Apple is in the works to release a new music format to try and spur digital album sales. In an interview with TIME , U2 frontman Bono said he “hopes that a new digital music format in the works [with Apple] will prove so irresistibly exciting to music fans that it will tempt them again into buying music.”
In typical Apple fashion, no further details about the format have been released, but such a service couldn’t be timelier. Album sales have been dropping significantly in the past couple of years, largely due to the proliferation of streaming services like Spotify and Pandora.
Bono told Billboard that fans can expect, “an audiovisual interactive format for music that can’t be pirated and will bring back album artwork in the most powerful way, where you can play with the lyrics and get behind the songs when you’re sitting on the subway with your iPad or on these big flat screens. You can see photography like you’ve never seen it before."
TIME wrote about Apple’s new service mentioning it would “help less well known artists and others in the industry who can’t make money from live performance.”
Apple acquired Beats, the high-end consumer audio brand and streaming service, in May of this year on the heels of a lackluster iTunes Radio rollout. Since then, their plans for the Beats Music streaming service have remained unclear. Earlier this week Apple refuted rumors that it would be shutting down the service.
While iTunes is still the dominant digital music retailer, digital music sales overall have been in sharp decline lately. Streaming services have been growing rapidly. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said last month that he’s “100% sold on music subscription.”
With the recent rise of audiophile formats like vinyl and forthcoming HD digital devices like Pono and Geek Wave, it’s not hard to imagine Apple implementing a high-fidelity streaming service to compliment the Beats brand of audio quality. None of the major streaming services in the U.S. offer anything better than MP3 format currently.
Another possibility would be an app format of albums. Norwegian pop artist Jarie Bernhoft, released his album in iOS app format earlier this year. The app featured exclusive pictures and a remixing interface for fans.
Whatever Apple’s new format is, if it gets fans back to purchasing more albums, it’s good news for artists and producers.
Make Pro Songs
There are 6 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 20 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 20 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll 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 Sage Audio 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.
2. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can quickly improve your mixes fast.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide you with feedback about what you can improve first before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
3. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time 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 every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include 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, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
4. Sage Audio Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers that can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, discussions, mix competitions, networking, collaborations, and more.
5. 700+ In-depth Sage Audio Mixing and Mastering Videos
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can 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 mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 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).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.