Indie musicians should never underestimate the impact of a quality music video. In fact, if you're wondering if you need one at all, the answer is almost certainly "yes." A music video will make your song (and music in general) more memorable and poignant, along with giving your work and image more depth and personality. And, plus, there's always a chance that your video could go viral. Keep reading to learn how small artists use music videos to grow their band.
1) Reach New Audiences
Think of the ways you discover new music. While platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music can craft personalized recommendations, nothing really beats the social media algorithms of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Having a music video will allow your reach to grow more organically across visual platforms. Rather than having to post about your music (with a link to audio that may never be clicked), you can let your artistic vision speak for itself. An entire music video can be broken up to create multiple (types of) posts across a myriad of platforms. The more diverse forms of content you can create, the more new audiences will find you. For instance, you may recall the totally off-the-wall music video for Psy's hit song Gangnam Style. It was first posted on YouTube in July of 2012. By December 2012, it had become the first video on YouTube to surpass one BILLION views. It's now considered to be one of the first songs that brought KPop to America. How's that for new audiences?
2) Expand Your Storytelling
Adding a visual plot to your music can help enhance the story or message that you're telling. How many times have you seen a music video and thought, "oh, so that's what that's about"? One of our favorite examples of this is "A Dustland Fairytale" by The Killers. It begins with a flashback, with a very simple piano intro before the actual song starts. As the video goes on, a heart-wrenching tale unfolds. We see exactly what the song is about and how the protagonist himself has processed the events--none of which is actually stated in the song. We also absolutely love the video for Breezeblocks by Alt-J. The entire video is backwards and slightly slowed, following a physical confrontation between a man and a woman. As the opening shot shows the woman being drowned in a bathtub, viewers are immediately pulled in. The non-linear nature of both of these videos keeps the audience watching until the end. While a video like "Breezeblocks" obviously requires extensive planning and choreography, it's a lot easier to do on a budget than something like "A Dustland Fairytale," and still adds powerful, poignant dimensions to your work.
3) Connect with Your Fans
Regardless of the style of your video, it will add more personality to your music and online presence. Actually seeing the artists (and not just hearing their music) helps fans to connect more, leaving a longer-lasting impact than audio alone. What's more, the actual making of a music video generates a ton of behind the scenes content that can be shared on social media. The greater your social media presence, the greater connection you'll make with your audience. Honestly, in terms of creating shareable content, music videos are the gift that keeps on giving. We recently worked with the Philly band Night Fury to film their music video "Grenadine Zombie" at our studio (watch the video above!). We absolutely loved working on this project. It's of utmost importance at AWV that we capture the artistic vision and creative ideas of the band. It's their video, after all! Collaborating was such a blast, and we are so thankful Night Fury trusted us to turn their vision into a video. Check out Night Fury's Spotify page here. We can't wait to film more music videos in our studio!
Check out our in-studio video packages here if you're interested in sharing your artistic vision with us.
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