There are many different forms of promotion that can be used to promote a music video or the artist/artists that made the music video. For example, social media accounts and websites can be used to promote a music video whereas a film can be promoted through posters and trailers but can also be promoted through websites and social media.
How are artists/music videos promoted? How has this changed in recent years
Record labels tend to start the massive promotion of music. The promotional effort needs a lot of work from many people. Here are some of the factors that impact the promotion of a music video:
- Marketing- Marketing workers create advertising and publicity for an album or music video. They make artworks for album covers, promotional videos, in-store displays, promotional merchandise and many other forms of promotion
- Promotion- These workers are responsible for getting your music video online and on video sharing sites, which is basically the goal of the program because if it is viewed on websites and YouTube, you'll be able to sell more records and albums and will be able to make more money
- Sales- Salespeople are the ones that that get your music into music stores and online retailers where they can be sold. Unless you are writing your own songs, record sales are your bread and butter
- Artist Development- As some artists sell more records and music after touring and live performances, there's a requirement for tour support, which is provided by record label's workers who are responsible for the artist's development. "Tour support" is the amount of money someone loses when touring. For example, if it costs someone $80, 000 to go on tour and you make $50, 000 doing it, you need $30, 000 in tour support. Artist development means running promotions in towns where you will be touring.
- Video Distribution Networks- Video players such as YouTube and VEVO can improve the reach of your music video and bring it to wider audiences. It can also help promote information about your music such as tour dates and album releases. This can be liked and watched by millions of people which would allow the video to get more traction and more promotion through social media. However, music videos can be promoted through other online video players such as Roku Apps and Video Detective.
- Additional Video Content- Once, you have a music video, work to pump out additional content. Research live content in cities that you could tour. Shows such as Balcony TV, Serial Box presents and Live and Breathing can provide focused exposure within a local network and broader exposure through the internet.
How music videos are promoted has changed drastically over the last 20 years. The first music videos ever created were movies with speech and sound in the 1920s. The first time music videos were used to promote music was Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender, Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock and Pink Floyd - Live at the Pompeii. TV shows such as America's Top Ten and Top of the Pops were the first to promote music on TV. The introduction of the internet in the early 1990s changed how music videos were promoted. Once sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube came to existence in the early 2000s, this helped increase the traction, audience reach and popularity of music videos through social media.
What different forms of marketing and innovative marketing do we see?
In the past year, music artists used innovative ways to grabs fans' attention by deliberately blurring the lines between music, art, theatre and experience. The new approach to music marketing was perfectly epitomised by the release of Beyonce's visual album 'Lemonade' in April 2016 which made the world sit up and take notice. She previously attracted attention through her politically charged single 'Formation' in February 2016.
Visual albums weren't only confined to global music stars. Up and coming music artists such 18 year old singer Mahalia from Birmingham created a 10 track audiovisual mixtape and released a new track every fortnight along with a video. Marketing director Hannah Neaves said: "it allowed her the creative freedom to tell her very specific story of growing up via audio visual as well as the pure audio".
Ocean took an online/offline approach to promote their music, distributing 'Blond' exclusively on Apple Music and also in pop up shops in New York, Chicago, London and LA. The album came with a 360-page glossy magazine containing photos, interviews and exclusive lyrics penned by collaborator Kanye West. Their distribution mix of independent record shops and streaming, combined with teasing exclusives on social media and the creation of a premium physical product typifies the evolving nature of music marketing.
Domino Records devised bespoke campaigns for each artist on their diverse roster, which included the likes of The Last Shadow Puppets, Hot Chip and Wild Beasts. Each campaign was based on an understanding of the album, the existing fan base and potential new audiences, as well as how the artist wanted to communicate and where the product sat in that current market.
Grime artist Skepta, who grew up in North London, explored a combination of social and guerilla marketing ahead of his homecoming gig at Alexandra Palace in December 2016. Working with music marketing agency Diabolical, Skepta put up cryptic posters around near Finsbury Park showing a blurred image of his face on postage stamps. He then returned at night and filmed himself spraying posters with details of the gig, sharing the videos on Instagram.
How has technological convergence and the proliferation hardware changed how music products are marketed?
In recent years, technological convergence changed how music products are marketed, especially music videos. For example, the emergence of social medias such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube have all contribute to the improved marketing of all music products. Especially in the 2010s, all major music artists have used their social media accounts to promote and market their music videos, albums and singles. In addition, social media has provided a platform for up and coming young artists to promote and market their music to a large following and audience. This allows smaller music artists to gain more popularity and sell more music in order to be successful. Therefore, this allows them to get record deals with major music and record companies.
In terms of proliferation of hardware, more and more internet-enabled smart devices coming into circulation has significantly improved the marketing of music products. It has also allowed music artists to promote and market their music across multiple and different platforms such as iPhones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and games consoles.
