Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop doing it wrong. Send your problems to her -- confidentiality is assured, unless you want to use your drama as a ticket to Internet microfame. 
Fan- Say there is a producer the band admires--around the Mike Mogis level--or perhaps someone in a band we think we would be a good producer because it turns out she arranges all the songs in her own band despite not being the leader, or has an amazing ear for harmonies, or what have you. But we don't know them. What's the best way to ask them to produce our next record? Obviously we'd send them music, live videos, whatever they need to assess the situation. But is it fine to reach out to someone you admire, or completely arrogant/ignorant to assume they'd give a stranger the time of day, especially if they're in the middle of a successful career themselves? And if they've never produced before, when should money come up? Sam
Sam, Producers who are on a Mogis-level, which is to say a solidly namebrand, mid-echelon producer associated with successful artists, sometimes have a manager who handles their career that you need to work through as far as gauging whether their availability and fee is going to work for you. Some folks have a website, or you may have to contact them through a studio where they normally work or network through another band or connection.
When approaching an artist, it's best to go direct if you can--email them, try to meet them at a show. I asked Britt Daniel of Spoon, who gets approached by smaller bands fairly often, what has worked and he suggested that you do whatever you can to charm the artist directly. "Their manager may not think that producing another band is worth their time and may not even forward the request." Once you have reeled them in and piqued their interest, "then you talk about money. If you lay out what you can afford right away it could be a turn off. Also, once they are interested, they might be more flexible about their fee." He also suggested that if you don't have enough money for an album now, to see if they want to produce a single. At the very least it could pave the way for a working relationship.
Before you get to that point, you need to make sure you have your money-ducks in a row. If you have a studio in your city in mind, how many days can you afford? If the producer only works at a certain studio, how many days can you afford there? Consider that you may have to pay for a place to stay, pay for gas, food, after-session drinks, your producers weed deliveries--these are the hidden costs of making an album.
