Video Stars: How Advertisers Can Tune into the New Age of Music Video

avatar
by Samuel Pordengerg Sep 16, 2022 News
Video Stars: How Advertisers Can Tune into the New Age of Music Video

Like Liam and Noel, music and video have seen rocky lows and high notes. Music channels replaced music videos with reality TV during the early and mid-2000s. Over the past decade and a half, the music video has evolved into something that is not only eye-catching, but also multi-dimensional. It is a way to connect with fans, it is an album-length narrative short film, it is a live streamed gig, it is an award show performance, and it is a fan-created reaction video.

This evolution hasTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkias has been a significant driver behind this evolutionTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkias has been a significant driver behind this evolutionTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkias has been a significant driver behind this evolutionTrademarkiaTrademarkias has been a significant driver behind this evolutionTrademarkiaTrademarkias has been Music videos are no longer just a marketing tool for record labels anymore. There are new ways for fans to connect with one another. Artists and labels are able to learn more about their audience with the help of a lot of data.

The music-related content that comes from fans themselves is even more exciting. There are deep rabbit holes to explore in reaction and lyric vids, dance or guitar lessons.

It wasn’t always the case, though. YouTube was founded in 2005, and in the early days its relationship with music wasn’t so straightforward. Ad-funded monetization wasn’t a part of YouTube until 2008 and labels’ most pressing concern was copyright infringement. Therefore, in response, the platform was focused on developing tech that could identify and block.

"That's evolved quite a lot - now we definitely see that audience insights and even just my own usage of YouTube." It's possible to start with an official music video and then watch a bunch of reaction videos. Or, you know you are going to see that artist perform on the weekend, so you go to the internet just to remember the lyrics, so you watch a lot of lyrics videos on the internet. Artists are no longer blocking other people from uploading versions of that song on the internet.

There are 80 million songs on YouTube, up from 70 million in December, giving you an idea of how much music content is flourishing.

It is kind of under- appreciated. He says that it's important to remind them of the huge reach and consumption of music on the platform.

New formats on the platform also mean that fans can engage with music-related video content in a greater variety of ways. There are visual radio stations like the iconic Lofi Girl, the studious, looping anime with over 11 million subscribers and whose ‘lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to’ live stream hosts tens of thousands of viewers at any one time, and has spawned countless imitators. Another example is music festival, Tomorrowland, which has historically used YouTube as a place to share performances from its events and has, since January this year been hosting a 24/7 stream of EDM music to background visuals of festival footage.

There is a TikTok-competitor vertical video format on the side. For musical acts, they present a new way of connecting with fans, but for labels and artists used to presenting a more polished image they take a bit of getting used to - but according to Jonathan they've been proving a useful way to build hype ahead of new song or

Jonathan says, "Where the longer form content would be the official music videos and performances, award show and other recordings of live performances, short allows them to basically continue that connection with their subscribers and their fans in between all of that."

We looked into when artists create short and long form content. The subscriber base is growing more quickly than when they just commit to uploading long form. The ones that are getting ahead of the curve are benefiting from the appetite for both formats.

Some of the assumptions of the music industry are being challenged by data.

When it comes to content, there is a notion of premiumness. It used to be judged based on the quality of the production, but now the audience cares more about relevancy than that. Reaction videos are so popular because of that. It doesn't matter that it's not high definition. Jonathan said it was a song that had just been uploaded to YouTube and it was doing well.

Audience interests and passions are what data is helping brands understand.

Jonathan says that sometimes brands can be a bit linear in terms of what they sell and what they consume.

He shows an audience of people who love fashion, beauty and self-care. The Beauty Mavens, like all of us, are into more than one thing and that's why they place their brands in such a way. Hip hop and rap is something they like.

The assumption is that when they are on the internet, they only watch beauty content. We were able to show that category of brands that their audience is also watching rap and hip hop music and the likes of Lizzo and Cardi B.

Another significant misconception limiting brands’ ability to connect with their desired audiences has been a narrow-minded view of certain music genres, an attitude which also limits the diversity of the audiences they reach and artists they support. In the past, some brands had implemented blanket brands against genres like rap and hip hop, drill and grime - meaning that they were missing out on the most viewed music video content on the platform. Last year, six of the top ten most watched music videos on YouTube were rap and hip hop, and the number one song, Body by Russ Millions and Tion Wayne was the first drill track to reach number one in the traditional charts and YouTube charts. It sits on the GRM Daily channel, with over 5.5 million subscribers and five billion views, it has become a go-to channel for people looking to find the hot new grime and drill artists. 

Tech and policies that benefit both artists and advertisers are being developed by YouTube.

We have done a lot of work to listen to advertisers and make sure the content on the platform meets certain guidelines and policies. There's more than one layer when it comes to monetization. Jonathan says that they want creators on the platforms to thrive but they have to do it in a responsible way.

We have the technology to be able to identify specific channels and videos that violate our policies and not have a blanket exclusion of all that content. We want creators to get paid for their work.

The boundaries and gatekeeping surrounding music video and music- related content are being dismantled by YouTube. The traditional music video was a limited format and limited in terms of genres and artists it could be watched by. Some of the most popular genres are Afrobeats and K-Pop, which is a far cry from the days when viewers had to rely on music channels to find good music.

Back in the day, with TV and radio, there were restrictions in play in terms of video and also what we would call gatekeeping in terms of what music was then exposed to the mass. The video sharing website is very open. Jonathan says that it is very democratic and that the audience is the one who makes the decisions. Based on what they watch, they can decide what becomes popular.

There are categories for online media and entertainment.