Always wanted to learn an instrument?

"Then you need to check out this start-up that's revolutionising music lessons." continues The Canberra Times.

Aussie music education innovator LearnToPlayMusic is taking on Silicon Valley with the upcoming launch of Apollo-M, a subscription-based "all-you-can-eat" music lessons and social media platform for budding musicians.

Taking inspiration from subscription successes Netflix, Spotify and Oyster, the ambitiously named Apollo-M will offer unlimited eBook, video and audio music lessons, podcasts, web TV shows, sheet music and documentaries about learning and playing popular instruments across multiple styles, age groups and experience levels.

I could see everything was going digital and to keep up with the market we needed to go the way of subscription-based systems. 

Entrepreneur: Gary Turner is taking on Silicon Valley.

The $2 million investment is the brainchild of LearnToPlayMusic CEO Gary Turner, who co-founded the company in 1979 as Koala Music Publications. Since inception, guitarist Turner has overseen the publication of more than 450 titles including the Progressive Guitar Method Book, which sold over 6 million copies.

With a firm eye for market trends, Turner decided to go digital, spending the last two years developing a library of more than 10,000 e-lessons.

"We're essentially small music education publishers but I could see everything was going digital and knew that to keep up with the market we needed to go the way of subscription-based systems like Netflix," says Adelaide-based Turner.

Admitting the switch from paper to online has been a "huge and difficult learning curve", Turner engaged software engineers in India and Europe to create content, as well as sourcing it from American providers.

Rather than the standard subscription price of about $10 per month, Turner decided to edge out  larger competitors with a flat $4.95 monthly fee.

"Apollo-M really is the next evolution in music learning, teaching and playing, and we want everyone in the music community to have the opportunity to be involved and share in the rewards," Turner says.

In a bid to attract music professionals, Apollo-M will offer free subscription accounts to music publishers, teachers and schools who use the platform as a teaching tool, or distribute their original music lesson and related content through Apollo-M's Payperview Revenue Program.
Read more...

Source: The Canberra Times