We've focused quite a bit of time on the Sage Audio mastering blog writing about marketing tactics independent artists can use to get their music heard by a more widespread audience. The subject has become increasingly more interesting in the past decade or so as the internet becomes more important in not only the marketing of independent music artists, but also the world of marketing and advertising in general.
Jay-Z’s Novel New Strategy for Magna Carta Holy Grail
That said, as one of the biggest artists in the world, Jay-Z may be the exact opposite of an independent artist. But the marketing strategy for his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail , is worth taking a look at by anyone in the music industry for its novel approach to not only marketing, but also album sales.
For instance, Jay has guaranteed himself one million sales in the first week of the album’s release , something that has never been done before. To do this, he partnered with Samsung, which has offered one million of its customers the opportunity to download an interactive Jay-Z mobile app that will allow them to download a free copy of the album before it is officially released.
It should be mentioned that news of this partnership and news of the album itself comes within a month of the album’s release date. Like his Watch the Throne partner Kanye West, Jay-Z is announcing the album near the actual release date to help combat leaking.
Do the Sales Count?
The album was initially announced during halftime at this year’s NBA Finals, and the following day Jay-Z tweeted a question many in the music industry had been asking.
"If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard doesn’t report it, did it happen? Ha. #newrules #magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!! VII IV XIII," he wrote.
It turns out Billboard will not count the one million album sales. The editorial director of the magazine, Bill Werde, said that "in the context of this promotion, nothing is actually for sale." He went on to say that the "ever-visionary Jay Z pulled the nifty coup of getting paid as if he had a platinum album before one fan bought a single copy."
Of course, the number of sales doesn’t really matter. The album will debut in the number one spot on Billboard anyway, and the more important point is that artists are moving albums with no traditional distribution involved at all.
Will this Change Anything in the Music Industry?
The Samsung-Jay-Z partnership is being much hyped in the music industry, almost like the Radiohead “pay-what-you-want” release of In Rainbows back in 2007. After all, the Jay-Z/Samsung partnership is estimated to be worth around $30 million.
But like Radiohead’s strategy, it is not likely that anything in the industry will change overnight. However, more important is the indication of change. If the partnership proves to be a successful business move, it will get other artists on a large and small scale thinking about other ways to promote and sell their albums. And perhaps actual sales of the album will become less of a focus.
On another note, how good of an idea tying albums and artists more closely with corporate sponsors will be left up to each artist.
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.
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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.
- 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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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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