When it comes to streaming services covered in digital music news, things are typically divided into two categories: on-demand streaming like Spotify and Rdio, and internet radio like Pandora, iTunes Radio and Songza. However, that certainly doesn't mean that these types of sites are the only way to find and listen to music online.
A new interesting service that has popped up recently is Upbeat, a community where new music is shared by a user and then other users vote the songs up or down to the top (or bottom) of the forum. If you've ever used Reddit or Hacker News, the process works very similarly to those communities.
A Different Way to Discover Music
All the internet radio services listed above have features that play songs based on your listening history and feedback. And while these are great ways to find music that you’ll likely be interested in, that doesn't mean that it’s always the best way to discover new bands and songs.
Upbeat can be a great addition to your digital music library, particularly if you have eclectic taste in music and/or like to find bands on the cusp of success or outside the mainstream. The format also inherently provides interaction with a community that can lead to even further exploration.
How Upbeat Works
The way the service works is dead simple, including how you post and listen to songs. The service is tied to SoundCloud, so essentially to post a song you search SoundCloud until you find it, and then it will be posted to Upbeat automatically. From there, you can play posted songs directly from your browser, and you also can play from directly from the mobile site. For every song you listen to you’ll have the option to visit the SoundCloud page, post the song to Twitter or buy from Amazon.
As mentioned before, users on the site opt to up vote a shared song, down vote it or do nothing at all. This determines the song’s placement in the order of the site, with the songs getting the most up votes rising to the top. You can sort your list by genre (Pop, Electronic, Urban, Rock or Metal) or you can get a list that includes all categories. In addition to voting on the songs, users also can comment on the songs that are playing.
The appeal to independent artists, of course, is that assuming your music gets noticed by the community, you can create an entirely new place to find fans. Landing that initial notice, however, is a bit easier said than done - just like any online music marketing.
No (Apparent) Legal Issues
Another thing that separates Upbeat from other internet streaming service is that it would seem they have no hurdles to clear to ensure that all the songs can be legally streamed on the site. Since all the songs are hosted on SoundCloud, Upbeat essentially just acts as a middleman facilitating music discovery.
Or, as Upbeat puts it: “Upbeat is the internet’s music charts, a place where you can find new and popular songs voted on by the 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 >
