Building an audience for your music takes a lot of tiresome effort. From the moment you wake up until the moment you finally get some rest, it can seem as if you have packed every second full of some chore on your to-do list. Making effective choices to be as efficient as possible is common sense. That said, one of the deliberations that should be made is the frequency with which you might be creating and shooting music videos to use as tools of engagement. So how about a monthly music video production? Is it too much? If the answer is yes, then; how often is too often?
Instead of approaching this with an intent to define a rule, let’s focus on what benefits might come from approaching it in one direction or another.
So, if we are going to discuss the benefits of releasing a new video every month, perhaps we should start with a brief overview of the cost inhibitors of doing something like that.
Firstly It Could Be Expensive
It would be very expensive if you were to have a monthly music video production. That is especially true if you were hiring out contractors to film and edit your video. So there is that. If your project is already earning enough to offset the cost that goes into incurring those types of expenses, and if you see a proportional response from your audience or a growing audience, then why not.
But for a lot of music artists, especially those who are just starting out, those types of recurring expenses are not likely to be realistic, and that makes sense. It’s a big financial undertaking. Admittedly, however, the intention of this article is not precisely intended for those particular set of circumstances.
Rather, it’s for situations where the musical artist is wearing every hat. Where the artist does most everything in a sort of DIY fashion. More and more artists have made the leap to self-producing their own video content. That content is then distributed across all their social media platforms. In many cases, they have at least some basic understanding of how to frame a shot. They also have an idea of how to edit their footage together.
In the long run, the best way to gain skill is by doing. So with a bit of a learning curve and perhaps one or two online courses, I’m sure you could produce something watchable, especially if you were aiming to be in a position to release a new music video on a monthly basis.
For some great insight into how to make a music video that isn’t just ok; but good. Read our recent article to inform yourself of what you need to know. Good Luck!
Why You Should Make A Music Video For Each Recorded Song
Making music videos for your songs can be a smart move. It’s not just about visuals; it lets you show your creativity. Also, music videos can help you stand out online and connect with fans. Plus, they can make money on YouTube and streaming sites.
Some of reasons that could make a music video for each recorded song a smart move, include:
- Visual Component
- Creative Platform
- Exposure And Visibility
- Branding And Impression
- Emotional Connectivity
- Potential Income
Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits, one by one.
Visual Component
Making music videos for any song is an obvious way to better engage your audience. The process of adding a visual component to your music provides a means by which you can enhance the experience for your audience. As people absorb both the sound and visual elements, they are transported. For at least a brief moment, they are deeper in tune with the ideas that you have written about. It is certainly a more immersive experience as it captures and occupies one more of the five senses. If what you have written ultimately resonates with your viewer, then those visual elements will have helped to better reinforce the connectivity between you, your music, and your audience.
For help with developing your music video concept, and writing a treatment; We have a great guide. Read it here!
A Creative Platform
The creation of visual content to better engage and connect your audience will also, in a symbiotic way, provide the artist with a wider palette to express themselves. Sometimes, an artistic vision can be limited by the method with which it is expressed. Specifically in songwriting, you are bound by a limited amount of time and precision for wordplay and sound to effectively express your intended thought or emotion. The visual element blows those doors wide open, and for an artistic person, there may be a direct benefit or satisfaction in having a wider selection of “colors to paint with”.
One of the things you would have to do when making your music videos regularly would be to find the right help. That includes any talent you may need to cast for your video. Read this recent article for tips and insights to finding the right cast for your music. Here is the link!
Exposure And Visibility
To lay it on the word “symbiotic” even more, music creation certainly seems to be one that is better with it. While admittedly, I love entertaining myself with a clever new melody or progression, the true satisfaction comes from completing the circle. The moment I’m shouting for someone in the house to come and have a listen is the fun. I can take a visual assessment of their countenance to understand whether what I just played for them resonated in the manner I had expected or hoped. That said, it is the natural progression for us to have listeners in order to nurture this in some way.
Social media and online platforms have become the primary tools for building relationships with viewers and listeners. Social media and online platforms deal in visual experience, so trading in visual content makes one more likely to be noticed in order to have better visibility and exposure of one’s work, or at least increase the odds of doing so.
Branding And Impression
Monthly music video production as a means to expand upon and convey a story or intention encapsulated in the song will certainly help impress upon an audience what you are trying to say. Making it a practice to elaborate on your artistic expression with a video element that enhances the message or story can be a defining aspect of what you do. It can become part of your identity or at least contribute to it.
In this form or others, it can also be a tool for branding. This repetition may lead to better chances of online recognition. The consistency of your creative offerings, coupled with the quality with which you build each component, contributes to the overall impression it leaves upon your audience. They may even come to perceive you as someone they should be following or paying attention to.
Emotional Connectivity
As this is all ultimately about a shared experience with your fans, it boils down to building and nurturing an emotional connection with your audience and vice versa, with you and the music they love. In that regard, creating visual representations of that music for them to enjoy is a no-brainer.
There’s nothing wrong with fan service in this sense. Additionally, if you are working on an album, you may find enjoyment in the conceptual creation of the overall theme and story of the album as a whole. You can also look forward to the excitement and anticipation of presenting that adaptation to your audience, who admire it.
Potential Income
Some online platforms pay content creators for views. While it’s not always a guarantee, the visual content you create could also generate income. In the aggregate this could be beneficial financially for you and your efforts.
You could engage in interactive content with your audience, conceiving and creating ideas together. This could be under the banner of some sort of patronage. It could be done through a service like Patreon. It could also be done through your own online monetized subscription fan club built exclusively for your website.
If you want to get your own subscription/paywall fan club up and running; we’ve detailed all the steps for doing that in a recent article. Get to it!
The production of these ideas and concepts, and ultimately, monthly music video production, could all be chronicled and edited into regular content. You could upload to share with your ever-widening audience as well as to generate income.
Why You Shouldn’t Make A Music Video For Each Recorded Song
Let’s talk about why making videos for all your songs might not be the best move. Not every song needs a video. Some may work well with a story, but others could lose their appeal. Also, too many videos can overshadow your standout tracks.
Some of reasons a music video for each song is not a good idea, include:
- Time And Budget Prohibitive
- Disillusion Of Interpretation
- Diminished Impact
- Creative Fatigue
- Quality Control
Let’s take a closer look at each of these objections, one by one
Limited Resources
No matter how cheap or guerrilla-styled the production you may employ for your monthly music video production, there is always some cost involved. You will incur the cost of fuel or transportation to your filming location. You will also incur expenses to purchase the gear for shooting. That may also include a dedicated computer and applications for editing and rendering your final cut. This assumes you have the capacity to film and edit yourself; otherwise, you may need to hire professionals.
For more about what gear you would need to shoot your own videos regularly; here is a recent article. Check it out!
Even after exploring cost-effective production methods, you might find that achieving more significant results requires additional investment. However, regardless of your budget, you can’t avoid the time-consuming nature of video production. While a simple one-shot point-and-shoot approach may suffice for some videos, it won’t work for every one. You’ll need to dedicate a substantial amount of time to conceptualization, production, and editing. If you attempt a monthly music video production; creating a music video for every song on your album, it essentially becomes a full-time job. Given limited resources, it may not be feasible to produce a video for each song.
If you do decide to start making music videos more frequently, It may help you to know how to differentiate the different types of music videos you can make. Here is a link to a recent article that discuss those different types of music videos. Good luck!
Disillusion Of Interpretation
As an artist, you may feel emboldened by the platform you’ve built for yourself to convey your ideas and intentions. However, due to the limited boundaries of songwriting, your ability to express those ideas or intentions may not be received as precisely as you envisioned.
Prior to publishing the music video, and perhaps because of the constraints of songwriting, the audience may have been able to interpret the music in their own way. The visual communication tools that a music video provides could potentially divert the audience from their overall experience if the visual interpretation doesn’t match the listener’s interpretation.
Additionally, the visual elements may become a distraction from the music itself. In this case, the visual component would become a spectacle in its own right, whether it’s exciting or repulsive. Either way, the visual content becomes a distraction from the music.
Diminished Impact
When releasing so much content, it could result in oversaturation, and thus, a diminished impact for each individual release. Your audience may grow fatigued or disinterested in your latest and greatest. They may begin to see it as it all becoming to regular, scheduled, and routine. And let’s be frank; nothing says rock and roll like “regular, scheduled, and routine.”
Creative Fatigue
So much goes into every part of songwriting, recording, and promotion that one can almost become overwhelmed with the scope of the commitment. Adding to this a full-time regimen of creating music videos for each song composed could well be the nail in the coffin.
It may be better to rethink which promotional vehicles to employ rather than run the risk of creative exhaustion and, worse yet, utter burnout. This is a marathon, remember; if you’re built to sprint it in its entirety, good on you; otherwise, you may be wise to pace yourself.
Promoting and releasing a music video every month is no small task. To make sure your release and promotional efforts are as effective as possible; we have published an informative article about that to guide you through the practices for success. You can find it here!
Quality Control
In addition to becoming creatively exhausted, one should be aware of the effort required to maintain consistent levels of quality across all of the content offered, especially the music videos. The alternative would be to focus on creating a few well-produced videos to promote one album or grouping of songs. That is opposed to spreading yourself and your resources too thin to the detriment of your best interest.
Whatever you decide, it will be important that your effort to promote and release your videos is as efficient as possible. We have recently published an informative article that provides valuable insights and strategies for that. Read it here!
If that isn’t enough we have another great article that discusses music video promotions on a budget. It is yours as well. Have a look!
Lastly
So while there are good reasons for doing, and good reasons for not, we would probably lean towards recommending that you make as many music videos as you can. We want you to thrive. For more tips and actionable steps to thriving as an independent artist. Bookmark this guide!
Also, to prevent oversaturation, perhaps you can intersperse your work with other forms of content such as behind-the-scenes follow-alongs. That may help you to keep the celebration of a new music video as something more of an event.
Whatever you do, though, it does seem that these days there is an expectation to continually present something new. So having a schedule of sorts where you do produce music videos for as many of the songs you record could certainly be seen as reasonable. That is especially so if you are monetizing your video views and have built that into a primary income stream.
Good luck.