It’s no secret that revenue from album sales is in decline. But necessity is the mother of invention, right? There’s been a trend in the past few years of artists trying creative ways to increase their cut of sales by avoiding paying shares of profits to major retailers like iTunes.
Garth Brooks recently launched his own music download store called GhostTunes. He has released two new albums for around $30 and has his entire catalog of music available for purchase exclusively through the site. He’s hoping other artists will follow suit and “take back” their music.
Only full albums are available for purchase on GhostTunes as an attempt to change consumer shopping habits that often prefer buying just a single. This, along with the extra hurdle of drawing fans away from the established retailers, has led some to criticize the move. Billboard thinks it’ll be a stretch for him to make as much money as he would on the “proven retail model.”
Despite the skepticism of some, the direct-to-fan approach of GhostTunes has paid off for other artists. Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails both have successfully released music on alternative platforms.
Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows allowed fans to pay what they wanted for the album directly through the band’s website. The album ended up topping the Billboard chart, and made more money than their previous album Hail to the Thief before even being physically released a few months later in retail stores.
Nine Inch Nails offered an exclusive “audiophile” master of their album directly through their website for their latest release Hesitation Marks .
The benefits are obvious. Direct-to-fan sales can yield a big payout for artists, as they don’t have to give up a portion of revenues to a retailer. The challenge is that it can also be an uphill battle to get fans to migrate from iTunes.
As album sales will likely continue to decline, it’s not unlikely to expect more artists try their hand at selling music through their own channels. Just last week it was announced that Brad Paisley is launching a web-based TV channel.
It's too early to say whether a direct-to-fan sales model will become a viable option for big artists. But if anyone can pull it off, it’s the third best selling act in U.S. history.
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 >
