5 Tips On How To Make The Most Out Of Your Music Video

By Katie Garibaldi

(Originally published in Fair Play Country Music magazine, Special Edition, 2020)

In a social media world with content galore, as an artist, promoting your music is just as important as creating it, if not more so. Writing and recording a great song is super, but alas, how do you cut through the plethora of material out there to get people to actually hear your beautiful song?

Things like blog interviews, radio play, live touring, and TV appearances are all great ways to bring exposure to your songs. And then there’s the music video.

But artists, do not be fooled into thinking the music video is just another bullet point to check off your album/single release checklist before moving on to the next promo tactic. Through my experience I’ve learned that a music video should be considered it’s own separate entity in a way, a special and unique opportunity that goes far beyond putting a moving image to music. It’s a chance for you to express yourself artistically in a fresh way, providing you with a separate medium to promote your album using untraditional methods so that new audiences can discover your music who would have otherwise never heard of you.

My music career as a singer/songwriter has become much more well known in recent years due to my music videos. I’d made a couple small videos in 2014 and ‘15, but it was with the release of my music video “Delightful” in 2016 that I started seeing the unique opportunities that the art of the music video presented, and learned to use them to their fullest potential. “Delightful” has now won over 50 awards from international film festivals and music competitions and has led me to priceless career advancements. A lot of people know about me because of that song, and it’s all because of the music video.

My 2017 music video “Unhappy Holiday” is currently a 40-time award-winner from film fests and is still screening worldwide. Another video I released at 2017’s end, “Star in the East” (a claymation music film), is also still making the film festival rounds and has been awarded shy of 20 accolades to date. In 2018 I released my music videos “Safe and Warm (Lullaby for Jesus)” and “Wonderful Mother Mary,” both of which I had a hand in the production aspect of, which has driven my career into the film market and taken my music to unplanned places.

I’d love to share the following five tips of advice with you that I’ve discovered through doing my video work that I think might be insightful for releasing and promoting your own productions.

1. Tell A New Story

Okay, you’ve decided to make a music video—congrats! You’ve established a video budget and you’re ready to rock and roll. So what do you want to do? As the songwriter, you probably have a personal connection to the story in your song and/or a specific visual representation to the storyline of the lyrics already in your head. But the song’s story doesn’t necessarily need to be the same exact story portrayed in your video. You have a blank canvas. Now’s the time to get creative! Can you tell a completely different story in the video narrative than the one in the song, while still honoring your message? What can you do that’s unexpected? What emotions can you give the audience with the video that your song doesn’t already give them on its own accord?

My song “Unhappy Holiday” is a blue Christmas story about drinking in a bar during the holidays and missing the one you love. We did a Nashville honky tonk theme and stuck pretty true to the story and emotions in the song throughout the video, but the director suggested a different ending for the video that is not depicted in the song, and I loved it! So even if someone’s already heard my song, by watching the video they’re now able to get a surprise ending and experience “Unhappy Holiday” in a completely new way.

2. Break The Release Rules

When it comes to how and when to release a video, there is no one way. The best route is the one that’s going to support your cause of getting your song out to as many people as possible. Maybe you decide to release a big-production video at the time of your album release followed by a few smaller budget videos throughout the year. When you release an album, chances are not everyone in your network buys or streams the whole record and so there are songs they haven’t heard, even well after its debut. I released my video “Safe and Warm (Lullaby for Jesus)” from my Home Sweet Christmas album about 10 months after the album came out and a lot of people responded saying, “I love your new song!” It wasn’t a new song, but the video was new, and now I had an opening to say, “Thanks! It’s from my Home Sweet Christmas album, available on iTunes here.”

Have fun with the way you release your video too. Don’t just put it up on YouTube and expect people to find it. Some release ideas include: an exclusive premiere with a blog, a video release show, a Facebook live video to introduce the live premiere on Facebook or YouTube that you can invite people to in advance, or a world premiere film festival screening.

3. Film Festival Circuit

Speaking of film festivals, don’t forget film festivals! Did you know that a lot of independent film fests accept submissions in the music video category? It’s an incredible opportunity to share your music with film lovers worldwide and gain new potential fans.

Research a festival, and if it seems like a good fit and your video falls under their criteria and submission rules, submit your project and wait to hear the first round of results (official selections). If your video is selected, it will be screened to a live audience (if the fest has live screenings) and may move on to nomination and award status. Accolades are a great addition to your bio and EPK, but more than that, your music is being exposed to brand new eyes and ears!

Don’t stop at submitting. Promote your selections, screenings, and awards on your social media and website, and even better, show up! There’s nothing like representing your video in person by walking the red carpet, shaking hands, and passing out business cards. Talk to filmmakers at the fest to see if they are in need of music for their upcoming films. If the festival provides educational experiences like film panels, can you contact them ahead of time to inquire about speaking on one to give your perspective as an artist? Make the most out of it and get your name out there! You might even meet potential folks to produce your next video.

4. Tell The Press To Press Play!

Music industry professionals and critics are inundated with music on a daily basis to review and cover new material. Sending them a link to your songs is great, but when you send someone a link to a music video, it’s like giving them a two-in-one special! They are usually more likely to click on a video than an audio link, and a video is a great piece of material to reach out to press for review coverage. Maybe a writer sang praises for your album with a glowing review. Later on, you can keep the relationship going by following up to let them know about your new video and see if they’ll share it with their social networks.

If you sponsor any gear companies or have endorsement contracts, be sure to include those products in your video to expand press outreach as well. I’m sponsored with Breedlove Guitars and use my custom guitar in my music video “Delightful.” I contacted Breedlove to let them know about the video and they shared it with their network of followers, exposing my music to thousands of new listeners. Alternatively, if you’re playing an instrument or wearing a brand of clothing in your video that you’re trying to get a sponsorship with, share the link with your desired company (especially once you’ve racked up some views, press quotes, and awards). They may want to collaborate with you by seeing the successful work you’ve done with your video. If you filmed at clearly marked independent businesses, can you contact city press to get coverage in the local paper? Oh the possibilities!

5. Give Back To Get Views

You can also use your music video to help support a good cause, which in turn gives your song/video more exposure to new people, sometimes outside of the music-world bubble altogether. If your song blatantly promotes a message or cause, it can be obvious to try to team up with an appropriate non-profit in your area to cross-promote.

There’s also a cool out-of-the-box idea I tried with my last video as well. I released “Wonderful Mother Mary” a couple weeks before Christmas. During Christmastime, people are usually in the giving spirit, but with so many great efforts going around, they simply can’t donate money-wise to everything. I chose one of my favorite non-profit local organizations that I normally donate to every holiday. I told people to watch my music video and by Christmas Day, I’d match every 100 views with a $20 donation to the charity. And if they already watched it but still wanted to help me donate, they could share the YouTube link on their social media and tag me in the post for it to count as a view. This was a huge success in garnering views for my video as well as helping support a great cause. A win-win!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these five tips and that they help you get the most out of promoting your music by the wonderfully special medium—often underrated but unlike anything else in both the film and music industries—the music video!