Contrive to record backing (4)
I believe the answer is:
plot
'contrive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'to record backing' is the wordplay.
'record' becomes 'lp' (LP is an example).
'backing' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'to'+'lp'='tolp'
'tolp' in reverse letter order is 'PLOT'.
(Other definitions for plot that I've seen before include "Film story; graph" , "Gunpowder, for one" , "Scheme, story and piece of ground" , "Novel story - secret plan" , "Storyline or piece of land" .)