You’ll often find a new article or blog post written every six months or so about how MTV used to be great. These fans who write these articles aren’t so much music video enthusiasts, but they are fans of nostalgia. They grew up with Headbangers Ball, MTV Unplugged, and TRL; they aren’t fans of music videos because if they were, they would realize the sheer volume and quality of music videos available today dwarfs the 30 videos MTV played on a loop.
During those golden years of music videos on MTV, artists didn’t “need” a music video to break through, but it sure helped. It’s hard to imagine Coolio’s Fantastic Voyage without the music video.
Not every artist had a music video, and you for sure didn’t see a music video for every track on the album. Artists could still break through the noise just with their talent. It’s not likely many people these days remember a Radiohead music video, but their fans loved them.
Today there will be 12 hours of music uploaded to Soundcloud every minute, and artists need a way to promote their music in this oversaturated market. If you want to break into the music industry, nowadays, having a music video to accompany your songs are vital.
At LooseKeys we’ve had the opportunity to works on a few music videos over the years, and every time it’s been a treat!
On YouTube, having a music video isn’t just a way to promote the song. No, they are monetized and have become a significant revenue driver. If your audience is going to be queuing up a YouTube playlist of music, any artist is going to want to put their best creative foot forward. You also need to make sure you’re represented on the platform as much as possible, and this is one reason you’ve seen lyric videos take off on YouTube.
According to a report in 2017, 85% of YouTube users went to the platform for music. So, if an artist is smart, the moment a song is released they will want something on the platform. You’ll often see the first video uploaded will be the song, with a static image of the artwork of the single. This initial video will give any artist a foot in the door, but it’s not that interesting for visual media. Following up on this video, many artists will then do a lyric video. That’s what occurred with the couple of Machine Gun Kelly lyric videos we worked on with Simian.
These videos cost less than a full music video, but it helps to keep the song relevant for the fans and now provides two search points when a fan is looking for the song on Google or YouTube. Most fans aren’t going to remember the lyric video, they can be creative, but they often are more of a way to help them know the lyrics.
Depending on the artist, they might do a third video after the lyric video. That’s how it happened with the Starrah & Diplo music video we illustrated and animated. A few months after the release of the lyric video, just as the hype was perhaps cooling off a bit from the song, the official video was released.
You’ll see the original songs release and the official music video get written up on blogs and media outlets the most. It’s an excellent way for an artist to get the most shelflife out of a song and more ad revenue. Ed Sheeran’s song “Shape Of You,” had a combined official video and lyric video plays of 3.22 billion. Billboard calculates it could have generated $4.2 million to the label and $1.142 million for the publisher, before distribution to the artist and songwriters. And that’s just the revenue on YouTube!
Sure, you don’t see as many million dollar video budgets anymore as you saw in the early 2000’s with Britney Spears “Toxic.” But looking back 14 years ago at that video makes you wonder, was it worth the million dollar production budget?
Today the creative studios are more resourceful. You can make something great for $10,000 and even get some extra life out of it for social media. Everyone is trying to squeeze as much out of the production dollar, but the creativity is the most critical part.
The video we were most excited to have worked on this year was for NIGHTMRE & Dillon Francis. By creating an animated music video, we were able to showcase the artist without the trouble of needing to schedule a live-action video shoot with them. How an artist visually represents their song says a lot about them and their music. That music video for NIGHTMRE & Dillon Francis showed a different side to their fans that can be wacky and a bit surreal; it was something that works well with their fan base that is no doubt obsessed with a show like Rick & Morty.
Having an animated music video for some of the tracks on an album is an excellent way for an artist or label to hand off some of the work. While they are off filming a live-action video with the band starring in it, they can have a studio like LooseKeys toiling away on the animation for another track.
In today’s endlessly consumed stream of content, people want to hear the song and see the video; they want to learn more about the artist. And, if they are watching an artists music on YouTube (which they likely are), then every artist needs to be giving their fans even more.
