MUSIC VIDEOS ARE A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY
…if you’re an independent artist looking to build a fan base.
To most artists, this seems like a completely ignorant thing to say when there are plenty of artists consistently dropping music videos and having them do well.
The thing is: if you’re not an artist as big as Drake, Beyonce, Ye, or Chris Brown, it doesn’t make sense to spend thousands on a music video that 1) most people probably won’t see and 2) won’t make you your money back.
The reason why Drake-level artists are able to see a return from music videos is because they’ve built a loyal fan base over 7-10 years. These fans have watched these artists grow up, associated personal memories with their music, and are therefore sold into their brand.
Music, merchandise, tickets- it doesn't matter what they sell, because they know their core audience will support it.
To build this type of loyal fan base, it is imperative to go where peoples’ attention is and connect with them through creating content.
Back in the years 2000-2014, music videos were much more prevalent because the attention of the world was set on the television. Major corporations spent unimaginable amounts of money on TV advertisements, and artists were no exception.
Channels like MTV and BET were the hubs for these music videos, and this was one of the best places for people to discover new music and artists.
Fifteen years later, the world’s attention has turned from the television to the smartphone, giving artists more opportunity than ever before to reach the world with their music.
This means that a new artist looking to get discovered would have a better return on investment spending $1,000 on 30 videos to post every day for a month, rather than one video that may or may not get seen by their audience, let alone by new potential fans.
One of the best examples of this in recent history is Foggieraw’s rise to fame. He went from 30k to over 300k Instagram followers in a year by understanding that creating content on Instagram and TikTok was his gateway to launching his career.
The videos we designed with him are cinematic and intentional, which captivated his audience and brought his music to life.
The stories we told in his videos connected real life experiences to real life people, encouraging people to share the videos organically.
Your music and content are the vehicles that drive people to relate to your story. By not taking advantage of the free opportunity to post content that connects to people, it is nearly impossible for the modern artist to survive in the music industry.
If you’d like help in consistently creating content to build a core audience, download our free Content Cookbook with tips on how to create engaging content.