A new report shows that 75 percent of European consumers “expressed either willingness or interest in paying for” online music streaming services.
The news comes from a new report by the streaming services WiMP, which currently is available in Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Understandably, the survey only took answers from music consumers in those five countries, but the signs that more people are willing to pay for online streaming music is a good sign for the new music model around the world.
In all of those countries except for Sweden, those “willing” to pay for subscription services has risen since last year. In Norway, 48 percent of music consumers say they are willing to pay, versus 33 percent that said the same last year. In Denmark the percentage more than doubled, from 14 percent to 30 percent, and in Germany those willing to pay increased from 25 percent to 28 percent. Poland was not included in the survey last year.
Those willing to pay in Sweden, however, dropped from 36 percent last year to 33 percent, though those three percentage points fall within the margin of error for the survey.
Additionally, the report also shows that more people plan to stream music in the coming year, and less plan to listen to CDs. And while most of this may not come as surprising news, it does clearly indicate that the future of music is digital, and that there are still many questions as to how both artists and labels will make money in the coming years.
For example, the study entirely eschews the question of how much consumers are willing to pay for subscriptions. In the U.S., prices tend to be in the $5-$10 per month range. For example, Spotify offers three models, a free, ad-supported model, an ad-free desktop model for $4.99 per month and a mobile and desktop option for $9.99 per month. Most of the other bigger streaming services in the country offer similar rates.
But Spotify revealed earlier this year that its paid subscribers is a fairly small percentage of its total user base. In March, the service’s CEO Daniel Ek revealed the service had six million paid subscribers around the world, and 24 million total subscribers. Still, the service reports that paid subscriptions are growing, and that it added one million paid users in a recent three month period, which would support the findings of the WiMP report.
However, these are early trends, and it will be interesting to see where the digital streaming industry goes from here and if this growth trend will continue. But more than that, it again highlights the importance of how these services pay artists, and if it can become an economically viable model for all involved parties.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding 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 each course.
- Each SAU course includes 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 and social channels.
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2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
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- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
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4. 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 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 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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5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
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- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
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7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily 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 skills at your own pace.
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