-Back in the day, bands having music videos seemed like a dream, a luxury. They were usually paid for by the record companies-because, back then, they were the only ones who could afford the price tag of making one. How things have changed….

-Today, you can use your cell phone or camcorder (web cam?) & record live performance, interviews-even simple concept videos. You can also do more complex concept videos requiring more advanced software but even some lower end editing software can do a lot. So you make a video-next step is to show it. But where? Well, you could host it on your own site right? Not bad-but bandwidth usage costs from personal sites can add up. That’s when you go to the “free” sites-the most popular of which is You Tube.

-If you haven’t started to put videos of your band/music up on You Tube-I would suggest doing so ASAP. You want to reach as many people as possible and this is potentially how to do it.

-At the very least, there are 2 types of videos to put up. One is live performance video. Usually from a single source-this allows people who can’t make it to your shows to have the next best thing. Plus it allows them to watch it in the comfort of their own home. In addition,they can watch it again (& again) if they like it. Better-they can leave comments (although sometimes that’s not better, per say, cause you can get some really ugly comments as well). Then, after doing this, not only can you send out links to your page/videos, but you can get an embed code for the videos themselves and put that on your website-so now when people watch it, they’re using You Tube’s bandwidth-not yours. Whether it’s links and/ or embedding, you can potentially promo your music anywhere that allows it via this method.

-The 2nd kind of video is for those who have audio recordings of their music. While it could be live tracks, it’s better to have studio tracks-the best that you can make. By using either a single picture (like a CD cover) or a slide show of different pics, you can sync your music to those images and-there you go-you have a video. This is good to have for people who may be interested in downloading your music and want to hear a studio version of it before doing so.

-Next month I’ll get more into You Tube like how to set up a page & more tips on how to make You Tube work for you.

-Also-I apologize for “BAND PRIMER” not being in last month’s issue. I got tied up with too many things and when I got the time to write, the deadline had already passes. I’ll work harder to make sure that doesn’t happen again. See you next month!

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