After months of promising that it was coming soon, Apple finally officially released iTunes Radio streaming service along with the release of iTunes 11 and iOS 7. As we’ve written before, the new service has much in common with Pandora, though it has been interesting to see how a digital music industry giant like Apple could distinguish itself amongst streaming services. We now have a better idea of exactly what the service is, but not necessarily how that distinction will be made.
Concerning User Experience, iTunes Radio is Not Very Different than Pandora
We reported that early accounts of iTunes Radio seemed to describe a service very similar to what Pandora already offers. This includes the ability to create your own stations of different music types, as well as the option of choosing from previously curated stations. Additionally, the service learns your preferences the more you listen, and gives you the familiar option to approve (“Play More Like This”) or disapprove songs (“Never Play This Song”) that will help determine what songs you hear.
And after using the new service, the preliminary reports are confirmed that the service is very similar to Pandora, as far as user experience goes. But Apple does has two real advantages:
- Tying the service to iTunes brings in a built-in audience. This audience may be new to internet radio, or they may switch over from Pandora. This will also be encouraged by the inclusion of iTunes Radio being built in to all mobile devices running iOS 7. Certainly, this all gives Apple ample room to scale its new service.
- With the service tied to the iTunes Store, users can seamlessly purchase a download of a song they hear on the streaming service, helping Apple succeed across its digital music offerings.
Will this be enough to bring in users? Time will tell, but advertisers and the music industry appear to think it will, which is where Apple’s real advantages lie.
The Real Advantage for Apple is Behind the Scenes
Pandora is currently (and seemingly forever) tied up in court cases over the compulsory licenses used to legally cover the streaming of songs on the service. Record industry folks and musicians alike are consistently bemoaning this practice as unfair to nearly everyone involved. Whether it is or not, and whether this can be a sustainable way for artists to make money in the long run is unclear, but Apple went another direction.
As we reported in the previous article, Apple secured deals with all the major labels to license the music it pays. And reportedly the labels also will get a cut of the advertising on the site, which it can be assumed will go a long way in drawing label support to Apple, particularly since most are already unhappy with the way Pandora operates.
And that advertising is the second great behind-the-scenes advantage for Apple. Ad Age reports that several big brands including Pepsi have spent nearly $10 million to advertise on the service. Clearly they believe the service has a significant chance of challenging the stronghold Pandora currently has on the market, though of course time will tell who will be the big winner.
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.
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.
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