YouTube Promotional Videos
When searching for "CD Promotion" on Google I kept getting CD Promotional Videos that appear on Youtube. Yes, they are not the bset stuff. I have attached some links below (I tried to find the cheesiest ones possible, and don't listen to it all the way through):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwHbDHyhe38
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5RBAVjelAc (just watch this one for 5 seconds...nothing really happens)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI5x0hmB9K4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr1zwfyytvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwv28sH6UX0
Overall, these do not seem so effective. There were not many comments. I have noticed though many of these promotional videos were foreign (so maybe it does work outside the boundaries of America). The videos showcased a variety of deliveries: personal address from the artist, a background with music or music videos. These promotional videos also seem to have been a link on their websites.
I thought this was an intersting way to promote a CD, and in theory it sounds like it could work. YouTube has become a go-to site for entertainment. I cannot really gauge the success of online video promotions because I don't have a record of their cd sales. I do see this though as working. If not now, in the future. The static images with background music seem to be the least effective. I want something to look at. I want to see the artist, or atleast something to read. The personal invites to the CDs were my favorite. I suppose its effect would be dependent on the personality of the artists. Although these videos are not the best quality, the people talking seem to be reaching out their audience. I'm sure these personal invites first reached a local audinece, and a personal message helps you pull in people from your community. I'm sure if I made a video promoting my CD and sent it to people in Fishers people would check it out. Look at American Idol for example, the communities in which contestants grew up in EAT THAT STUFF UP. People love supporting local artists...well atleast ones on TV.
So overall people who create these promotional videos should think about some things. First, we want to see some type of action. Second, please reach out--we want to get to know you (hence the name YOUTube).
I really have mixed emotions about this type of advertisement. Yes, the internet has made it extremely easy to promote yourself and your work; especially if you are not yet well known. But promoting yourself on youtube?? I don’t know how many people sit down on youtube and search for new unfamous artists all day long. Its kind of obvious that this type of promotion didn’t work based on the number of views and comments on all the videos.
Even though the internet has made it easier to promote yourself, youtube isn’t the site to do it. There are plenty of sites on the internet based on new artists being able to promote their new music www.OurStage.com, and www.Fuzz.com. These two sites allow you to upload your own music and let others listen to it and comment on it. You can even allow users to download copies of songs for a price and you can then make a profit on it and the site will take a percentage. I just found these two sites with a quick search, I’m sure there are plenty more and probably some that are even better.
Some people think that the internet is a magical source from which they can become famous. For some artists this is true, but they didn’t do it through youtube. Getting your album out there can cost money from promotion, and yes the internet can make it cheaper, but it’s still not going to be free. If it’s free, there is a reason it’s free (probably because it doesn’t work).
And talking about the quality of the promotional videos is another story.
Submitted by aculp on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:03.I really enjoyed reading your comment. The sites you mentioned sound like they would be more successful than YouTube promotions, so thanks again for linking those.
I tried to have a somewhat positive outlook on this type of promotion in my blog, but I was glad to hear the negative comments because I spent most of my time laughing at these videos.
Submitted by Girl on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 20:13.wow not sure what to say about some of these..pretty brutal
I think this goes back to what was mentioned on Monday about promoting websites...youtube has a never ending amount of videos, similar to how the internet has a never ending amount of web pages. I'd be interested to see how these people promoted these videos and got traffic to them....otherwise they just sit there without anyone knowing they're even up, like many of the websites out there today
The first link though...that cat has some skills..check out his other videos, he can play!!! His promo video is weak though, maybe if he had used a single off his album and made it into a music video or somethin to promote his album...then maybe he woulda had somethin worthwhile to look at. You look at how big artist's promote their albums and it's by hit singles being put on the airwave and through music videos, not by just standing in front of a camera and talking about your album for 7mins
Submitted by Soho on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 19:04.I would have to agree that these promo videos are pretty lame. I don't see them being all that effective - especially on youtube since you have to know what you are looking for to search for it in order to find it. I think that something that a friend does (or someone in the community) will always be effective in that group, but in order to reach out to others I think that there would have to be a different approach to the delivery.
Submitted by physicschic on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 20:11.The delivery I think is what hurt them the most. Although I liked the personal message ones better, they still lacked. I wanted to see some action. I wanted to see some spirit. I did not want to see someone sitting in their car in a parking lot attempting to get me to go to her concert. Where was her music? What genre is she? I don't know. All I really got out of the video was the type of car she drove.
Submitted by Girl on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 20:16.Yea I agree, it seems hard to gauge any effectiveness of these videos. Some of these guys like the first dude are actually really good but that video makes him look like a huge joke. I have come across some promotional videos that I think worked. http://youtube.com/watch?v=oTVl0gP9jPA This is a video the producer of a new hip hop album put out to try and show people how he makes beats and also give a preview of the cd at the same time. I think this video works a lot better because it gives a sneak peak but also shows the art that goes into it.
Submitted by er0l12 on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 21:05.I think youtube is still quite an effective place to introduce your music if you are just a starter. I mean it is convenient to just post it in youtube. Of course it does not target a large audience, but usually starter does not have to target a large audience. Well of course, if the work is very interesting, it will get popular faster.
Submitted by aalbert on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 12:30.I still think that youtube is not a bad choice after all.