The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) published their annual Digital Music Report in March, demonstrating how the music industry is adapting to the digital world. Among other trends, it confirms the rise of subscription services and their contribution to the overall digital revenue stream.
The U.S. market made $5.9 billion this past year with 39% of that being revenues from digital sales. The overall growth of the U.S. market was 4.3%. Streaming revenues alone rose a remarkable 51.3% with 28 million subscribers worldwide. However, digital downloads still represented two thirds of the total digital revenue.
Other highlights from the Digital Music Report include:
- How the digital landscape affects copyright and the rights of artists’ work;
- How downloads and physical formats remain important;
- The income growth of performance rights; and,
- The potential of emerging markets who saw huge increases in their digital revenue (Argentina +69%, Peru +149%, South Africa +107%, and Venezuela +85%).
There’s also a list of the most popular artists and songs of the year, compiled from every digital platform. The top spot went to One Direction, a talentless boy band from the UK.
In addition to their annual report IFPI puts out other reports like the Recording Industry in Numbers, which statistically describes consumer behavior, market trends (specifically how digital revenue the largest source of income for artists), and digital service innovations. According to IFPI CEO Frances Moore, the Chinese market is ready to be tapped and “there is a pioneering spirit among record companies as they expand into these new territories.”
The IFPI is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland and represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. Some of their work includes working towards better legal protection for music markets, growing performance rights revenues, mitigating music piracy, and providing market research to the industry.
With the rapid changes taking place in today's music industry, you can’t be too informed about the evolving landscape of revenue streams, demographics, new potential markets, and mediums to release your music. Check these reports out, they’re worth your time.
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There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
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4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
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5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
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6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
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