Tag Archive for: music video

Why Lyric Videos Are a Great Option for Bands & Musicians on a Budget

Lyric Music Videos

Guest Post by Caroline of Culture Coverage

When everyone is scrambling to bring more to the table, lyric videos pop up to prove to the industry that less is not only better but also incredibly effective. Cropping up as fan posted videos long before they became a thing emulated by artists, lyric videos harken back to days of Bob Dylan, but the contemporary counterpart of Cee Lo Green and his breakout hit “F*ck You” is attributed for breaking the ice this time. And from there, the videos only get edgier, but no less aggressive, at grabbing viewers and getting them to hit replay in the millions.

For bands and artists looking to make it to the big time with a small time budget, here’re a couple of reasons why the lyrics video should be your next project.

1. Big Budget Films

Skyfall Lyric Videos

Lyric videos have a natural segue into the industry to keep fans content while bigger budget, artistic music videos were being made. Lyric videos for artists such as Katy Perry were essentially just created as placeholders until the big bucks could be dropped on making groundbreaking artistic music films.

But in the case of artists such as Adele and her Skyfall single, the lyric videos brought in the big bucks up front, and for indie artists, landing on movie soundtrack can be a big deal, even if it’s just for an opening. Why the love for the lyrics? Fans love being able to sing along, and with a lyric video, it’s taking the place all those ugly lyric websites and put what the artist has to say right in the forefront. What’s better than that?

2. Social Media Madness

Social Media Lyric Videos

Ever since Facebook and Instagram updated their platforms, lyric videos have become the new gateway to followers. Since the move to instant video play while scrolling through a feed, Facebook and Instagram have pushed viewers to respond to images and the overlaid words in a new way—even if it’s a music video intended for sound.

While music videos used to be most concerned with the best sound, now they have to be concerned with the triple threat of sound, visual and words because viewers are getting sucked in by sight alone and getting more hits than videos that forego the lyrics overlaying the images. While it may seem backward, words are getting back into the mainstream as indicators of whether you’ll like the content (and as a writer I see this as a good thing).

For new artists, don’t worry about having the best video first, worry about getting the lyrics out there. With royalties you can get from your songs being attached to photos (check out #3), you can fund a bigger project by creating a lyric video first. And the good news? Even lyric videos can go viral.

3. YouTube Changed the Game

YouTube Lyric Videos

Before the internet, music came on records, often with no lyrics, and the only visuals to accompany the sound were those that came on the jacket cover. YouTube’s crop into the music industry radically changed that forever, and lyric videos are taking their share of the fame and fortune.

When access to the world’s population is no longer a problem (thanks to my Virtual Private Network for that), videos can rack in the numbers simply by existing—and that’s exactly what they’ve done. While online radio players have skyrocketed, YouTube has done the same, giving access to millions to free music at their fingertips. And it’s not just the “official” version that’s playing, but the fan made ones too. Now we’re even starting to see the artist made videos that sometimes leak online long before they make it to streaming companies. Thanks to the boom, “Best Lyric Video” is now a category at the VMA’s, making it a cash cow all on its own.

When new artists get onto this trend, they can see big results in a short period of time. So ask your friend who’s getting married to post their wedding video with your song attached to it—YouTube will start sending you bigger checks with each video hit.

From updates on social media to the contribution of YouTube, it’s a worldwide trend that’s about to hit the big times, so stay tuned for more—we’re sure Justin Bieber has much more left in him!

 

About the Author: Caroline is an entertainment blogger, who specializes in all things music and soundtracks. She hopes these insights into the world of lyric videos will make your listening experiences that much more entertaining. You can find Caroline on Twitter at @CultureCovC

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Self Publishing on YouTube

self publishing your music on YouTube

Everyone knows how important the YouTube platform is for indie musicians. It’s a great way to get your music out to fans, grow your fanbase, and provide your fans with great content from music videos to vlogs. There are plenty of musicians out there who have become successful mainly because of their YouTube channel, with Karmin and Pomplamoose being two of the most successful examples. They grew their audience by targeting young teens with covers of popular songs. Other musicians, like Alex Day, have based their career entirely on recorded music sales and a YouTube channel featuring music videos and hilarious vlogs.

However, there is another aspect of YouTube that is vastly underutilized by the musician community on the platform – self publishing. You don’t need a publisher to get your music placed in YouTube videos. You just need to be proactive with social media and reach out to YouTubers you think would be interested in using your music with their creative content.

There is a huge community of amateur and professional video makers on YouTube with topics ranging from beauty and fashion to gaming to health and fitness. There is also a big surge of professionalism among these YouTubers and many of the more popular channels act as full-time jobs for their creators. As a result, many YouTubers are investing in better cameras and lenses to make their channels more professional and entertaining for their viewers.

Many are also looking to music to differentiate themselves from the masses of other channels on the platform. As you probably know, YouTube has a tough copyright policy and videos illegally featuring copyrighted material can be taken down. As a result, many YouTubers seek out free music they can use without violating copyright. There are plenty of royalty-free music tracks out there, but many sound generic and repetitive. Another popular option is to find remixes or original tracks by amateur and indie musicians and get direct permission to use the music – usually in exchange for a link back to the musician’s website or soundcloud page or a shout out in the video.

So why try to get your music in YouTube videos if you won’t get paid? It’s another form of marketing and a great way to reach a potentially huge subscriber base in a really authentic way. Think about how you find new music. More times than not you get recommendations from your friends or another trusted source, not a big flashy advertisement.

YouTubers are tastemakers. People subscribe to their channels and watch their videos because they trust their opinions. When they recommend a product or brand their viewers will be more inclined to try it out, and the same is true with music. When YouTubers feature really great music in their videos, either by mentioning the band or by syncing the music with their videos, tons of their subscribers will go listen to more or even buy the album.

Let’s take a look at a few examples. Day[9], whose real name is Sean Plott, is an ex-pro-gamer, a game commentator, and a host of an online daily Starcraft show, the Day[9] Daily. While he doesn’t sync music in his videos, he often chats with the audience telling them what bands he’s been listening to lately. During one of his videos he mentioned a Blue Sky Black Death song and as a result, the comment section on that song’s YouTube video was inundated with people saying “Day[9] sent me!” A lot of new Blue Sky Black Death fans were made that day because of Sean Plott.

There is an enormous fashion and beauty community on YouTube and some, like Jenn Im of Clothesencounters, are getting really creative with the music they sync with their videos. Instead of using repetitive royalty-free tracks they seek out remixes on Soundcloud, get permission from the artists, and edit their fashion videos to really fit with the track.

So, how do you approach YouTubers for self publishing? First you need to do your research. Know what kind of videos they upload, their personality and style, and what kind of music they have used in the past. Gaming YouTubers may have completely different musical tastes from the beauty gurus. Next, figure out which track would be best-suited for their purposes and contact them directly. You can do this through Twitter, a YouTube message, or an email. Most YouTubers list their email addresses in the “About” tab. Make sure you keep their audience in mind. Try to target YouTubers whose subscriber base shares traits with your fanbase. The key here is to start small and work your way up. You won’t get much traffic coming to your site from the smaller YouTubers, but it’s just one step on the ladder.

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The New Artist Model is an online music business school for independent musicians, performers, recording artists, producers, managers and songwriters. Our classes teach essential music business and marketing skills that will take you from creativity to commerce while maximizing your chances for success. We’re offering access to free lessons from the New Artist Model online courses to anyone who signs up for our mailing list.

 

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YouTube Strategies You can Start Right Now

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There’s been a lot of success stories on YouTube with artists like Karmin, Psy, and Baauer getting seemingly instant popularity with viral videos. Because of this, there’s a lot of misconceptions about YouTube. It’s not a platform for instant fame, and, like many other aspects of the music industry, requires a good deal of dedication and hard work.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start a YouTube strategy today! YouTube is one of those platforms that you can make something really great with a limited budget if you take the time to plan and put in the creative effort.

This article was written by Matt Sandler, musician and founder of Chromatik. You can follow him on Twitter @mattdsandler. This is just a short excerpt. You can check out the full article on Hypebot.

1. YOU NEED TO START

Failure isn’t your biggest obstacle to success, it’s not even starting. Most people talk the talk, but never actually walk the walk. You want a great YouTube presence? Start making videos…today.

I know that there’s a tune you can crush. Maybe it’s Classical Gas, maybe it’sTwinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Perhaps 15 seconds of a popular chart? It doesn’t matter. Spend 30 minutes recording and uploading it to YouTube…today.

Start viewing YouTube as a sandbox for playing, performing, and sharing. Not everything you upload to YouTube needs to be perfect or professional quality initially. We’ll get there. But as a relative unknown in the YouTube ecosystem, you’ll want to just get comfortable with the recording and upload process first.

2. BE PROLIFIC, ON A SCHEDULE

One of the YouTube myths I hear all of the time is – “I just need ONE video to strike it big.”

So what do folks do? Pour a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money into producing an incredible video. Cool. Assuming that you rocked and it miraculously went to the front page of Reddit, you now have 100,000 views and a couple hundred subscribers. Now what? Can you replicate that?

The unfortunate reality is that 100,000 views and a couple hundred subscribers doesn’t get you very far in the YouTube ecosystem. Not to mention, with over 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, there’s a 1/1,000,000 chance of you achieving that result.

The myth is dangerous because it forces you into an assumption that “if you build, they will come.” Which, as many creatives – from musicians to tech startup founders – learn quickly, just isn’t the case.

So let’s focus on starting small and building a community. Without a miracle, the only replicable way I’ve seen to build a successful YouTube channel is by being prolific and regimented with content production. One of my favorites, Gabe Bondoc – now with 272k subscribers and 48 million views! – was phenomenal at this early on.

 

Do you have a YouTube channel? Check out the New Artist Model YouTube channel for tons of interviews with music industry greats.

 

 

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Make the Most of Your Music Video Budget

Photo by Mark Thorsen on Flickr

Photo by Mark Thorsen on Flickr

For musicians, video is an extremely powerful media. Many music fans use sites like YouTube to keep up with news from their favorite bands, discover new bands, and listen to music.

Indie musicians with a limited budget do not need to be intimidated or discouraged by the big-money major label videos. You can create great video content on a budget. As a musician, you are creative. Use that creativity to come up with great video ideas that don’t require millions of dollars! Your fans will appreciate the thought you put into the video and the fact that you didn’t follow the default “we’re playing our song in the woods” approach.

Kelley James is a singer/songwriter. This article he wrote for Hypebot is a great example of how real musicians are doing great things on a limited budget. Here’s a short excerpt from the article. You can read the full article on Hypebot. 

1. When creating content, think outside the box.

Everyone is pretty familiar with the two main standbys that most artists will utilize when it comes to creating videos: the video-blog update and, of course, music videos. One is low budget with the potential to be stale and contrived while the other often seems like too big of an investment for artists who are still growing. That’s why it’s very important to think outside the box when it comes to video content. What are your viewers getting from your videos that they can’t get elsewhere? If the answer is “nothing”, they probably won’t be tuning in any time soon. When I’m creating content for my channel, I like to give my fans something they can’t see at a show or buy on iTunes, so I like to do one of my signature freestyles on-the-spot. Other times, I’ll mash up two songs into one streamlined acoustic performance. Once your viewers realize that they’re getting in on something special when they watch your videos, you can bet they’ll be back again next time.

2. More is less.

There’s proof all over the web that a clever idea can be as valuable, if not more, than a bloated budget. A lack of funds can be a blessing more than a curse in that it forces you to think creatively and work with whatever resources are immediately available. In 2012, I released my single “Summertime On My Mind” and wanted to create a unique video to promote it without spending a ton of cash. I was involved in a campaign for Patagonia at the time called “Repair, Reuse, Recycle” which was aimed at promoting cleaner environmental practices and conserving resources, and I saw one that one of the logos was an acoustic guitar with only one string. Inspiration struck. With the goal of showing that you can create something awesome with only simple tools, I rounded up five friends and six guitars – each with only one string. We played the entire song together, one string per person, and over 13,000 views later, I was able to prove that it doesn’t take more than a few buddies and some ingenuity to make something special. Don’t get caught up in trying to copy the music videos you see on TV, because the average major label video usually has a budget somewhere between $200,000-$500,00. Use your brain and remember, more is less.

For more tips from Kelley James, check out the full article on Hypebot.

How do you make the most of your  video budget? Share in the comment section below!

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