Hidden Gem: “Drinkin’ Songs” from MacKenzie Porter was a hit in Canada, but hasn’t resonated yet in the lower 48. Signature Sound: Moi’s unpretentious productions are often big and loud and wide open, unafraid to combine rock, hip-hop and country styles in a way that has redefined country music over the last decade and invites all listeners.ĭefining Work: Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” introduced the world to Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, and is considered ground zero for the Bro-Country sub-genre that celebrates simple pleasures set to an uplifting, easy-going sound that blends country, rock and hip-hop rhythms. NOLAN FEENEYĪssociated Artists: Florida Georgia Line, Morgan Wallen, Nickelback Hidden Gem: The unimpeachable suite of dance tracks he co-produced for Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - including the underrated “Whip It” and “Automatic” - are basically the best Britney Spears songs that Britney never recorded. Signature Sound: Steamrolling club beats and whooshing synthesizers that sound like they’re beaming you up into a glittery, alien disco.ĭefining Work: Gaga put his name on everybody’s lips with “Just Dance” - “Oh Red Ooooone” - but “Bad Romance” remains the pinnacle of their freak-pop concoctions. Here are our choices for the 50 greatest.Īssociated Artists: Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj Many of them continue to push the envelope every time their fingers grace their studio consoles - and a special few of them have been doing so consistently since the ball dropped on 2000. Still, the producers who have made the cut all have bodies of work that speak for themselves, shaping the sound of popular music domestically and abroad.

And while we tried to make our list as inclusive and wide-ranging as possible, we have to acknowledge that women in particular are still woefully underrepresented - while men who’ve been accused of abusing their power are unfortunately overrepresented - a sad reflection of a corner of the industry that, despite some great strides in recent years, remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, particularly at its highest levels.

League, Dave Sitek, Markus Dravs, Jon Brion, Jake Sinclair, Danger Mouse, Calvin Harris, Butch Walker, Hit-Boy, No I.D., Skrillex, Lex Luger, Will Yip, J Dilla, Salaam Remi, Catherine Marks, Ryan Tedder, Watt, Finneas, David Guetta, Polow da Don and Omer Fedi. It was tough enough to to keep the list down to 50, and some names responsible for incredible bodies of 21st century work didn’t make the cut - including (but certainly not limited to) Bangladesh, T-Bone Burnett, Scott Storch, Jeff Bhasker, Patrick Berger, Mike Elizondo, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Jack Antonoff on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Producers

Cranes in the sky genius