After combining A&R with record producing at Epic until the end of 1982, Werman moved to Elektra Records the following year, but left after four months and continued in producing as an independent;[5] he also worked for a while as an executive at Capitol Records.[3] He retired from the music business in 2001 after producing the music and soundtrack for the film Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.[6]
Critics have sometimes described Werman's production style as too polished for the music. Werman replies that every act he produced officially approved his final mix of each album, at his request. "They love you when they're selling platinum albums. 20 years later they like to blame you for every single thing they were unable to achieve".
In September, 2023, Werman announced that his memoir, entitled "Turn It Up! My Time Making Hit Records In The Glory Days Of Rock Music", will be published on November 21, 2023.