Masterclass Statistics 2023: All You Need To Know

MasterClass is a real up-and-comer in the world of online learning. The world of eLearning is becoming ever-popular due to its flexible hours.

Life is so much more fast-paced than it has ever been before, time is limited and of the essence, and because of this students’ needs are changing, and learning platforms are having to adapt to these needs.

For example, a full-time working mom who wants to develop a new skill may only be able to do so late at night once the kids are asleep. So she needs a course that she can return to on her own time schedule.

She doesn’t have the opportunity to attend in-person popular classes. Enter eLearning. 

There are many different options available for online courses now, as the market becomes rather saturated. But one of the most popular options is unarguably MasterClass.

The platform’s popularity is on a forward trajectory that only continues to grow in numbers day by day. If you are looking for a trusty and reliable online course, then you can’t go wrong with MasterClass. 

But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. Throughout this article, I’ve compiled tons of different statistics about the platform, and let me say this, these statistics speak for themselves.

So if I can’t convince you to jump straight to the MasterClass Website to enroll for a course then I’ll let the numbers do the talking. 

What Are MasterClass Statistics?

So before I jump straight into the nitty gritty and start throwing all manner of words and numbers at you, let’s take a moment to discuss what these statistics actually are and where they come from. 

Each and every company collects its own list of data science to evaluate how the company is fairing. You’ll find this in all sectors of business, from fast food to beauty salons, to eLearning platforms.

Without collecting this data or these accurate statistics, there are no values to look at to show how the company is growing. Fast food companies may have statistics based on stock levels and profits while beauty salons may focus more on new clients. 

For eLearning platforms, the key areas you’ll want to collect data for our website traffic, the number of hits, keyword searches, and ranking on the search engine (eg. where you appear on Google.) That’s not all, either.

There are many other areas where you will want to collect data about statistical methods, but you’ll see them in more detail later. 

These statistics are not hard to find providing you know where to look for them. And throughout this article, I have collected all the relevant information you’ll want to know and placed it all together in one place. 

Company Overview

I promise that we’ll get to those statistics soon. But I just wanted to add a little overview of the company for those who may not be well acquainted with the platform. 

MasterClass was founded by Aaron Rasmussen and David Rogier in 2015. Initially, the site was somewhat small, but it has expanded in size throughout the years.

MasterClass is now home to upwards of 500 employees, and if it continues to grow as it is currently, I am confident that that number will continue to rise (see also ‘How Many Employees Does Masterclass Have?‘). 

Not only does MasterClass offer a wide variety of courses, but some of these courses are instructed by some pretty familiar faces. Yep, and we’re talking famous-famous.

Like A-grade celebrity status. To name just a few you can expect to see the likes of Christina Aguilera, Gordon Ramsay, Deadmau5, Garry Kasparov, and Neil Gaiman. 

The platform is renowned for its unique teaching styles that include audio files, workshops, and workbooks. MasterClass (see also ‘How Long Is A Masterclass Free Trial?‘) is changing the way we view online learning platforms and students are going crazy for it. 

MasterClass Statistics

And we’re here! It’s time to be surprised by some seriously impressive statistics! Are you ready? Okay then, let’s get started! 

Class Stats

• 30,000 Students In A Matter Of Months – In the first few months that MasterClass made its debut, a whopping 30,000 students across the globe had already enrolled in classes. This many signed-up students in such a short space of time is incredibly impressive. In fact, this statistic makes MasterClass one of the quickest-growing eLearning mediums! 
• Over 100 MasterClasses In A Range Of Categories – As MasterClass began, they had not yet amassed the multitude of instructors it has now. That did not deter the platform, though, from still providing tons of classes in a whole host of different categories. 
• The Longest MasterClass Is 8 Hours Long –  The current record for the longest master class is currently Chris Hadfield’s class which takes around 8 hours to fully complete. 
• The Shortest Class is 1 Hour 40 Minutes Long – If you’re looking for a short and sweet course, then you’ll want to check out the record shortest MasterClass which is held by none other than Tony Hawk. 
• The Most Famous Masterclass Classes Are Held By Anna Wintour/Chris Voss – The two most famous of taking MasterClass courses that you can take are that of Vogue’s Editor-In-Chief, Anna Wintour. And Black Swan Group Ltd’s CEO Chris Voss. 
• The Pandemic Raised Courses By 1000% – As people were confined to their homes, many took up the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skill set. This can be seen in the 1000% raise in courses on MasterClass. 
• 50 New Courses + New Celebrities –  MasterClass has confirmed that another 50 classes hosted by a whole new set of A-listers are on their way to the platform. 

Finance Stats

• $1.9 Million Start-Up –  To make this platform the best it could be a whopping 1.9 million dollars was invested/funded by Harrison Metals when the website launched in 2015. 
• MasterClass Growth – If you thought 1.9 million was a lot, as the platform increased in popularity further funding was needed. This amounted to approximately 475 million dollars. 
• MasterClass Valuation – All that funding was certainly worth it though because as a result MasterClass’ value tripled to an impressive 2.75 billion dollars. 
• Pandemic Doubling – During the pandemic MasterClass doubled in sales.
• All Access Pass –  MasterClass used to provide a single course-only plan for students who wished to complete one specific course. However, this option has now been scrapped, and to complete any of the courses you’ll now need to purchase their $180 annual subscription. 
• Subscriptions Accounted For 80%-100% Of Revenue – In 2018, these subscription fees accounted for 80% of the revenue amassed by MasterClass, as of now 100% of all revenue comes from annual subscriptions. 

Most Participated Courses

While there are some very popular courses hosted by some very famous celebrities, not every course has gone down a storm. We’ve curated a list of the creme de le creme in terms of MasterClass courses.

If you’re looking for a course to take then you may want to consider one of the most popular courses on the platform. Below you’ll find the top 10 most participated courses.

1. Gordon Ramsay ‘teaches cooking’ 
2. Neil Gaiman ‘teaches the Art of Storytelling’ 
3. Hans Zimmer ‘teaches Film Scoring’ 
4. Neil deGrasse Tyson ‘teaches Scientific Thinking & Communication’ 
5. Chriss Voss ‘teaches the Art of Negotiation’ 
6. Deadmau5 ‘teaches Electronic Music Production’ 
7. Timbaland ‘teaches Producing and Beatmaking’ 
8. Aaron Sorkin ‘teaches Screenwriting’ 
9. David Lynch ‘teaches Creativity & Film’ 
10. Wener Herzog ‘teaches Filmmaking’ 

The one thing that we can deduce from this list is that the arts are massively popular on MasterClass. If you are looking to get your creative juices flowing, then MasterClass is clearly a great option. And who better to teach you than leaders in the industry? 

Website Traffic Stats

• 2.5 Million Organic Keyword Searches – MasterClass users have had over 2 million organic keyword searches which in turn has resulted in a number of 4.5 million organic traffic direct to their platform. 
• Website Traffic Is Worth 2.4 million dollars –  The masterclass traffic of the website is so great that is currently valued at a whopping 2.4 million dollars. 
• Over 10 Million Monthly Visitors – On average per month, around 10 million people will visit the MasterClass website. 
• 60% Of Traffic Comes From Search Engines – 60% of all monthly traffic comes from students finding the site through search engines such as Google or Bing. 
• Us, Uk & Canada – The most traffic for the website comes from these three countries. The USA accounts for 47% of all traffic, while both the United Kingdom and Canada account for 6% each. 

Average Stats Of MasterClass

• Average of 100+ Courses – On average MasterClass offers over 100 different courses that you can enroll in. There is a wide range of courses available all of which are hosted by famous faces. 
• Average of 22 Lessons – For each course that you enroll in, you can expect to participate in an average of around 20-22 lessons. 
• Average of 15-20 Minutes Per Lesson – For each of those 20-22 lessons, you can expect them to be approximately 15-20 minutes in length. 
• Average of 4-5 Hours Per Course – Each MasterClass, course, that you enroll in should take approximately 4-5 hours to fully complete. 

MasterClass Pros & Cons

So, as with all things, there are some major advantages to using MasterClass but there are also some disadvantages to the platform too.

What we will do now, is go over what these advantages and disadvantages are so that you can see if MasterClass is the perfect fit for you or now. 

Pro – Affordable

The initial $180 annual feel may look and feel as if it may be a bit of a sting to your wallet, however when you actually break it down it’s only $15 per month. I don’t know about you but I can easily spend more than $15 on one or two iced coffees a week, let alone a month.

So $15 a month for unlimited resources to education taught by famous faces that are the leaders in their industry, it’s actually quite affordable and cheap. Keep in mind that there are loads of courses available to you too.

So overall, I think this is a very decent and reasonable price for what is on offer. 

Con – No Free Trials Or Classes

Most online learning platforms will offer a 7-30 day free trial so that you can test out whether the site is for you before you commit to the annual payment. This can be really helpful as you can check out courses and make sure they are what you are expecting.

However, there are no options to enroll in a course for free or to partake in a free trial. This is quite a big disadvantage because if you find out that MasterClass isn’t exactly what you expected or you don’t like the courses, you’ll have wasted 180 dollars. 

Pro – Well-Produced Courses

The courses themselves are really well produced. It’ll only take a matter of mere seconds into a video to realize that they are clear, concise, and informative.

They are put together really well. The videos are engaging and interesting and make learning feel fun. This is great as it will encourage you to continue with your video lessons and your learning. 

Con – No Certificate Upon Completion

Unfortunately, MasterClass does not offer certification when you complete one of their classes. This is, in my opinion, quite a big disadvantage.

Sure, learning is done to benefit the individual and to expand their knowledge, but having a certificate to show that you completed the course can be invaluable.

They are a great benefit to add to your resume and help you to stand out from other candidates for relevant jobs, however, you won’t have the option to do so with a course from MasterClass which is quite disappointing. 

Pro – VIP Instructors

MasterClasses biggest selling point is probably the fact that you are being taught by famous faces. While many courses have industry leaders running them, it is not often that they are so instantaneously recognizable.

The fact that you can learn new skills from expert celebrities is a real novelty for the platform. 

Con – Lack Of Reviews

Reviews are a great way to check out courses that you can’t try out. It can give you more information and a better understanding of what to expect.

However, there are very limited reviews of MasterClass.

This means that there are no honest details about how others are finding the classes, and there is only the information provided by the company itself, which obviously isn’t going to highlight any negative aspects of the courses. 

Pro – Generous Refund Policy

The saving grace for the lack of reviews and lack of free trials is that MasterClass is pretty generous when it comes to its refund policy.

If within the first 30 days, you decide that the platform just really isn’t for you, you can request a full refund which is accepted in most circumstances. 

Verdict

I’m definitely pro-MasterClass. Sure there are some cons that come along with the platform, as there are with any platform, but I think that the good massively outweighs the bad.

As mentioned above, it is very frustrating that there isn’t an option for a free trial or a free course that you can enroll in to see if it’s for you, but considering you can get a refund within the first 30 days if you do not like the platform, that con is fairly neutralized.

I suppose you can’t really blame the company for the fact that individuals aren’t reviewing the site either. The only real downside to the course is that you cannot add a certificate to your resume once you’ve completed it. 

However, pros come in abundance. It’s a fairly cheap option to enroll in considering the price breakdown works out at approximately $15 per month. The most popular masterclass courses are well-produced, engaging for learners, and just so interesting.

And then, where else are you ever going to get the chance to learn from the likes of Gordon Ramsey, himself? The money is worth it just for that experience alone! 

Final Thoughts

As you can see from the statistics, MasterClass only continues to grow in all facets of the platform. The unique eLearning website offers something that has not been seen before and I really think that it may change the online learning experience as we know it. 

Each and every day the popularity of these courses continues to grow as does the revenue of the business itself. It is clearly a lucrative business idea that customers are loving.

And I think as the site continues to grow in popularity, the courses and celebrity instructors on offer will only continue to increase. 

So whether you want to learn how to cook like everybody’s favorite chef, learn how to run an empire like the editor-in-chief of vogue, or dominate the market with a multimillion business like the CEO of Black Swan Group LTD, there’s an option for you!

So what are you waiting for? Start learning from A-List celebrities now!