Nowadays, thanks to sites like Youtube and advances in video equipment, anyone can become an internet video star. There are even individuals making six-figure incomes via Youtube. You can purchase an HD quality video recorder for relatively little now, such as the Zoom Q3HD. So with so few barriers now, what types of videos can an artist/band use for promotion?
1. Live Performance – Either take a whole song in one piece, or take clips of multiple performances and splice it together. You could use the audio from the video itself or place a better sounding recording over it, which leads us to…
2. Press Kit Video – What would be better for promoting your act for shows and music sales than a carefully spliced together video featuring some of your best performance clips and a high quality audio recording. End the video with all your info and there you have it.
3. Interviews – Engage your fans by uploading an interview that lets you talk about your influences, likes and dislikes of touring, etc….
4. Behind the Scenes – Recording an album? Shoot the recording process and compile the video together to bring your fans into the creative process. Setting up for a show? Upload some footage of you setting up on stage or getting ready backstage. Find ways to let your fans see what happens in the background to make your music and show.
5. Gear/Equipment – Got fans asking about the guitar rig or the drum setup? Upload videos where you walk them through parts of the stage setup. Explain your reasons for having the setup the way it is. Give your opinion about the different items you’re using and mention any that you tried and chose not to use.
6. In Studio Music Video – Ever heard of Pomplamoose? You should have. They have done multiple videos of originals and cover songs, all showcasing them doing the recording work. Instead of arranging it as a Behind The Scenes video, they arrange them as a music video. They sync all the clips around the recording, and through their use of quality and style they have gained substantial recognition. Check them out and see how they’re doing it.
7. Traditional Music Video – As already stated, there are fewer barriers now to creating professional level videos than there were five or even ten years ago. Lose that idea of needing $10,000 or more to make a proper music video. The group OK Go has million of hits per video on Youtube and have made some very simple, and more importantly cheap, videos. Money is no longer a barrier for good music videos, only your creativity.