In our previous post, we shared three tips for making money in today’s digital music age. Here, we have two more tips to help you make the most of the opportunities that are out there.
Specialty Products
The trends indicate that fans are buying less and less downloads of music, preferring to use streaming services. Even if you’re able to sell your MP3s through iTunes, however, it doesn't always add up to a lot of money. Because of this, many artists have resorted to selling their music in specialty formats.
Many new albums can now be purchased on vinyl with full, and sometimes exclusive, album art. Likewise, some artists have opted to sell their music directly as an HD digital download. Both formats cater to an audiophile audience that is willing to pay more for the best possible listening experience. Such products also have greater profit margins, as they are often sold directly from the artist’s website.
If you’re not offering some specialty products to incite fans to purchase from your website directly, you may be missing out on a profitable income stream from your already existing music.
Live Performances
Unless you’re a wedding DJ, live performances represent the sector of the music industry least affected by the digital, Internet age. Most fans still believe that there’s still no better way to experience their favorite artists’ music than at a live show. And they’re still willing to pay for it.
Some bands have actually started seeing tours and live performances as their primary income stream and view their recordings as marketing materials for the tour. Of course, they still make money from recordings, but the cash cow of their business plan is performing.
The most important thing for staying profitable in the industry is to stay flexible. You have to treat your music as a business with an entrepreneurial spirit. Almost daily, there are new platforms and resources to discover that provide a new income stream for your music. And, what worked one year may not work the next. Don't ever get too committed to one way of making music or one way of selling it. Produce a lot of content and follow what sells.
Make Pro Songs
There are 6 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. 20 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 20 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.
2. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can quickly improve your mixes fast.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide you with feedback about what you can improve first before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
3. 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.
4. Sage Audio Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers that can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, discussions, mix competitions, networking, collaborations, and more.
5. 700+ In-depth Sage Audio Mixing and Mastering Videos
- 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.
6. 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).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.