Music Videos On The Web

(Photo: Screen grab from newest Ultralust "Wake Me" music video. Max shaves his head)

Sitting in our home office, I watched across the room as Melyssa was piecing together a recent music video we produced for haitian rap artist, Jem. The song titled “Earthquakes” focuses on his loyalty to the country despite their recent natural disaster. The production followed two other music videos, all of them with the intention of being published via the web. It made me think, independent music videos seem to be in such high demand recently, why do you think that is?

In a certain respect, music videos aren’t much different than your standard commercial advertisement. In fact, they often are huge advertisements for popular brands. For instance when Michael Jackson and Madonna participated in Coca Cola ad campaigns in the early nineties, both industries reeked benefits of promotion. More recently, we’re seeing upscale fashion brands, cell phones, and sports cars in numerous videos. Like music videos, commercials are also now choosing internet over broadcast television.

Out of curiosity, the Shoebox Team has looked into how our own videos are holding up on the market, and with positive results. In a little over three months, Dem Far Rock Boys have received more than 1,800 views on Youtube! Of course, in perspective with some other Youtube hits, that’s nothing compared to the upwards of 100 million hits received by most Lady GaGa videos. But, hey... we’re getting there. This just goes to show that if your video is making over 100 million impressions all over the world, think of your sales!

The benefits of music videos are clear, and so is the benefit of putting them online today. But it wasn’t always so. Just think, a little over a decade ago, if a musician wanted a music video as a promotional tool, they not only had to hire a large production company to make it happen, but the only outlet for them was TV channels like MTV, where broadcasting costs are hundreds of thousands of dollars! How did this even happen!? By the time you spend all this money, it seems that your promotional tool is no longer helping you financially, but hurting you!

Today, it’s feasible to work with music videos that are lower budget. Of course, it depends on your approach, but some artists are embracing the lo-fi style. The band OK Go, as an example, used a very simplistic approach to their videos for “A Million Ways”, and “Here It Goes Again” in 2005-2006. Both videos were widely received via Youtube and other video sharing websites. Many artists have exploited the same style videos, often only recording in one take, or one static camera angle. Some even recording themselves! Soulja Boy Tel ‘Em and Marie Digby received fame initially by releasing videos online. I can’t leave out Vampire Weekend who recorded their music video for “Cousins” in a Manhattan alleyway, with a few simple concepts: a lateral dolly move, jump cuts, and confetti. In fact, they didn’t even make an effort to hide the camera dolly itself! Not to say this is wrong, but it’s entirely different than videos of the past, where most efforts (and high dollars) were spent enforcing a “suspension of disbelief”.

With the advent of superior internet video quality, we’re now able to distribute these low budget projects to a world-wide audience at a fraction of the cost it would take to broadcast them via television. A few internet users have commented that it’s preferable, even, to watch content on their computers, rather than a television. “...Due to online music, one need not wait to watch their favorite artists perform or anxiously wait for their favorite music video to appear on the screen,” says Amit Salkar of EzineArticles.com. Others have spoken wonders about Hulu offering freedom of choice when their schedules are busy. My father has also admitted that when at work, he’ll use Youtube as a playlist for his favorite songs. With the newest technology integrating web video with household televisions and entertainment centers, internet TV seems to be the wave of the future. It offers a more personalized approach to marketing, and therefor, a more effective approach as well.

So one can’t help but wonder, what’s the future of independent music videos? What’s the next trend? I’ve seen several occurrences of episodic music videos. Artists such as the Jonas Brothers and Siran have taken this approach with an attempt to spread out a project into several promotions rather than just one advertisement per song. I have to say, I’m have not yet been swayed by this method... but maybe it will grow on me. Another trend seems to be embracing viral user-generated video. Modest Mouse has done this a couple times, but for the most part, user-generated videos are seen as copyright infringements. With advancements in 3D video, the steady decrease in equipment pricing, and the broader acceptance of guerrilla-style filmmaking, I have no doubt that many new and exciting music video trends are right around the corner.

A 3D music video? Oh heck yeah, it’s gonna happen.