MasterClass

What is MasterClass

MasterClass is the streaming platform that makes it possible for anyone to watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 100+ of the world’s best.

Whether it be in business and leadership, photography, cooking, writing, acting, music, sports and more, MasterClass delivers a world class online learning experience. Video lessons are available anytime, anywhere on your smartphone, personal computer, Apple TV and FireTV streaming media players.

Feature

FE – MasterClass – $180

• Get 100+ classes across 9 categories.
• Download and watch offline
• PDF workbooks for every class
• Watch on desktop, phone, or TV
• New classes added every month

What Makes MasterClass Different?

• MasterClass has two defining characteristics that set it apart from any other online learning system.
• First is the talent. MasterClass recruits A-listers as its instructors. Steve Martin teaches comedy. Natalie Portman teaches acting. Serena Williams teaches tennis. Frank Gehry teaches design and architecture. It’s an awe-inspiring lineup.
• Second, the classes are supremely high quality in both production value and course composition. You can tell the team at MasterClass spends significant time working with the instructors to create an outline and sequence for each course so you, the learner, get the right information at the right time. Concepts build on one another. For example, you can’t learn to blanch vegetables without first getting acquainted with the tools of the kitchen. The quality of the sets, lighting, and audio are equally high. When Christina Aguilera teaches you how to use different microphones while singing, you can hear every example she makes with the mics without losing your grasp on her normal speaking voice when she’s explaining what she’s doing.
• Compared with other online learning sites, MasterClass has fewer courses and a limited range of topics, though courses often are much longer and more in-depth than what you get elsewhere. Skillshare, for instance, covers practically any skill you can think of. It also has recruited a few big names, like Ashley C. Ford on personal essays and Mary Karr on memoir writing. On Skillshare, you can also find people who teach much more specific or niche skills, say, how to increase your presence as an Etsy seller or how to draw succulents and cacti. That said, there’s no uniformity in the quality, length, or structure of the class.

What (and Who) Is Inside MasterClass?

Inside MasterClass are eleven categories:

• Arts and Entertainment
• Home and Lifestyle
• Music
• Business
• Writing
• Food
• Design and Style
• Sports and Gaming
• Community and Government
• Wellness
• Science and Tech

Some sections have a slim roster of courses. As of this writing, the Science and Tech category has just five. Community and Government was light not long ago but has been growing steadily, now with courses by Malala Yousafzai, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Cornel West, and others. Some courses are booked in more than one category. For example, all the Food courses are also listed in Home and Lifestyle.

The catalog showcases people at the top of their fields and as mentioned earlier, is better now at recognizing women and people of color than at the time when MasterClass first debuted. Simone Biles is the face of expertise in gymnastics, as she rightly deserves to be. LeVar Burton teaches The Power of Storytelling. Timbaland has a course on music production and beat-making. Niki Nakayama explains the depths of modern Japanese cooking.

MasterClass Pros

• A-list celebrity instructors
• Supremely high production values in videos
• Well-thought-out course structure
• Great breadth of topics