I took Cosmic Academy, Icon, and tons of production classes, here’s my thoughts

I’ve been producing for 10 years, paid for a bunch of video courses, joined some programs (Icon, Cosmic Academy, EDM Tips).

Maybe I can save you some money… Here’s how I see the learning has been split up.

Recorded Video Classes (EDM Tips, Udemy, Kick & Bass):

This can include youtube but a lot of these courses are very reliant on you being self motivated. The information seems great as a beginner typically because they’ll cover a broad spectrum of topics but I felt like I got to a point where I needed more hands-on help. It’s not bad value for a couple hundred bucks typically. I actually took this Udemy course (Complete EDM Production Course), for $30 it’s actually pretty comprehensive for what it is. I like the Udemy platform and previously took a video course on cooking so watching the EDM production course was pretty easy (I didn’t fully finish it though because keeping up with video courses is tough for me). 

Hybrid Classes (Hyperbits, Icon Online):

These ones definitely helped more than just straight video classes. There’s still a lot of videos but there’s also live classes, some of them have one on ones which is a step up from just watching videos. There still is some self motivation and organization required for these, a lot of them have expiration dates on the videos but it’s not bad if you want to spend a couple of grand for more immersive help. I took Icon Online when it was $17k, it was a mix of recorded video lessons+classes, it was fine but I wish it was more personalized with access to teachers. Since it was online I had a hard time keeping up with the pace and the structure of things. I honestly thought because it was “Icon” the program would be more comprehensive but it was a little too textbook and not as practical for the current era of producing in my opinion. 

Full on Live Classes (Cosmic Academy, Icon, Full Sail):

This is what i’ve found to be the most beneficial for me was dedicated live classes where you’re actually working with the instructors. Out of all the programs like this that I took, Cosmic Academy is where I got the most value for the price. They took the concept of live classes to the next level with the personalized help, dissecting what exactly I needed help with not only my music but also the branding side. That’s the one thing Cosmic did better than the other programs like this is they focused on what’s actually needed on both sides, not just production + some fluff. Cosmic’s community is the most robust of any other program i’ve taken. A lot of production schools will market their community as this great thing and it’s usually not that great but I honestly felt like the power of the Cosmic Academy community is something no one else could emulate. I took Icon before Cosmic and I did learn some things that helped but at that price point, it didn’t come close to the value I got from Cosmic Academy. These types of programs are going to be most expensive, most range into 10s of thousands of dollars. Cosmic was under $10k and brought more value than the ones that cost $20k+.

One on One Mentorship (Various Artists/Patreon):

I’ve done a few of these with some artists (during covid a lot of them offered it, a little less common now). These can be super hit or miss because a lot of times the artists only know their way of doing things, which can be valuable to some but doesn’t make sense if that way doesn’t work for you. A lot of them also are just doing this for the money and don’t love teaching so I had a lot of issues scheduling and them cancelling on me but I definitely picked up a few cool tricks, maybe not worth the price point or time though for a few tricks.

These are how I see the main ways to learn music production, hopefully it helps anyone reading this figure out which way is best for them.