Music Video Promotion: Five things you need to consider before shooting your next music video
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Music Video Promotion: Five things you need to consider before shooting your next music video
Written by Andy Gesner – Owner / president of HIP Video Promo and the brand new HIP Video Productions
Greetings! It’s Andy Gesner at HIP Video Promo, and today I’ll be exploring and commenting on the five things you need to consider seriously before shooting your next music video. Preparing a new music video for release has many nuanced steps and most often requires extensive commitment, labor, and attention to detail, not to mention financial resources. Assure yourself the best return on investment by implementing these five profoundly important considerations before writing your treatment.
Here’s a video to show how HIP Video Promo can help you!
If you want to learn more about the top five things you need to consider before shooting your next music video, check out this video and read our article below!
Number five: Your song.
An artist’s appearance may be important, and showmanship may be critical, and instrumental talent may be indispensable. But real music fans know that songwriting is the lifeblood of the industry. Without great songs, the world doesn’t turn. Make sure you select a song that best represents you, is your best first impression, and a song that’s not too long, being that folks have a short attention span. The song of choice should provoke imagery easily through just the audio and can be better represented through a music video. The music video is there to visualize the story and help expand the foundation listeners have already conceptualized. You or your video director should be able to picture a clear narrative from the song effortlessly; if you have trouble creating a structure, you may be choosing the wrong song.
Number four: Your music video’s aesthetic.
Nowadays, your new music video is your most powerful and potent piece of marketing currency. Take the time and the effort necessary to create that “must-see” visual that when people are done watching it, they’ll have no other visceral urge… than to watch it again! A well-crafted, fully-realized music video could inscribe the face of an artist on the memories of millions. Even with a low budget, a creative clip can vault an unknown group from basement status to the big leagues. A video can establish an artist’s brand, aesthetic, and message faster and more efficiently than anything else he or she can make. On social media, people perfectly curate their content to fit their feed’s theme; you want to do the same with your video. The color palette, effects, outfits, and scenery all mold your image and how people categorize you. By pre-planning the video’s look, you are giving fans an inside look into your musical sound and your personality.
Number three: You need to have a good plan in place.
Failure to plan is like planning to fail, and your plans for this upcoming music video could make all the difference between a memorable visual or an ambitious dud. Think about your shots, do your location scouting ahead of time, think about how the lighting in the location will affect your shots, do your due diligence on casting, and plan for the known and the unknown If you have a solid game plan in place, you’ve already cleared the first hurdle. Keep in mind that part of having a plan is also planning for the unexpected. Often the best moments are unplanned, and you should always be ready to capture those. Aside from keeping your budget on point, it will also allow you and your team time to flesh out ideas, get creative, and get ready to shoot. You’ll also want to find a director that has the same passion for their videos as you do for your music. Being able to communicate and share ideas is pivotal in the success of creating a music video. When each person is bringing their best ideas to the table, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A good idea can always make up for a small budget, but money will never make a weak concept into a must-watch video.
Number two: Consider a lyric video to kick off your upcoming music video marketing push.
It’s becoming an industry standard to lead off any new marketing campaign with a memorable lyric video. A lyric video will allow your fans and newcomers to your musical journey to fall completely into the song and become one with it, being that the lyrics are there and easily consumed and retained. A short, concerted promotional push for your lyric video will always create anticipation for the upcoming official music video. Lyric videos are creative, valuable, and beneficial to your brand. Although the idea of them is simple, you can make them as innovative and personal as you want because there are no rules around the creative direction. The best part about lyric videos is that they have smaller budgets, quick turnaround, and you can still incorporate your aesthetic and artful vision into it.
Number one: Make sure you have lots of extra visuals for the campaign.
That can be anything from a behind-the-scenes clip at the video shoot to teasers or videos you can use on your social media to create excitement. It’s also essential to have an electronic press kit that includes an interview. Making a human connection is vital to growing your fan base. The leftover clips can help build hype towards your release and personality towards your image. How does Costco introduce new food without free samples? Take that idea and apply it to your pre and post-release marketing strategy. You have to give a little away before people eat the whole thing up.
People pay attention to visuals, so all of this will move the needle tremendously. Nineteen years in, we are now launching HIP Video Productions (hipvideoproductions.com). Over the years, many clients have asked us to recommend a videographer or a video director that was trustworthy to shoot, edit, and produce their next music video. We had always considered this a daunting task because if HIP is going to recommend someone, we needed to know that they wouldn’t “call it in” or drop the ball since the clients we work with are looking to us for guidance and sage wisdom they can trust. It’s true: quite often, if you want something “done right,” you’re going to have to hunker down and do it yourself. Over the last two and a half years, HIP has filmed, edited, and marketed numerous music videos, created many eye-catching lyric videos, as well as lots of social media visual content. We have also produced EPKs, behind-the-scenes clips, and have shot numerous live concerts.
