How To Release A Music Video For Independent Musicians Part 2

Want to release your music video and not have it flop? Then you can't simply upload it to Youtube and expect the views to pour in.

Today we're going to look at how independent musicians can release a music video properly. If you haven't read it yet, you can check out part one of this guide here (opens in a new window). That will give you the beginning of this music video release strategy.

Once you've caught up on that, let's have a look at the rest of the strategy.

Upload Your Music Video To Relevant Sites Using Relevant Keywords

Once you have your video and it's approaching the release date, you'll want to upload your video online (namely to Youtube at least) and add relevant keywords. What do I mean by this? Well, keywords are words you'll want to include in your title, description and ‘keyword' area on video sites. They should be words that people are already searching for in Youtube, so when they type them in, there's a chance of finding your video.

You'll want to get both a mix of keywords relating to you, as well as other more general ones. For example, ones relating to you will include:

• Your name,
• Your band or group name,
• Anything else musically related to you which people could search for.

Other more general but still relevant things you should include are:

• The name of similar acts to you who people search for.
• General music terms such as ‘best rapper in *your area*'.
• Another example of a more general term is ‘new country singer 2015'.

Include as many of these relevant keywords as possible in the keyword area, as well as the main ones you want to rank for in your title and description. Include them naturally though, don't make it look spammy. This will help your video naturally get more views over time.

Hit Multiple Existing Promotional Channels On The Day Of Your Music Video Launch

Now, if you read the previous part to this guide, you'll know that you should have been working on getting places to promote your new music video long before the actual release of it. If you're rushing around a couple of days before you release your video to get places to promote it, not only will most of these places not feature you in time for your launch, but it'll also likely put more work on your plate than is manageable.

Don't rush to do last min promo. Be sure to contact places even a month before you release your video, giving a sneak peak of it and trying to secure a spot for your video to be showcased once it's released. Try and have most of the promo go out on the day of the music video release and the few days after.

Consider Using Paid Advertising As Part Of Your Music Video Release Strategy

Even if you contact 100 places to promote your music video, you'll find that only a small percentage of those places will respond to you and go on to promote your video on their site. The truth is, getting promotion without paying is hit and miss. That's why, if you have the money, it can be a good idea to pay to get some real eyes in front of your video.

When it comes to music videos, one of your best bets is to pay for Youtube adverts. You can pay to get your music video in front of a relevant audience when they're watching similar videos to yours. While it costs money, you're guaranteed views. And if you funnel those people on to your mailing list, you'll be able to make money back off some of them in future if they go on to buy gig tickets or your music and merch.

While paid advertising takes a while to master, it can be a handy at getting you exposure on demand. So if you've the budget to spare, consider using it.

Facebook adverts can also be good if you've more of an established fanbase.

Stagger Release More Videos And Promotions After The Video Is Out

As well as releasing your main music video, you should also release a few others alongside it after the fact. Just because the video is out there, it doesn't mean the promo is over. You should be promoting this video well into the future as there will still be millions of people who haven't yet seen it.

For example, you may release a bloopers or outtakes video between 2 weeks and a month after the main video is released. This will help to add to the hype around it all, and give fans more of what they want. Furthermore, it could help get more of your promo channels talking about you again, and likely link to your main video when they're covering these outtake bits.

Another video you can make is a ‘behind the scenes' shoot which looks at how you made the music video. Usually this is released before the video comes out, giving fans a teaser of what they have to look forward to.

A final common video is a round up one of yourself talking about how you feel the video has been received and what the ideas behind the video was. This can be released a month or two after the main music video has come out. Again, it's about refocusing people's attention of what you already have out there.

In this final video you could also talk about what you're doing next, which will get people looking forward to what else you're doing. It's all about keeping the buzz on new things while promoting older material as much as possible.

Add Your Music Video To Your Autoresponder

Fans will join you at various stages of your music career. If they join you a year after you released that video, there's a chance that they'll miss it.

If though you add an autoresponder message, a message which goes to them a certain amount of time after they join your email list (say one week after they sign up), you can include this video for the new people who find you. This means that every fan of yours who signs up to your newsletter gets to see this video and it'll continue getting views over time.

If you're not sure how to set your mailing list / newsletter and autoresponder up (one of the most powerful tools available to musicians) have a look at this guide.

Conclusion

This guide along with part one shows a good want to release your music video if you're an independent musician. It's my hope that you'll use the above tactics and have your best music video release yet.

So, are there any other tips you can add for releasing a music video properly? Let us know in the comments.