In 2014, it’s safe to say that
there is no shortage of subscription services online. You’ve got your Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go for
online TV and movies, Spotify, Napster, and Deezer which are music streaming
services, and you’ve even got subscription services such as TrunkClub which is
a styling subscription service that sends you clothes! There are subscription services everywhere
that do almost anything you can think of that make your life as convenient as
possible but for music consumers, one service has always been lacking. That has been music education.
Apollo-M
is the solution to this lack of music education and is largely funded by one of
the largest companies for music education: LearnToPlayMusic.com. They have
injected over $2 million for their aspirations of helping more people have
access to more knowledge online. The
service is expected to launch around Spring of 2015 and are hoping to attract
one million subscribers within one month.
If this occurred, Apollo-M would be placed among the top twenty “social
and content delivery platforms.” They
claim to have over 35 years of music lesson content in fact. This service is not only for the person just
picking up the guitar but it can also be used by a professional musician
looking to branch out and learn more.
What I think is especially great
about this is how much money you can save.
The subscription costs $5 per month and for this price, you will have
access to any sort of lessons for any sort of instrument you can think of. I remember when I began playing guitar at the
age of 16, I would spend all my cash on my favorite guitarists’ instructional
DVD’s or tablature to learn to play a song that I loved. Just a DVD or Tab book alone could cost $20. If I had this service when I was growing up
and learning, I could have had access to a much larger library of knowledge for
a lower price. Plus, another reason why
they have a leg up on the traditional ways of learning guitar is that they have
what is called: “Apollo-M Interactive Gameplay”, which they claim is the most
advanced learning tool available. I like
this because it has the potential to make something like learning Music Theory
which to many (including myself) can be rigorous and a pain to learn, fun. Not only this, but they are also creating a
social network that can connect you with musicians with similar tastes, connect
music professionals to other music professionals, and to bring together
students and teachers together one on one, live! The only problem that I see here is that in
2014 there are thousands upon thousands of instructional videos, demonstrations,
lessons, and videos on YouTube alone that can all be accessed for free as well
as ways to connect musicians, professions, and student and teachers so it will
be interesting to see how Apollo-M can expand upon this and create something
even better.
Also, because this is a paid
subscription service, I can only image that there might be some sort of
compensation for the teachers who put lessons on this service. This could create revenue for many music
teachers of many genres playing a plethora of different instruments. It isn’t mentioned specifically how the
compensation is going to work but we can hope that contributors can be rewarded
like how a band is paid for streams on Spotify (however little that may be).
The other reason why I think this
is a fantastic idea is because it can help create a brighter future for all the
future musicians. Even though the
industry seems to be shrinking with the drastic decline of record sales, that
doesn’t stop people from either learning to play an instrument just for fun or
to try and create a hit song and tour the world! It can only benefit the business and music in
and of itself having musicians with more knowledge that can really expand their
mind and create something special.
Musicians from across the world that maybe could never afford to have
one on one lessons for $50 per session can access a plethora of content online
for only $5. There is no limit to what
kind of good that this service could do on developing brains. Music has a magical effect on students young
and old showing how beneficial it can be.
According to the latest scientific research, neuropsychologist Nadine
Gaab claims that if you are able to start picking up an instrument earlier in
life, you are more likely to have better reading skills, better math skills,
and overall better learning and comprehension(http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/07/music-language-brain).
All in all, I think that this
service can really benefit a large scale of people and can help to shape
musicians of future. Not only can one
learn a variety of instruments and new genres to expand your playing if you are
new to music or are a professional, but you can also access everything for a
low price. So no one has the excuse not
to learn music for lack of money or lack of resources!
Source: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/apollo-m-brings-netflix-style-080000248.html
