While Pro Tools has long dominated the professional music world, it only ranked third on a recent graph compiled by Digital Music Doctor that charts the most popular DAWs in the world based upon Internet searches and social media mentions.
Topping the list is the PC-based beat making software FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops). With the explosion of EDM in recent years, it’s no surprise that Ableton Live is in second with Pro Tools finally coming in third.
The results of the graph may be hinting at a trend of newer digital audio workstation software grabbing a bigger share of the market. While Pro Tools is still the industry standard, many other DAWs now offer similar or better functionality and professional production quality.
As new artists and producers discover more powerful music production software for mixing and mastering at a smaller cost, it’s likely that newer programs will continue to capture a stronger share of the market. As for now, though, most professional studios are using Pro Tools. So, having at least a fundamental knowledge of Pro Tools can be an asset for collaborating with other artists and producers, as well as mastering studios.
If you’re looking to purchase a new DAW, we recommend first determining what functions you’re going to need most. While most of today’s DAWs offer a good range of functionality, many of them favor one set of features over another. Logic and Cubase, for example, are considered to be some of the best for MIDI programming. Pro Tools and Nuendo are great for audio production. Also Ableton Live and FL Studio are optimal for working with loops and making beats, which seems to be the buzz online these days.
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.