Does Your Music Video Have These 5 Secret Weapons?

by Cari Cole

You get back what you put in. It’s the law of physics. Are you leaving your art / craft half-baked? Do you get so excited to release something that you rush to put it out there knowing it could have been better if you had more time + money? But you do it anyway just to see what happens?

Well, it’s not going to fly, you can’t “fool the people!” – they’re going to compare your video to the best, so you need to make it count! Honestly speaking, give crap, get crap. You won’t fly unless you have content worth it’s wings. Just to be clear here, we are talking about a professional video – not a live one in this instance.

So be sure you have these Top 5 Secret Weapons for your next music video and the results will be in your lap.

1. A Great Song: Is your song REALLY worth the investment? Don’t compare your songs to crap on the radio. In order to breakthrough as a new unheard artist your stuff has to be exceptional – no joke. So you need a great song, not just a good one.

The elements of a great song are:

• Great lyrics that resonate like a divining rod straight to the solar plexus. A song with a strong message cuts through the clutter and puts you ahead of the rest. Who are you as an artist – do your lyrics reflect that?
• An insane infectious melody and groove. I find either the lyrics, the melody or the groove are one (or two!) of the elements left by the wayside. You can’t compete with B cuts – you have to stand out to get noticed. No matter how great your video is, if you don’t have the song to make it fly, it won’t get out of the gate. Again, you really can’t fool anyone.
• A song that raises the hairs on your arm and everyone else’s too (and I don’t mean friends and family) is worth making an investment in a professional video. Otherwise, keep going back to the drawing board until you have something great. THEN do a video (or stick to covers until that time.)

2. Broadcast Quality Music: Don’t do your record on Garageband all by yourself and do a video to it. It’s not going to fly. There are many reasons for this the main one being that you need a record that is broadcast quality to be taken seriously. Especially if you are investing in a serious video (casual cover videos aside.)

Oh and … please … make sure your vocals are amazing. In tune, great phrasing – toil over them – for me ;). I see too many videos with below par vocals. Don’t do it.

3. The Cool Factor: Innovative Video Techniques: Slow-motion/fast motion, animation, innovative video editing (watch Goyte: Somebody That I Used to Know.)

Find a director, producer, or cinematographer who is shooting compelling videos with fresh concepts. You want something that fits your style of music and stands out from the crowd.

Do your own research to find music videos you love (in and outside of your genre). Combine your favorite elements from each video to help come up with a concept that you can bring to a director to get the ideas flowing. Remember: the goal is to have something so amazing that everyone wants to click the “share” button!

Strong + Innovative Production: A live video is generally not going to cut it. A pro video is a better choice to represent you and draws people in. Once you have some good pro content you can pepper it in with live stuff, but only show stuff that really rocks – be picky – your audience and competition is.

4. Visually Appealing: Art direction is a job for a reason. You need to make sure every part of your video looks good and reflects your brand. When in doubt – cleaner is better. Too many fonts or transitions or clutter in the background screams unprofessional. Find someone looking to build their portfolio as an art director to work for credit. If they know you’re putting out a very professional product, it will help their career too!

Main point: Every visual element of your video needs to be deliberate. Nothing is left to chance. And nothing looks out of place or unprofessional. That means professional hair, makeup and styling please! Your image is more important than you think.

5. It’s All About the Eyes: Your eyes are the window to your soul, and if you never look at the camera – we’re missing the most important part of you! It isn’t just nudity that makes Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” video compelling – it is that there are close ups on her face. Her eyes are prominent and we see the emotion. Look at almost any successful music video and you will find intimate shots of the artist with their eyes focused on the camera. And let’s face it – if you aren’t compelling on camera, you’re going to have a hard time making it in this business.

The secret – is not trying too hard. People can always tell when you’re uncomfortable, not being yourself or over-doing it. Sometimes the only way out is through! Don’t shoot your video until you’ve practiced singing your song in front of the camera and have played it back to yourself to make sure you look cool and not like you’re terrified (or overdoing it!) Try to get the honest opinion of a friend with film experience. Working the camera is a skill – you have to keep trying until you get it just right. Then commit that to your muscle memory so you do it right on set, when it really counts!

Follow this advice and you’ll have a music video that will actually gain attention from fans and industry and spread your music like wildfire!

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