Video can be a powerful tool in marketing your music. It can bring traffic to your web site and it can increase your exposure. You can use sites like YouTube and Viddler to post videos of your music with backlinks to your site. Use this method to market your music, your web site, yourself or your CD. The beauty of this is that you can pay as much or as little as you can afford and still get decent play out of the video. Even heavy hitters like Papa Roach and even The Rolling Stones have candid type video that they shoot at their concerts and the fans go nuts for it.

You can certainly produce that type of video and reach your fans as well. All it takes is a little marketing know how and some creativity for you to promote your music by using video.

1. Find a song

The first thing that you want to do is find the appropriate song. Ideally, it should be catchy and something that people can remember. Think about the songs that you hear on the radio that make you turn up the volume and sing along. That is the quality that you want to have in the song you create for your video.

2. Decide on your theme

Once you have the song, decide on the theme of the video. Do you want to shoot in a studio? Do you want to shoot outside? Do you want a mini movie that goes along with your song or do you want something more abstract? Think about where you would like for your video to take the people who view it and what type of impression do you want to leave?

3. Do it yourself or pro?

Of course, if you are in a tight budget, hiring a pro to do your video may not be an option. If that is the case, at least try to find someone who has done some videograpy so that you can get a good looking video. If you go with a pro, you will know that it will have the quality that you want and it won’t look cheap. The key is deciding what you can afford. You can produce your own good looking video on a shoestring budget.

4. Make the video

If you make your own video, there are many things you need to keep in mind. One thing you should consider is laying a separate track for the audio, especially if you are shooting outside. The wind can destroy your sound and when you watch the video, all you will hear is the wind blowing. If your audio is on a separate track, you can edit later and line up your audio with video. Lighting is also important. Remember that is the light is shining behind you, toward the camera, you will be in shadow. If it is directly overhead, you will likely get a glare.

5. Edit for content

It is highly unlikely that you will get a perfect video on just one take. This is another instance where it benefits you to have a separate audio track. Edit your video so that it is seamless and looks top notch. You can down load several free or inexpensive video editors from the internet.

6. Send it to the masses!

Put your completed video on YouTube and other video sites, as well as your MySpace band page so that people can find you. Tag it with some good keywords and promote your video everywhere you can. You can also send your video through email. If it is well tagged, though, and is on YouTube, chances are it will get hits and you will get exposure. Make sure that people who view your video know where to find you on your MySpace or website. After all, that is the goal, to bring your fans to you.

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