Music mastering plays a very significant role in music production, but it’s often being underrated. If you are reading this I suppose you already know what music mastering is.

The rise of online music mastering platforms has slowly changed the way we produce music. Some are not convinced that it can replace a real mixing engineer’s skilled ear, AI mastering has no human touch etc.

Others argue it could have a big impact on the future of the music industry. Many companies like Landr, CloudBounce, Emastered, Majordecibel, do a good job in providing you professional music mastering services.

If you are on a lower budget and looking for an alternative option besides hiring a mastering engineer, tired of doing the mastering yourself every time, then you should pay closer attention to these online music mastering platforms.

We handpicked two companies that we like the most, and further discussed what makes them stand out from the rest.  

1. Landr

Landr is the very first company that offers such online music mastering service. One of the best features I like about it is the reference mastering feature that was added in 2020.

I find it very practical, just like when we are actually doing the mastering ourselves we will most likely have a reference track too, it mimics the workflow of how we master songs. I highly recommend you to give it a try!

There are 3 packages Landr is offering right now (as picture shown below), prices starting from $48/year. If you need to do music mastering very often, consider going for an advanced or pro plan, It could be a good option.

It allows you to master as many songs as you want or do it at a lower price. Adding on to that, Landr also provides music distribution service starting at $20 per year, it’s not included with the music mastering yearly membership.

In case you are interested in knowing more about music distribution, check out this article we wrote about 5 things to consider when choosing a music distributor for your music. 

Pros:

• The unique reference mastering feature
• Fast and easy to use
• Affordable price

Cons:

• No pay as you go option 
• Unlimited mastering in waves file only available with pro membership

（check the official website for latest update）

2. CloudBounce

CloudBounce is an Abbey Road Red alumni company, it provides very advanced, AI-driven cloud based mastering service.

There’s no reference mastering feature like Landr has to offer, but it features a more intuitive mastering setting, allowing you have more options in fine tuning your master, for instance if you want it to be brighter, darker, warmer, etc.

It’s very much like hiring an audio engineer to work with, you give them guidance on how you want your mix to sound, then you request for a second or third revision until you are satisfied with the end result.

If you would like to have more control over your mix might as well give it a try. CloudBounce gives you the option to pay per track or sign up with their monthly or yearly membership for unlimited mastering.

There is also a newly released desktop version that allows you to mix it on your computer, it’s available for active members to download. I first started using the platform with the pay as you go plan, to try out their services then later joining the membership.

I highly recommend the membership plan, with that you will get unlimited professional mastering for a fraction of the cost.

Pros:

• Fast and easy to use
• Affordable price
• Unlimited mastering with membership 
• Very intuitive mastering settings 
• Pay as you go option

Cons:

• No reference mastering feature

（Check out the official website for the latest update）

AI Mastering Plugins and Software 

Cloud based online music mastering services is great but it comes with very limited functions compared to plugins. In this case, you may want to look into AI mastering plugins or software in the market like Izotope and Exonic.

Although it’s much more pricey than subscribing to online music mastering services mentioned above, the pro is that you only pay once and use it for a lifetime. If you are not a big fan of online music mastering services, this could be a good option for you. 

What’s Next?

Landr and CloudBounce are both good companies that provide good mixing in affordable price, don’t just take my words for it, I think you should at least give yourself a try and see if you like it or not.

There will always be new technologies invented everyday, the development of technology is intended to enhance our life or workflow, make things easier and get more jobs done.

I hope you find this article helpful in giving you a better insight. If you like to see more content like this please subscribe to our blog or leave a comment to tell us what you think. Happy Mastering!