Introduction
Do music movies nonetheless matter? The brief reply is sure, however the function of the music video has modified since 1980’s MTV.
At present, music video views usually path behind music streams. In accordance with ChartMetric, 36 of the highest 40 tracks launched between 2022 and 2023 had accompanying music movies and on common, these movies garnered 374M views whereas the tracks accrued a staggering 1.1B streams.
And whereas there’s some variation within the differential throughout regional markets and genres, the hole between video views and music streams counsel that conventional music movies will not be the first music discovery software they as soon as had been.
However that shouldn’t be shocking to any of as we speak’s indie musicians, who’ve come to know social media because the predominant platforms for fan engagement. In accordance with Yaguara, short-form movies obtain 2.5 instances extra engagement than long-form movies and artists are utilizing these clips to develop their viewers and convert viewers into music listeners. Followers of in style musicians are routinely served behind-the-scenes seems to be, press function collabs, each day vlog-type content material, and music visualizers that create an immersive world that drives fandom.
On this information, we’ll present you methods to leverage video throughout codecs to develop your viewers, maintain followers engaged, and construct such a digital world round your artistry.
10 methods you have to be leveraging video in 2025
1. The official music video
A lead single makes an ideal candidate for a music video. Usually, you must select a music that seems like your greatest step ahead. From there, it’s about growing a video that captures the aesthetic, experiences, and themes of your launch.
YouTube tends to be the primary house for full-length music movies. You’ll be able to break up the video into smaller clips to create advert content material for Fb and Instagram, the place you may hook first time listeners and drive them to your socials or streaming platform pages.
Let’s be clear: the standard full-song video remains to be related and worthwhile for as we speak’s impartial musician. However content material tendencies counsel solely your high followers will dedicate the time to observe a full video, so plan and measure efficiency of your music movies accordingly.
2. The music snippet video
Pleased with a hook you wrote on the newest album? That’s the place a brief snippet video is available in. Usually, these clips embrace the refrain, breakdown, or foremost riff of a music.
Quick snippet movies are nice for social media promoting and natural TikTok posts, the place you’re trying to cease the scroll with an attention-grabbing clip. Music snippets hook a brand new fan to your music and depart them wanting extra. Improve your music snippets with a call-to-action and a hyperlink to your newest music.
3. Visualizations
A visualization is a refined graphic factor that has some dynamic change to it. Many instances it may be a picture of your album artwork or equally branded visuals.
Visualizations will not be narrational in any method. They’re simply movies that may loop with out folks realizing they’re looping. They’ll act as a form of bridge between your official video and a music snippet. Once you’re posting your music on social media, a visualization can function a background to a name to motion or caption.
4. Lyric movies and/or karaoke movies
A lyric video is simply what its title implies: a video with the the lyrics to your music going throughout the display screen. Diehard followers love lyric movies, even once they’re finished very merely!
If you happen to’ve already made an official video in your massive music, you may take small parts of that and make brief movies with the lyrics to the hook and even the verses over the video. This doesn’t take a lot work and you’ll have two or three small lyric movies fairly simply. As talked about earlier, these sort of snippet movies can work very well on TikTok.
5. Artwork observe movies
Have you ever ever listened to a music on YouTube and the accompanying video was simply the album artwork as a static picture? That’s an Artwork Monitor video. YouTube Music mechanically creates these for all songs in its catalog. If you happen to distribute an album to YouTube Music, they’ll create an Artwork Monitor video for every particular person music.
CD Child distributes to YouTube Music. So in the event you’re distributing your music with us, your songs have already got Artwork Monitor movies on YouTube!
6. Spotify Canvas and Apple Movement Movies
Spotify Canvas is a vertical video format on Spotify that loops footage the artist chooses whereas the music performs.
Typically artists will choose part of their music video that’s three to eight seconds lengthy. The important thing right here is that it’s a bit of the video that appears good looping, so be sure that to decide on one thing that’s not too particular to at least one part of the music. Footage of your vocalist lip-syncing the hook seems to be bizarre when it’s looping and out of sync.
If you happen to’re following this record so as and making movies as you go, you’ll have already got some songs snippets made. These can work nice for Spotify Canvas movies. Simply lower an element right down to eight seconds and add it via your Spotify for Artists account.
As with different types of video we’ve coated right here, Rotor makes it tremendous straightforward to make Spotify Canvas movies. Enroll now and add your video to simply make edits!
7. Quick-form video
Of all of the objects on this record, short-form movies are presently the most popular pattern — with the widest doable taking part in subject. From Instagram Reels, to TikTok and YouTube Shorts, short-form movies are massively in style on as we speak’s social media platforms.
The title is self-explanatory. A brief-form video is a fast video that’s one minute, 30 seconds and even 15 seconds lengthy. These are supposed to be seen shortly, shared with fellow customers of the video platform, after which scrolled previous to the subsequent video.
The principle distinction between a short-form video and full size video is that short-form movies are typically extra informal in nature. On this case, the extra beginner and fewer skilled your video seems to be, the higher it’s more likely to carry out (so long as the thought or the idea is inventive and fascinating, in fact). And so they don’t even have to have your music in them in any respect.
Quick-form movies are enjoyable, foolish and off the cuff. For viewers, they’re a peak into your life while you’re not writing or recording your subsequent masterpiece. They’re meant that can assist you join along with your followers and potential followers.
8. Cowl music movies
Cowl songs might be very helpful in serving to draw consideration to your music, particularly in the event you select the fitting music to cowl in your video. YouTube cowl music movies are whole cottage trade and have been for over a decade, with some artists recording cowl music movies solely and by no means making an attempt unique compositions.
When you don’t must go that far, making a couple of movies of you masking your favourite songs might be an especially efficient strategy to increase your viewers. Simply don’t choose too deep of a lower. Choose one thing acceptable in your style or viewers (or completely off the wall if you wish to play into the silliness of a hardcore band masking an ’80s pop music) and get to work!
9. Dwell movies
Word that we didn’t say “livestream” video. That’s one thing else solely.
A dwell video is simply that: a video of you taking part in in a dwell setting.
That is essential if you wish to work with a expertise purchaser or pageant booker. Business professionals who work in a dwell capability wish to know you may placed on an excellent present, and a dwell video is proof of that. They’re not solely taking a look at your set or particular person music for efficiency high quality, but additionally the viewers’s enthusiasm. As a result of it doesn’t matter in case your chops are distinctive if the viewers is disinterested (or non-existent).
And it ought to go with out saying, however be sure that the dwell video is definitely good! Rent an actual digicam one who is aware of what they’re doing to arrange store on the proper spot with good tools. Be certain the digicam pans over the group a couple of instances to seize their response. And afterwards, combine the sound so viewers can really hear what you’re taking part in.
10. Behind the scenes movies
There are heaps of choices for this final one. A behind the scenes video might be something from simply setting your telephone up and speaking to your digicam in regards to the which means of a music, or a novel expertise that occurred to you, or an announcement like a brand new album or tour.
If you happen to actually wish to go the additional mile, a behind the scenes video may even be a completed documentary-style video in regards to the making of your new album, or a tour diary that’s finished as a collection. Something that lets your followers see what you’re like in actual life.
Like we talked about within the short-form video part, behind the scenes movies work nice on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. A fast video of you working towards a brand new approach on an instrument, studying a canopy music (which you should utilize to tease a forthcoming video that includes that music) or displaying off a few of your different hobbies can go a protracted strategy to your viewers connecting with you on a deeper degree.
Passing the ten Level Check for High quality
Does your video go the check in these 10 areas? Ask your self the next questions.
- Shareability — Is the video relatable, topical, or exceptional? Will the viewer really feel cool or educated once they share the video with associates?
- Dialog — Does this video assist me talk with my followers, both immediately IN the video, or as a dialog starter for different interactions (within the feedback part on YouTube or elsewhere)? Will I seem comfy and genuine?
- Interactivity — Does the video interact the viewers in a roundabout way? Does it ask a query of them, showcase their participation, or encourage them to contribute to future movies?
- Consistency — Is there a component on this video that happens all through all my movies? A well-known face, setting, approach, or theme? Is the video “packaged” in a method that appears according to my different movies? Am I posting on a schedule?
- Focusing on — Do I do know who this video is FOR? Who’s my viewers, and is that this video going to entertain or inform that viewers? Will that viewers be concerned with solely THIS video, or will they take pleasure in my different movies too?
- Sustainability — Do I’ve what it takes to maintain doing this?
- Discoverability — Will my video present up in YouTube search outcomes and be beneficial as a associated video? Am I utilizing sensible key phrases and titles?
- Accessibility — Can a brand new viewer watch this video and respect it with out having seen any of your earlier movies? In different phrases, can this video stand alone?
- Collaboration — Is there a possibility to work with one other artist with a loyal following on YouTube? Can I function them in such a method in order that they’re happy with the outcomes, and can wish to share this video with their viewers?
- Inspiration — Do I actually wish to make this video?
Let Followers Discover Your Movies: search engine optimization Finest Practices for Video
Make it it straightforward for followers to seek out your movies by following greatest practices for search engine optimization and guarantee your movies seem in search engine outcomes pages (SERPs). Meaning correctly importing your movies to seize the key phrases and intent of the fan trying to find your content material.
Let’s break that down.
- Title: That is essentially the most important factor. Be certain in the event you’re importing your music to a platform like YouTube, give it an correct title then standardize your formatting. Reminiscent of “Artist Identify – Music Title [Official Video]”
- Description: Describe the content material of the video, focusing particularly on the primary couple sentences that may seem in SERPs and different short-hand video listings. Under that, you may embrace key info reminiscent of music lyrics and related hyperlinks to allow viewers to have interaction additional along with your paintings.
- Tags: Offering your content material with key phrase tags might help make it extra searchable and much more discoverable by new followers with related pursuits. Platforms like YouTube will create some tags mechanically, but it surely’s useful to evaluation them and optimize them in your content material.
- Thumbnail: Maybe an neglected facet, your thumbnail is the very first thing a fan sees earlier than clicking into your content material. Select a thumbnail that represents your content material and intrigues somebody to click on.
Drive Engagement with Quick-Type Movies
Quick-form movies are distinct for his or her snappy content material, usually scrappy manufacturing, and extra personable really feel. This sort of content material is a pointy distinction to longer type content material, however might be equally creative! Right here’s how one can make nice social media movies that showcase your chops.
Step 1: Discover Your “Factor”
Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts reward content material that grabs consideration quick. It’s your job because the video creator to determine what facet of your musicality you wish to showcase in your movies. Are your lyrics the star of the present, or do your instrumental or vocal abilities rise above? Possibly you’re a manufacturing wizard, or your band has an superior in-the-pocket groove.
Spend a while contemplating what you most wish to spotlight about your group’s music or about your self as a musician. Listed below are some examples of musicians and bands who’ve discovered their “factor”:
Step 2: Collect Your Instruments
As a musician, you know the way straightforward it may be to fall down the rabbit holes of drugs.
Fortunately, like music, the gear used to make movies isn’t at all times crucial factor – it’s the product you get from utilizing it. You don’t have to purchase the most costly digicam, microphone, or software program to make good content material. The extent of complexity you wish to have with video manufacturing is actually as much as you, and it could develop and adapt over time alongside along with your skillset.
Listed below are three ranges of manufacturing you should utilize for reference:
Fundamental – At present’s cell telephones have wonderful cameras and microphones constructed proper in. Use your telephone to shoot and edit your movies natively within the apps you’ll be posting to.
Elevated – Degree up by fine-tuning the settings in your telephone’s digicam and capturing independently from the social apps. Use the “again” digicam (the one reverse the display screen aspect) and set your gadget to file in 4k, 60fps. Pair this tactic with an audio recording gadget like a Zoom recorder, Audigo, or one other mic hooked as much as your telephone with an iRig Professional I/O. Attempt utilizing easy software program to edit your movies reminiscent of ByteDance’s CapCut, Instagram’s Edits, InShot, or iMovie.
Superior – In order for you your movies to look and sound polished, strive capturing with a higher-quality digital digicam reminiscent of a Canon G7X III, EOS R100, or Sony ZV1-F. For audio, use a pleasant mic and audio interface, and go as heavy or gentle on the manufacturing in your digital audio workstation as you need. Use any video modifying software program you like, however strive Remaining Lower Professional, Adobe Premiere Professional, or DaVinci Resolve.
Step 3: Discover Your Setting
Location, location, location. Discovering an ideal spot to shoot your movies can elevate them considerably and make them stand out from the pack. The outside can provide superb views in the event you’re keen to make your setup moveable. Search for settings which might be stunning or visually fascinating in a roundabout way. If you happen to favor to remain indoors (or the climate’s on the gloomy aspect), arrange your house in a method that showcases your character. Clear up, dangle artwork, and make your house match the vibe of the music–no less than within the portion of the room that may seem on digicam!
Step 4: Make It
Now it’s time for the enjoyable half: making the content material. Put aside an excellent chunk of time to arrange, hit file, and get a take that you simply’re proud of. It could take some time to get a run that you simply be ok with posting (particularly in the event you’re new to the method), and that’s okay. Don’t drive your self loopy making an attempt to get a take that’s 100% good – good is the enemy of excellent.
If you happen to’re recording with a bunch of individuals, make sure you test in with each band member about how every take went for them personally. Your personal greatest take might not have been your bandmate’s greatest, and vice versa. Don’t end the shoot till you may all agree on “the one.”
Step 5: Make a Video, Then One other, Then One other…
Like music, capturing, modifying, and publishing movies is a realized talent that you would be able to get higher and sooner at with constant repetition. Observe, anybody?
One nice methodology to enhance your modifying chops is to discover a social video that you simply like, and attempt to recreate it. Bear in mind while you first began studying methods to cowl your favourite songs? You realized new chord progressions, instrumental/vocal methods, or lyrical turns of phrase that finally made you a greater musician. By studying to recreate the edits you see in these movies, you’ll be higher geared up to make nice content material in your personal music shortly and effectively.
Step 6: Keep Organized With a Content material Calendar
When you’re in your toes with creating and posting video content material in your music, chances are you’ll discover it helpful to create a social media content material calendar. Content material calendars are precisely what they sound like: day-by-day plans of when, the place, and what to publish. Attempt setting easy targets for your self, like posting a music efficiency video each week on Mondays. Or, create a content material plan round your upcoming launch, outlining while you’ll publish teaser movies, behind-the-scenes content material, and movies showcasing your musical skills, all main as much as and following launch day. You’ll be able to even batch-create and schedule content material to be revealed later utilizing in-app instruments within the platforms or a third-party social media administration service.
Deliver Your Music to Life with Spotify Canvas Movies
Alongside related strains to short-form movies, Spotify Canvas movies are tremendous short-form movies that may deliver your album artwork to life. These looping clips are seen behind your album artwork as followers play your music on Spotify.
And do you know that utilizing Spotify’s Canvas function encourages listeners to work together along with your music? Spotify’s knowledge backs it up. In case your music has a high-quality Canvas video, listeners are:
- 145% extra more likely to share your observe
- 20% extra seemingly so as to add your observe to a playlist
- 9% extra more likely to go to your artist profile
- 5% extra more likely to stream your music
With the Canvas function, you may add 3-8 second looping movies for every of your tracks on Spotify. These visuals assist you to construct a right away, high-impact emotional reference to present and potential followers, and present that you simply’re severe about your music.
Now you can make Canvas movies shortly and simply utilizing CDB Video Creator. Right here’s how!
Step 1: Entry the Video Creator
Log in to your CD Child account and entry the CDB Video Creator via Your Movies below the Handle tab. Select the music or album you wish to make movies for out of your present distributed releases.
Step 2: Choose your background
Select your required background from our intensive library (over 1,000,000 clips!) or add your video.
Step 3: Add results
Use the modifying software to refine the choice and trim the clip for a selected vary — proper right down to the millisecond. Improve your video with premium types and results, tailoring it to match your creative vibe.
Step 4: Choose your loop
Optimize the looping impact by selecting from three choices: Laborious-Lower, Rebound, and Fade Repeat.
Step 5: You’re nearly finished!
Preview your creation, add your audio for synchronization, pay in your video, and obtain it. That’s it!
When you’ve downloaded your video, you may log in to your Spotify for Artists account and add it there so as to add it to your observe.
How do I add my Canvas video to Spotify?
Comply with these steps:
- Choose the related observe inside Spotify for Artists
- Click on the + to pick the fitting music
- Select the video out of your digicam roll, or drag and drop out of your desktop
- Trim the video to between 3-8 seconds
- Overview and click on Subsequent to add
- Confirm your proper to publish the video content material, then share it on social media
- Canvas movies give listeners an thrilling new strategy to interact along with your music. However keep in mind: With a purpose to use Canvas, you want to be a verified artist on Spotify.
CD Child makes Spotify artist verification quick and easy. When you’re a CD Child shopper and also you’ve claimed your Spotify for Artists account, you must see Canvas as an possibility.
Achieve Followers by Turning Movies into Adverts
You’ll be able to immediately flip any Spotify observe or YouTube video into an attention grabbing, interactive advert that’s playable throughout the present window, utilizing Present.co’s Advert Builder software. You’ll be able to goal advertisements at music followers who go to web sites associated to your style, so they’re the fitting viewers.
These advertisements are easy to construct and extremely efficient. In truth, interactive advertisements get 4 instances extra outcomes than conventional, static banner advertisements.
The best way to create an Interactive Advert in your music:
- First, go to Present.co’s Advert Builder software and create an “Interactive Advert”
- Subsequent, drop within the URL to certainly one of your YouTube movies, or a observe on Spotify, Apple Music, or Soundcloud
- Inform us the place you need folks to GO once they click on in your advert
- Then customise your advert and preview the way it seems to be in real-time
- Lastly, select the place you need your advert to seem, set your funds, and launch your music into the world!
With Advert Builder, it now takes lower than 5 minutes to create an interactive advert that may attain actual music followers on-line. All you want is a hyperlink to your music on Spotify or YouTube. We’ll do the remainder.
Conclusion
Whether or not you’re making ready to movie your first music video or searching for methods to enhance your short-form video technique, we hope this information helps orient you to the main pillars of video for as we speak’s musician.
The sheer number of video instruments and channels out there to artists as we speak can really feel overwhelming, however listed below are 5 key takeaways from the information.
- Music movies nonetheless matter, however they’ve advanced: Full-length music movies are extra for superfans than for discovery. Most music discovery occurs through short-form, social-first video codecs.
- Quick-form video is essentially the most highly effective software in 2025: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube shorts dominate fan engagement. Goal for consistency and don’t sweat the manufacturing: snappy, lofi, and genuine movies will outperform overly polished content material
- Leverage native video instruments like Spotify Canvas: Canvas can enhance shares, profile visits, and playlist provides by displaying Spotify you’re taking the platform critically.
- Promote your video content material like a marketer: Interactive advertisements (through instruments like Present.co) can flip your movies into clickable, monetizable belongings. Adverts that embed your music immediately might help drive streams and empower you to gather extra granular viewers knowledge.
- Video search engine optimization is vital for gaining traction: Make your music simply searchable and suggestible by following greatest practices for search engine optimization