The New Way to Think About Music Videos

Published: May 24, 2022

Get a free music video with all CD Baby distribution through June 8th. Details below!

The traditional music video is dead (and that’s a good thing).

The rise of TikTok and Reels coincided with the demise of long-form music videos. And yet many artists still think they have to shoot professional, full-length videos. I usually advise against it. Why?

Most traditional music videos are:

  • Too long. So only your most diehard fans watch till the end.
  • Too scripted. So they don’t perform on social where viewers expect things to look raw & impromptu.
  • Too polished. So your video sees like an ad (skip!)
  • Too slow. So your sweeping intro and “dramatic” b-roll are all the more reason to skip.
  • Too expensive. So you waste significant funds.
  • Too time-consuming. So you waste precious time.

To emphasize: Traditional music videos usually don’t perform well on social platforms, particularly when you’re trying to reach and impress new audiences. They demand too much of the viewer, and they don’t feel like native content. But because you’ve invested so much time and money creating your full-length video, there’s pressure for that one piece of content to blow up — even as it’s poised to disappoint.

Does this mean artists should NEVER make long videos?

Not exactly. But you should expect that if you shoot a traditional music video, it’ll only be of interest to a tiny percentage of your audience. If you’re still building your initial following, your time will be much better spent creating newer forms of video content.

This includes short-form videos for Reels, TikTok, Stories, Shorts, Snapchat, or Spotify Canvas — plus a mix of low-cost options such as lyrics videos, Art Tracks, behind-the-scenes content, teasers, and concert footage.

How to quickly make good (and short) video content. 

Speed matters. In 2022, artists need to be posting a steady flow of videos. That doesn’t mean you have to run on the daily hamster wheel of content creation. But you can’t disappear for weeks at a time either.

Why frequent video output matters:

  • Important artist discovery & song virality happens on TikTok and Reels
  • Those platforms’ algorithms are different, but both reward creators who have a deep feed of content to scroll through, as it increases viewer watch-time
  • Plus, the more good stuff you post, the better your chances of a viral video (and the better you’ll get at creating them)
  • Fans have grown to expect that you promote your music through short videos; it’s how they want to hear from you
  • Social video ads outperform other advertising almost every time
  • Audiences expect to engage with you through live-streaming on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitch too
  • And YouTube is still the absolute giant for visually representing your music and brand, and a great place to publish lyrics videos, interviews, etc.

Just think of how YOU respond to content online. When it comes to grabbing and keeping attention, video is king. That’s why you’re gonna need a LOT of it.

Again, If that sounds stressful, you might be thinking of music videos in the old-school way I described above. In 2022, “music videos” don’t have to look like expensive productions or be full-length songs:

  1. “Authentic” has replaced “perfect”
  2. Short has replaced long
  3. And instant social consumption has replaced video archiving

Thanks to a new partnership between CD Baby and Rotor, the automated video-creation tool for musicians, you’ll have a much easier time creating music videos, lyric videos, concert announcements, and other video teasers on a regular schedule.

The quick way to make music videos

It’s really affordable to make a video with Rotor too, and with CD Baby you’ll get an additional 10% off.

Create a music video now

How do you create good video content on a regular schedule without going broke or driving yourself crazy?

First, it’s important to remember that not every video needs to be a “proper” music video.

Short-form video trends include skits, duets, dance trends, cover song clips, tutorials, relatable stories about your music, and much more.

If you ou can easily get mileage from:

In a social media world, sometimes the less-produced something looks, the more apt people are to watch it. The more real and immediate it feels, the better. Since most musicians aren’t professional videographers, that’s good news for us. It takes the pressure off having to make every video a polished masterpiece.

But here’s the second bit of good news: Not every video needs to be long.

With the popularity of TikTok and Instagram Stories, it’s clear we’re living in an age of short-form video when there’s no such thing as too much content.

The same tenants of YouTube success apply to short-form video — frequency, posting on a schedule, measuring engagement — but instead of you needing to make a big investment of time or money making a long video, all you really need now is 15 seconds, some interesting imagery, and a good song or message.

Creating short-form video is one of the best ways to:

  • engage fans on a regular basis
  • build awareness for your music/brand through repetition
  • experiment with different ways to promote the same release, hook, concert, merch, etc.

Making videos should be among your main priorities when promoting a new release in 2020. Fortunately, social platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram are among the places where YOU are in control of revenue potential. That potential obviously increases when you post content consistently.

Here’s how to do that without breaking the bank or cracking your sanity…

Repurpose longer video content

Post your longer music videos, live streams, or concert videos to YouTube, Facebook, and IGTV, then chop them into:

These short video elements give you new opportunities to grab listeners and further convey your brand/vibe.

As an example, I just used Rotor to create a long video for my upcoming single “Paper Angels.” Then I chopped up that video in Final Cut (something like iMovie would work just as well) and added some text. Now I have ten smaller vertical videos (15 seconds each) to tease the release, one video per day to post on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Here’s a reel of those teasers:

 

Lean on automated video tools

Life is fast-paced, especially if you’re also cranking out songs, touring, or working a day-job. You don’t always want to make your own videos from scratch or pay a video team thousands of dollars to get something good. That’s why CD Baby is excited to partner with Rotor to help you build an affordable music video for $25 or less. There’s no software or editing skills required.

To make a music video in minutes, here’s what you do:

1. Upload your song

2. Pick video clips from Rotor’s huge library, upload your own clips, or both

Making a video with Rotor

3. Choose from over 40 edit styles designed by professional directors and visual artists (you can view examples of each to figure out the best vibe for the song)

Music video edit styles

4. Let Rotor do its magic, analyzing your song and selected footage, and then intelligently editing your video together for you to suit your track’s rhythm, tempo and intensity

5. Add any text overlays you want

Adding text to videos in Rotor

6. Preview the results

Previewing videos in Rotor

7. If you like what you see, download a pro-quality video cut to your music

The videos you make with Rotor are 100% yours. You can share them wherever you like, and Rotor claims no rights once you’ve paid for the video (and you can always preview the video before paying). Watch some examples created by Rotor customers.

While Rotor is a great tool for creating bite-sized teasers, concert announcements, and more when you’re on-the-go, it’s just as useful for making your full-length music videos. Here’s a video I made a couple years ago when I first heard about Rotor:

Use social video apps’ creation tools, even if you’re not on those platforms

No one says you have to have a presence on TikTok, Shapchat, or Instagram Stories. It’s possible to use those tools only to create short-form video, and then post them on OTHER platforms where you ARE active (Facebook, YouTube, etc.)

Here’s one music video I stitched together from dozens of 6-second videos created in Snapchat:

And as another example, here’s a ridiculous video I made this morning by combining a screen-capture video with some of TikTok’s built in effects and filters (took me about 3 minutes):

@chrisrobleyJust your daily dose of #eelslap. Take 3 & call me in the morning. #eels #chrisrobleymusic #thisthisthis #ridiculous #pointlesswebsitesofyore♬ This, This, This – Chris Robley


Sell & stream your music everywhere. Claim your free video now!

Make a stunning FREE music video in minutes—no video production skills needed.

From now through June 8, when you submit music through CD Baby, you’ll receive credit to create a music video using Rotor, a video creation site for musicians.

GET STARTED

Here’s how it works:

  • Upload your song
  • Add your own video clips and/or clips from Rotor’s library
  • And apply a video style and captions
  • Rotor’s AI automatically edits it all together to match the pacing of your music

The result is a professional-quality video to use on YouTube, streaming platforms, and social media—with no video production skills or resources required.

Free video offer ends June 8

Earn credit for a free Rotor video with each song or album you release with CD Baby.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Pay for distribution through cdbaby.com.
  2. You’ll receive a confirmation email with a link for your free credit through Rotor.
  3. Then click the link, and you’ll be brought over to a special page to redeem your credit.
  4. Log in or create an account on Rotor.
  5. Credit will be added to your account so you can create a video!

Why CD Baby?

Grow your audience—Wide distribution to over 150 platforms around the world.

More ways to monetize—Streaming, downloads, sync licensing, social platform monetization, publishing royalties, and more.

No annual fees, keep 100% of your music rights—Pay once to keep your music up forever.

The help you need—Loads of DIY resources and expert support from fellow musicians.

Community—Founded and run by musicians, for musicians.

Join us!

Music not quite ready to release?

No problem. Just pay for distribution now and use your free video credit later.

GET STARTED

The post The New Way to Think About Music Videos appeared first on DIY Musician.

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