Looking at how fast everything is changing to video, from short video memes, video announcements, explainer videos, short video advertisements, casual live video, video tutorials, video video video…if you’re not getting the message by now, you need to keep reading. 

Video is taking over all other preferred mediums across social media. By the end of 2018, 80% of everything we see on social media will be video. 

While YouTube have been making noticeable changes to their video platform, we will soon see another new addition to seriously rival the massive video platform of YouTube. Have you heard? Facebook have launched their new video platform where you will be able to create ‘watchlists’, see what your friends are watching, view TV shows on Facebook with your friends and communicate with them while watching. 

It was only in 2016 that Facebook launched their live broadcast feature and it would not surprise me at all to see Facebook outrun YouTube as this year Facebook reaches 2 billion active monthly users. Why am I mentioning all this….If you haven’t started getting in front of the camera, or putting your music to video, I would highly recommend you begin now. 

Artists need to now have a video for their songs, and I am constantly surprised by the masses of talent who do not have video to their music. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune. And now-a-days, all you need is a phone and some time to put something together that can look amazing. 

There are no more excuses, we have everything at the tip of our hands. There is so much free technology which can be utilised, so why aren’t you doing it? 

Firstly, don’t  even think about competing with the major artists, so stop right there.

Extend your creative juices from your songs and place what you see in your songs into your visuals. 

Make sure your visuals are relatable to people AND to the music and lyric of the song. There’s nothing worse than seeing a music video, that has no relevance to the song or the feel of the song. 

Captions on video’s are now vital as currently 80% of people watch video’s on the mobile devices on silent, and lets not forget the deaf. Deaf people love to know the lyrics of songs, and can still feel the beat of the music through their speakers. Captions are accessible through Youtube, but there are also very inexpensive services who can turn around your video with captions for as little as $1 a min. 

When creating a music video there are so many sources you can use to make it look professional and integrate with other applications from your phone to what’s available via online sites. 

Here are a few apps and services you could use for a limited amount of money:

1. iMovie for Mac as the base for creating and editing your video’s. The primary word here; ‘editing’. 

2. ‘Lightworks’ free version and paid versions available

3.  ‘VideoBlocks’provides video footage, background loops, templates, special effects and video clips. You can also find stock images and video loops from other sites such as‘Dreamstime’.

4. Look for add ons for iMovie from the app store, as they do have text effects and other effects available. 

5. Powerpoint or Keynote – you can create great text animation using keynote or powerpoint. Here are two examples of what I have managed to do myself using a combination of Keynote, video blocks and iMovie. 

As seen in the below video’s.

 

6. There are also so many apps which you can use on your phone, such asVivaVideo, Videohance, Videorama,Videoleap and inShot to name a few.

7. Other phone apps which you can use to help with short ads or just something interesting for your fans/viewers are boomarang,Legend, Ripl (although very expensive for the full version) Magisto to name just a few. 

8. Rev.com are fantastic for creating captions for your video and to help with adding those captions, I use an application called MacX DVD Video

You can create great video effects by using a combination of apps from your phone and move them across to your desktop to complete your video creation and editing. 

Once you get your head around it, the possibilities are endless. 

If you are fortunate enough to have a budget set aside for a music video, there are now some great avenue’s such as video production teams and producers in your area.

When choosing your producer, be sure they have an understanding of music and an understanding of who you are how you want to portray yourself and your image.

In Sydney to name a few, there are Lyn Taylor or The Box Studios.

If anyone would like to comment below or share any other suggestions, please go ahead 🙂

Video, And Why You Need To Be Doing It Now!

And if in doubt, Google it! 😉