'Shallow' & Who is Benjamin Rice?

[Free My Mind 2,208]

I've seen some people say that they don't know who Benjamin Rice is. Well he's the guy that said he was working with gaga a while back and everybody got hyped. As it transpires they were probably working on A Star Is Born. He is credited as producer on two ASIB tracks on the soundtrack 'Shallow' and 'I'll Never Love Again'. However, Ben is usually a recording engineer not a producer - he was a recording engineer on the whole of ARTPOP.

My theory is that he is only listed as a 'producer' on the soundtrack, on songs that are the live version from the film. This is because a 'producer' isn't needed for this, just an engineer to do all the live audio stuff. This is consistent with what we know about 'Shallow'. The version we have is the live one from the film, and is produced by Ben.

Why does it sound different on the trailer? Well, the audio was probably specifically enhanced for the trailer. So don't expect to hear a full version of that 'studio version' imo. I think with the live tracks Gaga wanted to really capture the raw and 'in the moment' feeling. 

This also tells us that 'I'll Never Love Again' will feature on the soundtrack as a live song, with the rest being studio versions.

Of course I don't know anything but this is my personal theory. 

[Chickens in Malibu 7,873]

I disagree. You can clearly hear her using distortion (in her vocals) when singing in the studio version ("watch as I dive in" and "i'll never meet the ground"). Whereas it isn't the case in the live version (she uses no distortion there, that's why they sound less powerful). Listen closely and look for the distortion.