happen before a band’s recording session, but can be arranged as a phone call, or online/in-person meeting

• Three hour recording session (location TBD)

  • Recording sessions will be scheduled in three hour blocks over the weekend of October 24th/25th, within in the hours of 10a and 7p

  • Actual dates and times for each band/Producer will be determined by end of workshop 2 (October 10th); until that date, Producers should keep both days open

• Five hours of outside writing/recording time

  • Between workshops, there may be a need for Producers to review and organize a band’s notes and demos; in order to stay on track for each workshop, Producers might also need to do a bit of writing on their own, to help generate more ideas that they’ll show the band at the next workshop

  • During the pre-production meeting with the Engineer, if it is decided that the Producer will play an instrument on the recording, this outside time might be dedicated to doing that, as the pre-arranged session is reserved for the song creators to record

• Three-hour Listening Party- November 7th (location and time TBD)

  • All families and community members will be invited to our song club “Listening Party,” where each band will get to present their song; Producers are asked to attend and potentially speak to the audience about the songwriting process (but the Program Coordinator will arrange this ahead of time with Producers)

The total time required for Producers is 35 hours, paid at a rate of $30/hour. Producers are required to commit to the entire program, the pay for which totals $1,050, split into two or three payments issued throughout the program.

Working with Bands

Producers will be assigned to work in pairs; each pair is assigned two bands to guide in the songwriting process, which occurs over four Saturday workshops. During the workshops, Producers help bands brainstorm, collaborate and compromise with one another, in line with the provided curriculum. After each workshop, Producers are expected to organize and evaluate the ideas generated, in order to help bands stay on track toward song completion. Depending on each band’s collective abilities and productivity, some amount of outside writing time may be required for the Producer, to ensure that the band’s song is completed by the end of the fourth workshop

Working with Engineers

During the two-hour song club orientation, Producers will be assigned to work with an Engineer, who will be in charge of recording and constructing the tracks for the band’s song. Producers and Engineers will be matched based on their respective abilities, experience and preferences. After each songwriting workshop, Producers are responsible for checking in with their Engineer, to discuss progress and provide the most recent song demo available. It is the job of the Producer to communicate the band’s preferences to the Engineer, in regard to genre, instrumentation, song arrangement, etc. At the end of the fourth workshop, the Producer must provide a final demo and written lyrics for the Engineer.

Recording

Each band will be assigned a recording date and 3-hour time block, which the Producer must attend. *Although Producers may work with two bands, each Producer is only required to attend one of the recording sessions; the paired Producers will decide which Producer will attend which recording session. Producers are expected to have helped the band members decide ahead of time who is tracking which vocal lines. If there are any other musical components that need to be tracked by kids during their three-hour recording session, the Producer is expected to communicate with the Engineer ahead of time. If a Producer will provide instrumentation toward the recording, they are expected to coordinate this with the Engineer; depending on allotted time, the Producer may need to record their own music tracks at a later date/time

All songs produced through spilled milk song club will become part of our catalog, with no individual receiving streaming royalties, etc. If you know anything about the state of the music industry, you are already aware of how unlikely it is for artists to make money off their recorded music. That said…

In the event that one of our song club songs goes viral and gets enough streams to actually generate income, our plan is for all money earned to go back into our community education program, to make sure spilled milk song club canhappen for years to come. In that event, we’ll also reach out to all songmakers and producers who wrote the song; with full transparency about the situation, we’ll happily discuss the possibility of writers getting a fair share of the royalties. There’s no contract that prevents that kind of arrangement from happening down the road, we promise.

Questions? Email Stella, the program coordinator:

stella@spilledmilksocialclub.com

Ready to apply? Get on it!

spilled milk song club glossary of terms:

• song club: a place and time where kids and adults write and record songs together

• producer: musician / singer-songwriter (adult)

• songmaker: one who writes songs (kids)

• band member: interchangeable with songmaker (kids)

• band: group of song creators (kids)

• engineer: musician / sound editor and specialist in recording (adult)

Requirements for Engineers:

• Has experience in a recording setting, with knowledge and understanding of all associated technology

• Has access to a recording studio OR is able to familiarize themselves with the recording studio that spilled milk books for the recording sessions

• Is able to work with song club’s Producers in executing a band’s vision for their song, with a shared understanding of genre, style, and options for song arrangement

• Has experience comping and editing recorded tracks

• Has experience with programming musical instrumentation tracks and/or has the ability to play (or can recruit others to play) live instruments, toward the building of a song

• Has experience mixing 

• Is available to record for the duration of days and times between October 24th and 25th, agreed upon with the Program Coordinator, based on the number of songs the Engineer will work on

• Is able to comp, edit, add instrumentation and mix the number of agreed upon songs between October 25th and November 3, 2026

• Agrees to attend a two-hour orientation with other Producers and Engineers, in advance of the workshops

Time Commitment and Compensation

Potential Engineers for spilled milk song club will be recruited based on a number of factors: connection to a studio that is kid-friendly and centrally located, availability for the established recording dates, and ability to meet all listed requirements. Engineers will be recruited, interviewed and offered a partnership agreement between June 1, 2026 and August 1, 2026. 

Unless an exception is granted by the Program Coordinator, Engineers are required to commit to all of the following:

• Two-hour song club orientation, with Program Coordinators, Producers and Engineers (in person at Cherrywood Center, early September, date TBD)

  • Pay for the two-hour orientation- $30 per hour ($60 total)

• One-hour pre-production meeting with the Producer(s) 

  • Once a song is almost or completely written, a meeting between the Producer and Engineer is necessary, to discuss the band’s intentions for the song:

    • Time signature and tempo for the song (BPM needs to be established)

    • Genre/style of the song (what artists/songs have the song creators referenced during workshops?)

    • Instrumentation (will the Engineer program any instruments, etc.? Will there be live instruments? Do any of the Song Creators plan to record instrumentation?)

      • If the Engineer and Producer agree that the Producer will provide any amount of instrumentation, this needs to be arranged for a date/time outside of the three-hour recording session, unless the song is very short and it’s determined that there will be plenty of time; 

    • Song arrangement/structure (ie. 8-count intro, verse, chorus…)

    • Plan for tracking vocals (The producer should have lyrics with notes about who’s singing what)

  • This meeting must happen before a band’s recording session, but can be arranged as a phone call, or online/in-person meeting

  • The Engineer will be required to have a separate pre-production meeting per band/song

  • Pay for Pre-Production- $50 per song 

• Recording Sessions- Three hours per band/song, in accordance with the number of songs the Engineer has agreed to work on

  • Recording sessions will be scheduled in three hour blocks over the weekend of October 24th/25th, within in the hours of 10a and 7p

  • Actual dates and times for each band will be determined by end of workshop 2 (October 10th); Engineers will work with the Program Coordinator to determine which days/times the Engineer will lead recording sessions

  •  Pay for Recording- $400 per day (This is assuming an Engineer records three bands in one day; if an Engineer agrees to less than three songs, we’ll adjust the pay accordingly)

• Comping and Editing- Six hours per song, $40 per hour

• Instrumentation and Mixing- Eight hours per song, $50 per hour

  • Time and budgeting for outside players (hired session players, the Producer) are built into this time/rate per song

The total time required and subsequent pay for Engineers is determined by the number of songs an Engineer takes on, and by the associated tasks taken on for each song. 

Working with Bands and Producers

During the two-hour song club orientation, Engineers will be assigned the Producers they’ll work with, based on the number of songs they’ve agreed to record. Producers and Engineers will be matched based on their respective abilities, experience and preferences. After each songwriting workshop, Producers are responsible for checking in with their Engineer, to discuss progress and provide the most recent song demo available. Engineers are expected to listen to and/or read any provided notes, to keep up with the progress of each band. 

Toward the end of the songwriting workshops, the Engineer will schedule a call/meeting with each assigned Producer, to discuss each band’s preferences in regard to genre, instrumentation, song arrangement, etc., in advance of recording. This pre-production meeting is essential to developing a recording plan that can be executed in a short period of time.

Recording 

The Engineer will work with the Program Coordinator to determine exactly which dates and times (during the weekend of October 24th and 25th) will be reserved for the Engineer to record the band(s) they’ve agreed to work with. Ideally, an Engineer will sign on to record at least three bands/songs, which is the number of songs budgeted for one full day of recording.

During each three-hour block of recording time, a band will track all their vocal parts (and any agreed-upon instrumentation) under the guidance of their Producer or the Program Coordinator, with the session being run by the Engineer. Once all the Song Creators’ tracks have been recorded, the Engineer will take everything from the session and start the post-production process.

Post-Production

Engineers will organize all the tracks recorded with each band, once all recording sessions have concluded. Between October 25th and November 3rd, Engineers are responsible for dealing with all the post-production elements toward song completion, except for mastering:

• Comping (going through and picking out the best takes from the recording session)

• Editing (quantizing, tuning, eliminating background noise, applying fades, etc.)

• Instrumentation (building all the necessary music tracks, through programming or live recording)

• Mixing (balancing, processing, panning of individual tracks)

Final mixes should be ready to export for mastering no later than November 3rd.

Interested in learning more? Email Stella, the program coordinator:

stella@spilledmilksocialclub.com