There’s a short list of artist that aren’t available on subscription streaming music services, including Garth Brooks, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and, most notably, the Beatles. However, one of the groups on that list the Eagles has made its music available on services including Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody.
One thing you’ll notice about the list is that artists on it are among the best-selling artists of all time; artists that will likely continue to sell records regardless of whether their work is on the services or not. So it is becomes newsworthy whenever any of them allow their music on the services.
Who will be next remains to be seen -- the Beatles were famous holdouts from the iTunes Store, in part because of a very long struggle with Apple over the brand name, but eventually allowed their music to be downloaded. However, they still haven’t said yes to streaming services, and have made no indication that they plan to. Brooks is one of the few artists that doesn’t put his music in digital stores or streaming service, and since he owns his masters it is likely up to him alone if he ever decides to.
Just One Way of Expanding the Digital Music Audience
Certainly the digital music audience is growing, which is why these artists are allowing their music to be streamed. However, another reason these artists are able to hold out as long as they have is because their audience skews older, meaning that the audience is less likely on the whole to consume digital music. Startup internet radio app Songza is looking to challenge this idea. Being an internet radio service, Songza functions differently than on-demand streaming services and also has different royalty rates to pay.
Songza has partnered with HSN, Inc. to target an older, female audience (HSN previously stood for Home Shopping Network). Songza serves premade, themed playlists, and part of the new agreement would be to have the service create playlists around HSN’s shopping themes. Billboard gives the example that a playlist for a summer clothing and jewelry promotion may be paired with a playlist including Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” and the Go-Go’s “Vacation.”
The Billboard article also notes that eight out of 10 HSN shoppers are women, and that the average online shopper with the company is 52-years-old. While this is just one example of the expanding reach of digital music, it will be interesting to see what other kind of deals bring services like Songza into parts of the mainstream they have never been before.
Internet Radio on Gaming Systems
Finally, another sign of the growing digital culture is that Microsoft announced a new radio feature for Xbox Music. The latter service has been around for some time now, and the new radio service will essentially add a Pandora- or Songza-like functionality to the streaming service, allowing users to build personalized radio stations. Xbox Music has been slow to catch on, so it will be interesting to see if this provides the push needed to attract more active users.
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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- 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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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.
- 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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
