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How DEMONETIZATION could affect your YouTube revenue

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Did the title of this post make you worry about demonic possession? Well, demons COULD be responsible for some artists’ money-making woes, but in this article I’m talking about recent events in the world of YouTube that have lead to significant changes in content monetization.

The short version of the story

It started in the UK when media outlets pulled advertising from YouTube after discovering their ads were being served on videos with racist and pro-terrorist messages.

Then advertisers worldwide (including AT&T, Verizon, Walmart, and Pepsi in the US) distanced themselves from YouTube advertising, except in the case of targeted search. Some analysts have predicted this advertising boycott will cost YouTube $750 million.

So… YouTube responded by giving advertisers new safeguards: they won’t allow channels with fewer than 10,000 lifetime views to join the partner program.

They also made changes to “Restricted Mode,” a tool that filters out mature or objectionable content (see YouTube’s guidelines HERE) in hopes of demonetizing any video advertisers might find unsuitable for their brand.

In YouTube’s attempt to only monetize videos that are advertiser-friendly, many videos were demonetized that shouldn’t have been. To fix this quickly, YouTube then made a move to accelerate its appeals process for channel owners who feel their videos have been unfairly flagged as “not advertiser-friendly.”

It’s been an eventful 2017 so far for YouTube, creators, and advertisers. What does that mean for you?

Well, many advertisers still have cold feet and are waiting until YouTube irons out all these compromises between free speech and monetization. In the meantime, less advertising dollars spent on YouTube means fewer ads being served, which COULD mean your content on YouTube generates less revenue too.

You could wait patiently for advertisers to return to YouTube en masse, or you could be a bit more proactive:

  1. If you don’t have at least 10k lifetime views across all your videos, promote your channel and videos to get to that milestone so you can monetize the video content on your channel.
  2. Make sure all your videos are optimized for search and engagement.
  3. Apply to join Illustrated Sound, the YouTube network powered by CD Baby.

With Illustrated Sound, our team will routinely audit all your YouTube content (checking video titles, tags, descriptions, etc.) to make sure it’s optimized not just for search and engagement, but also for maximum ad revenue potential. As a member of the Illustrated Sound Network, the effect that YouTube’s broad demonetization efforts will have on your income could be significantly minimized.

Apply to join Illustrated Sound today!

The post How DEMONETIZATION could affect your YouTube revenue appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.


The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make

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An interview with Jensen Reed about his music video “Back to the 90s.”

Planning. It might not be necessary to make great music, but it certainly comes in handy when you’re trying to produce an entertaining music video.

And the video for Ben Giroux & Jensen Reed’s “Back to the 90s” is entertaining from start to finish, with crazy attention to detail, lots of extras, lookalikes, props, and locations to keep you looking and listening and laughing the whole time. The video took a loooooooooong time to plan and execute, but it was worth the wait. In its first week, “Back to the 90s” has been viewed more than 30 million times across YouTube and Facebook.

I’m really interested in the video production process — whether it’s no-budget, shot by a pro in an afternoon, or something more elaborate — so I asked Jensen Reed about what went into the video for “Back to the 90s.”

CR: Can you tell me about the timeline for the production? How long did each phase take?

JR: It took almost a year and a half from concept to finished video. Ben Giroux came to me with the idea of doing a music video that’s a celebration of all things 90s. We both were 90s kids and sensed a movement for 90s nostalgia, so we knew we were on to a solid idea.

A big part of the challenge was incorporating multiple genres into one song effectively. My production partner Christian Hand had the genius idea and I knew we had to figure out a way to execute it. I enlisted my buddy Jared Lee who is an amazing songwriter and artist to help us with the chorus and my man Dirty Hollywood who is pure rock n roll to work out the grunge bridge with us.

Our Cinematographer Zach Salsman absolutely crushed this shoot. Zach and I have worked together on a bunch of my music videos and his eye and talent behind the camera is unmatched.

We shot the video in two long production days. (Show in the video below):

The key to knocking it out so efficiently was the pre-production process that lasted for months…locations, crew, cast, times, logistics etc. It was truly a massive production with over 100 people on set.

One thing that allowed for the shoot to go smoothly was the lyrics. Because we had so many specific 90s references, we knew exactly what shots we needed. Unlike most of my other music videos where we roll the entire song and do a bunch of performance takes, we only shot the snippets of the song in each setup we needed. This also made the original skeleton for the edit come together quickly because we knew which shot went where in the timeline.

Did you call in a lot of favors to get this video done?

There was an immense amount of talent involved in the project that donated their time and expertise or worked for us at a major discount. This was a team effort in every way imaginable.

I found the attention to detail super impressive. Can you talk about scouting locations, gathering props and costumes, finding lookalikes, and so forth?

Locking down an airplane hangar to re-create the vibe of the iconic Backstreet Boys video “I Want It That Way” was the biggest challenge. We found Whiteman airport outside of Los Angeles and the owner was open to cutting us a deal because he was a former film school student and understood the idea of a passion project. All of the locations and minutia involved in a shoot this big were handled masterfully by our Producers Jon Rosenbloom, Scott Thomas Reynolds, and Marc Barnes. They are masters of getting sh*t done!

We secured Bullock and Snow Casting to cast all of the roles and they knocked it out of the park! Every person they cast was incredible. They also got us the amazingly talent Alexander Arzu (who plays the kid we educated about how great the 90s were).

Our Art Department Melissa Lyon and Marissa Bergman took the production to another level with the ridiculous attention to detail in creating spaces covered with 90s paraphernalia. There are so many ‘Easter Eggs’ littered throughout the video for viewers to discover, which has led to many people watching the video over and over. And our Wardrobe Designer Chelsea Kutun found all of the iconic and memorable looks for everyone involved in the shoot.

What happened between the final edit and the launch? How did you prepare to promote the video?

Ben and I edited the video and got it to an almost final point before we enlisted Animators Doug Bresler, Ilana Schwartz, Tony Celano, and Zoran Gvojic to add their magic touch including NBA Jam, Ren & Stimpy, Doug, Celebrity Deathmatch etc. VFX by Jake Akuna was the final piece of post production that added more detail and interesting effects, upping the ante yet again.

We had a live release party in Los Angeles the day before we released the video. It turned out to be one of the most fun parties that any of our 300 guests had been to in a while. We encouraged everyone to dress in their best 90s gear. Jared and I performed a couple of our original songs and we then screened the video and performed “Back to the 90s” live.

We encouraged everyone in attendance to share the video at 10am on Monday, May 1st when it was released to get the ball rolling. It helped tremendously that many people in attendance have a lot of social influence because of their own creative pursuits. We didn’t hire a publicist. We just put it out to the world with the hopes of it being so good that people would instantly want to share and that’s what happened.

What are you most proud of about this video?

I’m most proud of the incredible team that Ben and I assembled to make this project a reality. It’s very rewarding to have so many working parts feel attached to your creative vision and hustle on your behalf. It’s a testament to working hard, respecting others and ultimately fostering a positive environment where everyone can thrive.

What would you do differently next time?

I have to say there isn’t anything we could’ve done better on this one. It’s as near perfect as it gets and 36 Million views speaks to that.

Any advice for an independent musician that’s just starting to think about shooting a music video on a limited budget?

My advice is to collaborate with others and when you find good creative relationships, go back to them again and again. Ben and I have a philosophy of less-is-more, meaning we aim to create a smaller number of projects with high production value versus a bunch of smaller ideas. This is the typical 15 year overnight success story. I have 16 other music videos and Ben has been a working actor for well over a decade, so there is a lot of hustle-equity built up behind the success of “Back to the 90s.”

One technical skill that I believe every musician should have is Video Editing. I’ve edited almost all of my videos. It’s a skill that came very easy to me because I know the story I want to tell and it’s similar to editing audio in Pro Tools. Cinematographers will be much more likely to work with you as an artist when you can handle the 50 hours of post production work it takes to pull select footage and assemble an edit. It also gives the artist creative control over the video and saves a bunch of money.


Check out more of Jensen Reed’s music videos at http://www.jensenreed.com/videos. More from Ben Giroux can be found at http://www.bengiroux.com.

The post The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

YouTube for Musicians: “How is all the $$ made?”

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So, what is YouTube monetization?

Monetization on YouTube is the process by which original content makes, you guessed it, money. That original content can come in various forms, including:

  • audio sound recordings
  • audio compositions
  • visual content
  • or (the perfect marriage of audio and visual) the music video

This content can be uploaded by individual users as unique videos or as separate audio/visual “assets.” Audio and visual assets are uploaded separately in order to be eligible for Content ID, the process by which copyrighted material is correctly identified from among all the content uploaded to YouTube, and claimed by the appropriate rights holders.

The separate delivery of audio and visual assets makes your content more likely to be found within user-generated videos (videos that you are not creating yourself) or on YouTube Red.

So, if you’ve submitted your music to a YouTube Content ID service (such as CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization program) your music will be uploaded as sound recordings and compositions by your rights administrator and any videos using your original music will be identified, claimed, and monetized on your behalf.

What does monetization mean to you?

Well, if you are a YouTuber creating videos and uploading them to your channel, then you can set those videos to monetize and begin making money off the ads that are served on your videos. In order to do this, you first need to make sure your video content meets the YouTube Community-Guidelines for Advertiser friendly content.

Next, you need to sign up for an AdSense Account and decide which ad types you are willing to have shown on each of your videos. AdSense is the service that connects advertisers with applicable content and, once ads are served on that content, charges the advertiser and pays the person whose content was used to run their ads.

And if you are a video creator or musician who is using a content administration service, that company will monetize your content on your behalf and collect all revenue via their AdSense account before distributing your earnings directly to you.

Not all ads are created equal…

Ads on YouTube are placed via the AdSense Auction. This is where the content is linked with the specific advertising.

The auction process is almost all automated based on things like:

  • demographic
  • video type
  • channel
  • and (most importantly) number of views

Essentially, advertisers sign up and set policies for how much they are willing to pay for videos with certain levels of viewership, and within these policies are the ad types they would like to run (pop-up, skippable pre-roll, non-skippable pre-roll). So, if you post a video, or you have content in a video, that gets a meteoric rise in views for one reason or another (which is the dream), you will see that video progress through the ad types as the views continue to rise. And it should go without saying that your revenue will reflect this positive trend.

Another option would be to have you content used or reposted by a large channel, which will serve the most lucrative form of ads from view #1 because they are a channel with enough daily viewership that advertisers are willing to pay without seeing proven success by any one particular video. And, just to demonstrate how complex this whole thing can get, each ad will pay out $$ from the advertiser not only based on the type of ad, but also on how much of the ad was viewed before it was most likely skipped by the user.

OK, AdSense links the Advertiser with the content, but how does AdSense find my content on YouTube and know to monetize it in the first place?

YouTube does that for you. To create a platform where videos and music could be uploaded and shared freely without people constantly suing each other over copyright violations, YouTube developed a pretty darn sophisticated process (called Content ID) for scanning each and every video it serves. As I touched on above, this scanning looks for visuals and audio that match not only other user-generated videos on YouTube, but also all sorts of copyrighted audio and visual content, regardless of whether that content is being posted by its owner or not.

This happens through the uploading and fingerprinting of “assets” and reference files to YouTube’s Content Management System (or CMS) for Content ID scanning and monetization. It can take up to two weeks for a newly uploaded video to be scanned against every asset in YouTube, but once a video is identified as containing something that belongs to someone else, YouTube with act according to policies set by that content owner.

So, the content owner will likely want a video that contains their original material claimed on their behalf and monetized. This means that the proper copyright owner of that content being used will signal that ads should be placed on that video (if it’s not already monetizing) and collect up to 55% of all revenue earned.

Content owners can also set all sorts of custom policies that take into account particular assets, length of match, % of match to the original reference file, and desired action (monetize, track, block, or do nothing at all). Of course, it’s not a perfect system and it can cast a very wide net at times, so there is always the option to dispute any claim on your content that you feel is incorrect.  This dispute process will force an actual human to review your content and determine if the claimant has any rights to what is in that specific video. But we’ll go more in depth on that process another time.

What is important for me to know if I want to make all the moneys?

The most important things for an artist or channel owner to do in order to monetize their content to the fullest are:

  1. make sure that you fully own all of the content you are attempting to monetize, and optimize all information and reference files associated with that content so that it is clear and complete. If you don’t own the content, you can’t monetize it, and the conversation ends there.
  2. Provide complete and accurate metadata. The more complete the metadata related to a song, composition, or video on YouTube, the easier it will be for your content to be identified and claimed and for YouTube to verify your ownership against any fraudulent actors. The accuracy of this info includes making sure that if you are claiming to own the composition, you actually did write the song and can legally claim the publishing (for cover songs or works in the public domain, you CANNOT claim the composition). The amount of content floating around out there is staggering, and accurate information can be the difference between impactful earnings or none at all. So, stay vigilant and do the work to keep your assets up-to-date and accurate.

Sound like a lot of work? It doesn’t have to be if you find a reputable company to optimize your music and videos on YouTube for you. CD Baby can do both via our YouTube Monetization program and Illustrated Sound, our multi-channel YouTube network. Apply to join today!

[This article was written by Nicholas Salomone, CD Baby’s Senior Content ID Analyst.]

 

The post YouTube for Musicians: “How is all the $$ made?” appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

How I shot my pro music video without a record label

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This post isn’t a “how-to” shoot a music video. I’m sure you can get all types of suggestions from Google on which direction to go if that’s what you are looking for. This post is how I shot MY music video, without a record label backing me and paying for it all out of my pockets (which are currently empty, except for the lint).

Since there are probably several things vying for your time, I will try to keep this as brief as possible, while still getting you the necessary info you need.

The song, the story

First, I had to choose the song on my album which was good enough to be considered a “single,” but more importantly to me, the song that had the best story that could be told with actions, images, and acting. I felt I chose a song that had a story that most people could relate to, as well as being “catchy.”

It’s people, people

Step number two was to pick my “team” with regard to turning these song lyrics and melodies into a visual medium. I’ve never made a music video, but I assumed I needed a director first, and that was the right move to make. A friend happened to be married to someone who makes movies for a living so that worked out well for me. You might have to do a google search.

She (my fearless director) helped me immensely with who I needed to choose next, the DOP (director of photography), as well as figuring out my budget and how the story line would play out. Together we mapped out the crew we would need (i.e. assistant director, assistant camera, lighting, key grip, production assistants, hair & makeup, etc.), selected locations to shoot in, and started to select cast members based on the story.

Dreaming first, then the details

We started story-boarding the lyrics into different scenes, while plugging in the locations and cast members (on paper). As we were doing this, we tried to guesstimate how many days we would need, as well as how much all of this was adding up to. Once we had an idea of what was necessary to make our “dream vision” come to life, we started to add up how much it would all cost. Then we started making decisions based on budget (i.e. eliminating the piro, and cutting everything else).

We figured we needed three days to shoot at all the locations. Proximity from location to location was considered when we needed to shoot in more than one location in one day. The longest day of shooting was all done in one location. We shot the scenes out of order, from most people needed to least people (scheduling all the people involved was probably one of the most challenging parts). 

We used three cameras (one drone, a Steadicam, and a stationary camera), and a follow focus (which controls the focus of the Steadicam). There were stage lights that were available to use at one of the locations and the other lights we used we got at Target, on sale.

Keeping costs down

Some of the locations required us to possess insurance (an unexpected cost that got added in). Any props we needed, we tried to find in our own apartments. Almost everyone who was cast, extra, or crew was a friend that was doing me a favor, so they participated for nothing or less than their quote (it probably helped that the main day of shooting was on my actual birthday. I think their participation was their gift to me haha). Asking time from people was one of my big considerations, as I knew their time was precious and I didn’t want to impose or take it for granted. In some cases, I bartered services. They participated in my video for nothing (or less than they deserved) and I did stuff for them for free (recordings, their videos, gigs, cooked BBQ, etc).

I covered the cost for all the craft services (meals, snacks, hot and cold drinks) and made sure we had plenty of breaks for those things to be consumed. It kept everyone happy when we would take time to set up the different scenes.

PRO TIP: Having petty cash on hand while you’re shooting is necessary in case you run into any last min snags or emergencies (same goes for gaffer tape and extension cords-aka stingers or whips)

Legal and logistics

Being transparent with information (especially schedule) is a must.

Have people sign release forms so you are legally protected.

The more time you spend in preparation; the less time it will take to execute in real time.

PRO TIP: Knowing everything will probably take three times longer than you want it to is a good mindset to have to keep everyone calm and in good spirits (plenty of snack and drink options are key!)

Executing and adapting (with drones!)

The most important part was that the lyrics were being portrayed in the acting. Also, we wanted to make sure the personality of the people involved came across (hopefully a lighthearted, comical theme came across as well as the courtship aspect). In a few cases, people we had cast as specific roles became unavailable. We had to come up with a “Plan B.” Since we were going for a comical vibe, it was decided that I was a re-occurring figure that made multiple cameos throughout the video.

There was one tricky part we didn’t expect. Those were the drone shots. Different cities and states have laws in place for drone use since 9-11. Some are restrictions on nighttime flying, residential vs. city flying, and more. Fortunately, my city and state don’t have any laws like that (for now) and I know a high ranking detective who told me if I had any issues the day of to call his cell. My drone operator was extremely nervous and cautious. We were flying in the middle of a busy downtown city, near powerlines, at night, a few blocks from the police station. Not to mention weather plays a huge deal with drones. You can’t fly with any precipitation and it has to be a non-windy day. If you have a slight breeze, it is multiplied dramatically the higher off the ground you go. There are websites to let you know if you can fly your drone that day, provided you need one for an outdoor shot.

Wrapping up

After we shot all the scenes, we had to edit them into the story we were trying to tell, and then pick the alternate “filler scenes” to stick into the action to keep your attention. Once all the scenes were in order, then we had to color correct everything and then add the beginning and ending credits.

Now, I’m sure you’re asking how I paid for it all? Even though I got the “Friend Discount,” I still had to spend money. I had saved up some money from merch sales on my own gigs. I also took every type of gig offered to me. I lit up my credit card (so much so, it’s glowing). I did eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly (and made a lot of meals at home). All said and done, this music video probably cost me less than $5,000. That still may be a lot for you, but there are many creative (and inexpensive) ways to make a video and I’m sure the internet can help you discover them.

I did have an extravagant vision for this video, and I knew I was only going to make this one. So when it came time to cut things to make the budget smaller, there were some things I couldn’t cut out if I wanted it to look a certain way. The other thing that helped was I spread the shoot days out over a longer period of time so I could save up more funds (whoring myself out) in between the selected shoot days.

Added bonus, here is a link to slang terms on a film set that sound sexual, and what they really mean: http://howtofilmschool.com/25-grip-lighting-terms-that-sound-sexual-what-they-really-mean/

The post How I shot my pro music video without a record label appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

How to add end screens to your YouTube videos

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Introducing a mobile-friendly tool to drive more engagement at the end of your YouTube videos.

It’d been in beta for a while, but YouTube has finally rolled out end screens for everybody. End screens are visual overlay elements that show up on the last 15-20 seconds of your video. They’re like a mobile-ready version of annotations, but they look WAY less clunky.

End screens can help you build your viewership because they appear on both mobile and desktop devices (iOS and Android), and can be used to:

  • Get your viewers to check out other videos, playlists, or channels
  • Ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel
  • Send traffic to an approved website
  • Offer merch
  • Get fans involved in a crowdfunding campaign

You can add up to four end screens during the last 20 seconds of your video, and each element can expand to show more info when you hover over (on desktop) or tap (on phones and tablets).

In the image I posted above you can see three different end screens appear at once. I took that screenshot just to show a few options, but I wouldn’t recommend displaying more than one at a time because they’ll compete with one another for your viewer’s attention.

You can see end screens in action during the last 20 seconds of my video here:

Any viewer who has disabled annotations will still see the end screens on your videos, BUT you won’t be able to put end screens on a video that already has annotations — so, time to choose! If you decide to add end screens you’ll be promoted to “unpublish” the annotations first (they can be republished later if you change your mind).

Here are YouTube’s instructions on how to add end screens to your videos:

  1. Sign in to the your YouTube account.
  2. In the top right, click your account icon > Creator Studio.
  3. In the left menu, select Video Manager > Videos.
  4. For the video you want to add the end screen to, click Edit.
  5. In the top tab bar, click End screen.
  6. If the selected video contains annotations, follow the instructions to unpublish them. You can re-publish them at any time.
  7. You’ll see your video with the predefined grid and a timeline below that indicates the available part for the end screen. Click Add element. You can add up to four elements, and one of them must be a video or playlist.
  8. Choose how to build your end screen:
    • Add element: You can add up to four elements to a video. At least one element must be a video or playlist. Select each element and fill in the required information, then click Create element.
    • Copy from video: You can copy an end screen from another one of your videos and edit the elements.
    • YouTube template: You can choose from predefined formats that show combinations of elements. You’ll need to define the content for the elements in the end screen, such as add the channel to be featured.Adding end screens to your YouTube videos
  9. Adjust the placement and size of each element on the grid. Adjust the time for the element to show in the timeline below.
  10. Click Save.

While you’re adding end screens you can select to preview how they’ll appear in the player, and you can go back to edit end screens at any time.

Four tips to increase the effectiveness of end screens

YouTube recommends that you:

  • Feature elements that are relevant to your video.
  • Encourage viewers to click by using unique calls-to-action for different end screen elements.
  • Leave enough space and time at the end of the video for an end screen. Make sure you consider the video’s last 20 seconds when editing it.
  • Consider timing end screen elements to appear at different times so they don’t compete with one another.

What do you think? Useful YouTube tool? Will you deactivate your old annotations? Comment below!

The post How to add end screens to your YouTube videos appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

Top tips for boosting video views on YouTube

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YouTube is the number one search engine for music. Because of this, many musicians have turned to video to promote themselves and their work. Plus, videos on YouTube are an income stream for musician thanks to ad revenue share — especially when there’s a lot of views.

If you’re planning on making a video, try these techniques to boost your views:

1. Give Your Video A “Clickable” Name

Picking the right name for your video can generate views, even if fans don’t know what they’re going to get when they click on it. After all, videos don’t take a lot of time or commitment to try out so titles that are mysterious, sexy, or hint at controversy can get clicked no matter what’s in the video.

Try testing out alternative titles for your videos with friends before posting them to see which one might be the most intriguing. Also, keep in mind picking the right title is also important for your blog posts, newsletters, and other communications. And finally, if you can come up with a title that people are likely to search on you can get hits.

2. Add a Post-Roll after the Video and Add a Call to Action

Don’t just let the video end! You worked hard to get viewers to watch your video, so add a post-roll so you can promote your channel while you still have their attention. Use it to ask your fans to:

  • subscribe to your channel
  • like your video
  • buy your track or music (link it directly in the video description!)
  • share your video with their friends
  • watch other videos on your channel
  • watch other artists and creators you work with

There’s no need to do all of these calls to action, but at a minimum always ask them to subscribe so that you can get one-time watchers to catch your next release. Plus the extra audio means that they can’t directly rip the track from YouTube to listen to it, and will be more likely to buy it or stream it.

3. Make Your Video Cool to Share (The “Nice Peter” Principle)

Pete Shukoff (a.k.a. Nice Peter), who’s one half of the creative team behind Epic Rap Battles of History explained his goal has always been to make videos that make people look cool for sharing them with their friends. With Epic Rap Battles of History videos generating 50 to 120 million views or more, it’s clearly a winning formula. When you make your videos with this in mind, it changes your perspective. For ideas, take inspiration from videos you’ve shared with your friends (even if it’s not music related).

4. Cross-Promote with Other Musicians and Video Creators

Borrow audiences to pull in new viewers. Collaborate with other creators (not just musicians!) on your next music or video projects. For example, Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD worked with Key & Peele, Snoop Dogg, and “Weird Al” Yankovic just to name a few.

You can also target other websites that have audiences as well. If you can find a way to make your videos relevant to what a popular site covers, share it with them and see if they’ll post it.

Also, trade “likes” with other creators since your videos will appear in each of their feeds. And remember that videos can also be cross-promoted on your co-creator’s blog, social media, or newsletter — don’t just limit yourself to the world of YouTube.

5. Use Your Social Networks to Announce and Share Your Content

YouTube made video one of the easiest types of media to share online. So use your social networks to announce when your video is posted to get it noticed, watched, and shared. Also, be sure to encourage them to like, subscribe, and share.

6. Organize Your Channel by Content

If you’re going to be releasing more than one type of music video, organize your channel by grouping related content into playlists so viewers can easily find what they are looking for. For instance, create separate playlists for your music videos, live footage, vlog, behind-the-scenes footage, and so on. Although you can split your content into separate YouTube accounts, it’s better to funnel all of your subscribers and views into a single channel, since higher overall numbers help drive new viewers.

7. Pay to Promote (If It Makes Sense)

Advertising isn’t too expensive given today’s platforms, and YouTube allows for a few types of paid promotion.

For example, if you meet their conditions, you can create a video ad to promote your channel (FanFinder). You can also use Google’s Adwords to promote your video and channel (Adwords for Video).

Other options include Facebook and Twitter. Make sure to keep an eye on your statistics. This will help you understand which videos fans are liking and responding to so you know if your promotional campaigns are working and worth the expense.


The steps for improving your viewership starts before you create and produce your videos and continues long after the release. The more you plan in advance for generating views, the easier it is to pull off.

Finally, if your video gets popular, don’t forget to modify the video description, discussion, and annotations on it in order to promote your other work. Take advantage of the eyeballs! A single success can be used as a launching point for all of your future efforts.

The post Top tips for boosting video views on YouTube appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

6 ways to earn more money from your music on YouTube this Holiday Season

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Prep for the holidays; reap the benefits year-round!

Aunt Sue is wondering whether she really wants to buy you the album you asked for this Christmas, the one by Sexy Demonic Wombats from Beyond the Gates of Oblivion (“SDWBGO” for short).

If she’s like most people with Internet access, she’ll turn to YouTube for a minute or two of “research” first.

Much to her surprise and relief, Demonic Wombats is a mostly harmless polka band that performs 1970’s prog-rock covers — so you’re all set. She orders the CD and everyone (Aunt Sue, you, the Wombats) is happy come Christmas.

This is just one of countless examples of how people use YouTube these days. The video streaming giant is now the world’s jukebox, a customizable replacement for both MTV and radio, a deep musical archive, the #1 search engine for music, the #1 music discovery tool online, and much more — all available on your smartphone.

So it’s hardly surprising that artists are now earning so much in YouTube ad revenue. CD Baby pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to indie musicians for the usage of their music on YouTube — and the holidays also happen to coincide (not… coincidentally, of course) with a huge spike in YouTube advertising revenue.

One interesting and encouraging thing about the amount of revenue artists generate on YouTube is that people who’ve monetized their music are actually earning more from fan-created videos (also known as “user-generated content,” or U.G.C.) than from the official music videos they’ve uploaded to YouTube themselves.

[Check out our podcast interview with Josh Collum to hear an example of how one artist earned more than $200k from user-generated content.]

As I’ve said in previous articles, the modern music industry is built on a social economy. What your fans do (and want to do) with your music has real value.

No, you’re not going to earn nearly as much per usage as you might if the same song were licensed for a Coke commercial. Instead, with YouTube, it’s all about VOLUME and time (since the videos that use your music will be up on YouTube for quite a while) — and as our monthly YouTube payouts demonstrate, when your fan community is empowered to take social action with your music, you make money.

Here are 6 tips to help you make more money from your music on YouTube (this holiday season and beyond)

Making money from your music on YouTube isn’t just a holiday thing, but this busy music season is a perfect time to make sure you’re doing all you can to take advantage of this increasingly important revenue stream.

1. Sign up your entire back catalog for CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization program

The obvious early step to earning money from your music on YouTube… is getting set up to earn money from your music on YouTube!

In the digital age, your music doesn’t have a shelf life — and you never know when one of your songs will find its audience. So sign up ALL your songs, old and new.

2. Encourage your fans to create user-generated content

It’s the holidays! One of your songs might be the perfect soundtrack to someone’s ugly-sweater video Christmas card, or as the background music to a classic home movie of kids unwrapping presents around the tree.

Here are a few ways to get people to use your music:

* email your fans and let them know they’re free to use your songs for their holiday videos, wedding videos, family reunion videos, company or school projects, vacation slideshows, etc. Your songs are already in heavy rotation in these peoples’ households; might as well be in their crazy cat videos, too! If one of them goes viral, you’ll make even more money.

* host a video contest where you ask your fans to create music videos for their favorite of your songs. Whether its footage of a dance party, a stop-motion animation, or a bunch of kids lip syncing, these kinds of videos can add up to serious ad revenue from YouTube. Plus, you’ll get to share your favorite of these entries through your website, newsletter, and social.

3. Put your most important links at the top of your video descriptions

For any videos you upload to your own channel, be sure to include the URL to your website or preferred music store right at the top of the description. You want viewers to be able to click through without having to scroll down or hit the “show more” button. Don’t make people search.

4. Create and upload videos for ALL your songs

In addition to all the other things YouTube has become, it’s also the #1 preferred listening platform for younger music fans. Make it easy for them to hear your music. The more videos you make available, the more opportunities you have to earn ad revenue.

If you don’t have the time or budget to shoot that many “proper” music videos, you should at the very least upload simple album art videos for every song.

[Important: if your distribution through CD Baby includes streaming services, we will deliver Art Track videos to YouTube for you!]

5. Record a holiday greeting video

If it’s not in the cards to film a video for a Holiday single or to shoot a live performance, just use the camera on your smartphone and say hi to your fans. Post it on YouTube, embed it on your website, and spread some cheer!

6. Use smart calls-to-action, cards, and end screens

YouTube offers a number of tools to enhance your videos and to drive further engagement. Be sure to explore all your options within your YouTube channel, including adding cards to your videos that will encourage purchases, boost channel subscriptions, increase views, and more. Also be sure to check out end screens!

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What are your tips for boosting YouTube activity (and ad revenue) this holiday season? Let us know in the comments below.

[Take your YouTube presence to the next level with Illustrated Sound. Click HERE.]

[Photo of YouTube app in iPhone from Bloomua / Shutterstock.com]

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Super Chat: a new way to make money on YouTube

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Your fans can pay to highlight and pin their messages to your chat feed during a live stream.

YouTube is now beta testing a new message system that they plan to roll out more broadly on January 31st for creators in 20 countries, and for viewers in more than 40 countries.

It’s called Super Chat, a monetized tool that allows fans and creators to connect during live streams.

[Take your YouTube channel to the next level with Illustrated Sound, CD Baby’s YouTube network.]

Here’s how it works: Imagine you’re live streaming a concert from your living room, or giving fans a glimpse of your work in the recording studio; anyone who’s watching your live stream on YouTube can purchase a Super Chat, which is a message in the chat feed that’s highlighted so it stands out from the rest of the comments so it’s sure to get your attention while you’re streaming (assuming that you’re monitoring the conversation).

The color of the highlighted message, the length of the message, and the duration which the message stays pinned to the top of the chat (up to five hours) are all determined by the amount of the Super Chat purchase.

YouTube says this of Super Chat:

For creators, this means Super Chat does double duty: keeping their conversations and connections with (super) fans meaningful and lively while also giving creators a new way to make money.

If you’re already live streaming on YouTube, Super Chat could give you a new way to make money from your efforts.

Are you excited about this new tool? Skeptical? Let me know in the comments.

The post Super Chat: a new way to make money on YouTube appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.


There’s no excuse for not optimizing your YouTube videos

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5 simple ways to drive more video views on YouTube.

Let’s assume you’ve got great music and a great music video. You worked hard on that video and you’re ready to share it with your fans.

YouTube gives you quite a few ways to “optimize” your videos so you can get more out of them and see greater engagement. Some of these things are so simple that there’s really no excuse for not doing them any time you upload a new video. What are they?

1. Use playlists

Create playlists (for instance: live videos, music videos, lyric videos, interviews, etc.) and arrange your videos accordingly. Whenever you share a video, grab the link from within the playlist so that when someone’s done watching the one video, another one begins playing automatically. Go HERE to find out how.

2. Custom thumbnails

Whenever you upload a video, YouTube gives you a few default options to select as the thumbnail (the still image representing your video that someone sees before clicking to play it). Those options might not be the most thrilling or intriguing moments from your video. Instead, create and upload a custom thumbnail that’s sure to entice. Go HERE to find out how.

3. End screens

End screens are extra visual elements that appear during the last 20 seconds of your video (on both mobile and desktop) that allow you to encourage additional views for videos and playlists, subscribes, merch sales, and more. Learn how to add End Screens to your videos HERE.

4. Cards

Like end screens, cards are visual elements that appear while the video is playing to help you boost subscribes, views, sales, etc. Unlike end screens, a card can appear at any time during the video. You designate a moment in the timeline where the card will first appear (though YouTube may adjust that for further optimization), and viewers can click to expand the cards at any time for further information. Go HERE to learn more about YouTube cards.

5. Video descriptions

It happens often, and I’m still always shocked, when I watch a YouTube video and see the video description has been pretty much ignored. It might say something like “Filmed live on 03/04/17.” Really? What about the venue, the song, the band name, the songwriters, the players? The lyrics? Links to subscribe or follow you on social? Give us some details — and some keywords! It only takes 5 minutes. Plus, all that information helps YouTube more accurately index your video for search.


That’s it. Easy. So easy that you have no excuse to ignore these optimization methods, right?

Got any other easy optimization tips for YouTube videos? Let me know in the comments below.

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How DEMONETIZATION could affect your YouTube revenue

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Did the title of this post make you worry about demonic possession? Well, demons COULD be responsible for some artists’ money-making woes, but in this article I’m talking about recent events in the world of YouTube that have lead to significant changes in content monetization.

The short version of the story

It started in the UK when media outlets pulled advertising from YouTube after discovering their ads were being served on videos with racist and pro-terrorist messages.

Then advertisers worldwide (including AT&T, Verizon, Walmart, and Pepsi in the US) distanced themselves from YouTube advertising, except in the case of targeted search. Some analysts have predicted this advertising boycott will cost YouTube $750 million.

So… YouTube responded by giving advertisers new safeguards: they won’t allow channels with fewer than 10,000 lifetime views to join the partner program.

They also made changes to “Restricted Mode,” a tool that filters out mature or objectionable content (see YouTube’s guidelines HERE) in hopes of demonetizing any video advertisers might find unsuitable for their brand.

In YouTube’s attempt to only monetize videos that are advertiser-friendly, many videos were demonetized that shouldn’t have been. To fix this quickly, YouTube then made a move to accelerate its appeals process for channel owners who feel their videos have been unfairly flagged as “not advertiser-friendly.”

It’s been an eventful 2017 so far for YouTube, creators, and advertisers. What does that mean for you?

Well, many advertisers still have cold feet and are waiting until YouTube irons out all these compromises between free speech and monetization. In the meantime, less advertising dollars spent on YouTube means fewer ads being served, which COULD mean your content on YouTube generates less revenue too.

You could wait patiently for advertisers to return to YouTube en masse, or you could be a bit more proactive:

  1. If you don’t have at least 10k lifetime views across all your videos, promote your channel and videos to get to that milestone so you can monetize the video content on your channel.
  2. Make sure all your videos are optimized for search and engagement.
  3. Apply to join Illustrated Sound, the YouTube network powered by CD Baby.

With Illustrated Sound, our team will routinely audit all your YouTube content (checking video titles, tags, descriptions, etc.) to make sure it’s optimized not just for search and engagement, but also for maximum ad revenue potential. As a member of the Illustrated Sound Network, the effect that YouTube’s broad demonetization efforts will have on your income could be significantly minimized.

Apply to join Illustrated Sound today!

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The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make

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An interview with Jensen Reed about his music video “Back to the 90s.”

Planning. It might not be necessary to make great music, but it certainly comes in handy when you’re trying to produce an entertaining music video.

And the video for Ben Giroux & Jensen Reed’s “Back to the 90s” is entertaining from start to finish, with crazy attention to detail, lots of extras, lookalikes, props, and locations to keep you looking and listening and laughing the whole time. The video took a loooooooooong time to plan and execute, but it was worth the wait. In its first week, “Back to the 90s” has been viewed more than 30 million times across YouTube and Facebook.

I’m really interested in the video production process — whether it’s no-budget, shot by a pro in an afternoon, or something more elaborate — so I asked Jensen Reed about what went into the video for “Back to the 90s.”

CR: Can you tell me about the timeline for the production? How long did each phase take?

JR: It took almost a year and a half from concept to finished video. Ben Giroux came to me with the idea of doing a music video that’s a celebration of all things 90s. We both were 90s kids and sensed a movement for 90s nostalgia, so we knew we were on to a solid idea.

A big part of the challenge was incorporating multiple genres into one song effectively. My production partner Christian Hand had the genius idea and I knew we had to figure out a way to execute it. I enlisted my buddy Jared Lee who is an amazing songwriter and artist to help us with the chorus and my man Dirty Hollywood who is pure rock n roll to work out the grunge bridge with us.

Our Cinematographer Zach Salsman absolutely crushed this shoot. Zach and I have worked together on a bunch of my music videos and his eye and talent behind the camera is unmatched.

We shot the video in two long production days. (Show in the video below):

The key to knocking it out so efficiently was the pre-production process that lasted for months…locations, crew, cast, times, logistics etc. It was truly a massive production with over 100 people on set.

One thing that allowed for the shoot to go smoothly was the lyrics. Because we had so many specific 90s references, we knew exactly what shots we needed. Unlike most of my other music videos where we roll the entire song and do a bunch of performance takes, we only shot the snippets of the song in each setup we needed. This also made the original skeleton for the edit come together quickly because we knew which shot went where in the timeline.

Did you call in a lot of favors to get this video done?

There was an immense amount of talent involved in the project that donated their time and expertise or worked for us at a major discount. This was a team effort in every way imaginable.

I found the attention to detail super impressive. Can you talk about scouting locations, gathering props and costumes, finding lookalikes, and so forth?

Locking down an airplane hangar to re-create the vibe of the iconic Backstreet Boys video “I Want It That Way” was the biggest challenge. We found Whiteman airport outside of Los Angeles and the owner was open to cutting us a deal because he was a former film school student and understood the idea of a passion project. All of the locations and minutia involved in a shoot this big were handled masterfully by our Producers Jon Rosenbloom, Scott Thomas Reynolds, and Marc Barnes. They are masters of getting sh*t done!

We secured Bullock and Snow Casting to cast all of the roles and they knocked it out of the park! Every person they cast was incredible. They also got us the amazingly talent Alexander Arzu (who plays the kid we educated about how great the 90s were).

Our Art Department Melissa Lyon and Marissa Bergman took the production to another level with the ridiculous attention to detail in creating spaces covered with 90s paraphernalia. There are so many ‘Easter Eggs’ littered throughout the video for viewers to discover, which has led to many people watching the video over and over. And our Wardrobe Designer Chelsea Kutun found all of the iconic and memorable looks for everyone involved in the shoot.

What happened between the final edit and the launch? How did you prepare to promote the video?

Ben and I edited the video and got it to an almost final point before we enlisted Animators Doug Bresler, Ilana Schwartz, Tony Celano, and Zoran Gvojic to add their magic touch including NBA Jam, Ren & Stimpy, Doug, Celebrity Deathmatch etc. VFX by Jake Akuna was the final piece of post production that added more detail and interesting effects, upping the ante yet again.

We had a live release party in Los Angeles the day before we released the video. It turned out to be one of the most fun parties that any of our 300 guests had been to in a while. We encouraged everyone to dress in their best 90s gear. Jared and I performed a couple of our original songs and we then screened the video and performed “Back to the 90s” live.

We encouraged everyone in attendance to share the video at 10am on Monday, May 1st when it was released to get the ball rolling. It helped tremendously that many people in attendance have a lot of social influence because of their own creative pursuits. We didn’t hire a publicist. We just put it out to the world with the hopes of it being so good that people would instantly want to share and that’s what happened.

What are you most proud of about this video?

I’m most proud of the incredible team that Ben and I assembled to make this project a reality. It’s very rewarding to have so many working parts feel attached to your creative vision and hustle on your behalf. It’s a testament to working hard, respecting others and ultimately fostering a positive environment where everyone can thrive.

What would you do differently next time?

I have to say there isn’t anything we could’ve done better on this one. It’s as near perfect as it gets and 36 Million views speaks to that.

Any advice for an independent musician that’s just starting to think about shooting a music video on a limited budget?

My advice is to collaborate with others and when you find good creative relationships, go back to them again and again. Ben and I have a philosophy of less-is-more, meaning we aim to create a smaller number of projects with high production value versus a bunch of smaller ideas. This is the typical 15 year overnight success story. I have 16 other music videos and Ben has been a working actor for well over a decade, so there is a lot of hustle-equity built up behind the success of “Back to the 90s.”

One technical skill that I believe every musician should have is Video Editing. I’ve edited almost all of my videos. It’s a skill that came very easy to me because I know the story I want to tell and it’s similar to editing audio in Pro Tools. Cinematographers will be much more likely to work with you as an artist when you can handle the 50 hours of post production work it takes to pull select footage and assemble an edit. It also gives the artist creative control over the video and saves a bunch of money.


Check out more of Jensen Reed’s music videos at http://www.jensenreed.com/videos. More from Ben Giroux can be found at http://www.bengiroux.com.

The post The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

YouTube for Musicians: “How is all the $$ made?”

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So, what is YouTube monetization?

Monetization on YouTube is the process by which original content makes, you guessed it, money. That original content can come in various forms, including:

  • audio sound recordings
  • audio compositions
  • visual content
  • or (the perfect marriage of audio and visual) the music video

This content can be uploaded by individual users as unique videos or as separate audio/visual “assets.” Audio and visual assets are uploaded separately in order to be eligible for Content ID, the process by which copyrighted material is correctly identified from among all the content uploaded to YouTube, and claimed by the appropriate rights holders.

The separate delivery of audio and visual assets makes your content more likely to be found within user-generated videos (videos that you are not creating yourself) or on YouTube Red.

So, if you’ve submitted your music to a YouTube Content ID service (such as CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization program) your music will be uploaded as sound recordings and compositions by your rights administrator and any videos using your original music will be identified, claimed, and monetized on your behalf.

What does monetization mean to you?

Well, if you are a YouTuber creating videos and uploading them to your channel, then you can set those videos to monetize and begin making money off the ads that are served on your videos. In order to do this, you first need to make sure your video content meets the YouTube Community-Guidelines for Advertiser friendly content.

Next, you need to sign up for an AdSense Account and decide which ad types you are willing to have shown on each of your videos. AdSense is the service that connects advertisers with applicable content and, once ads are served on that content, charges the advertiser and pays the person whose content was used to run their ads.

And if you are a video creator or musician who is using a content administration service, that company will monetize your content on your behalf and collect all revenue via their AdSense account before distributing your earnings directly to you.

Not all ads are created equal…

Ads on YouTube are placed via the AdSense Auction. This is where the content is linked with the specific advertising.

The auction process is almost all automated based on things like:

  • demographic
  • video type
  • channel
  • and (most importantly) number of views

Essentially, advertisers sign up and set policies for how much they are willing to pay for videos with certain levels of viewership, and within these policies are the ad types they would like to run (pop-up, skippable pre-roll, non-skippable pre-roll). So, if you post a video, or you have content in a video, that gets a meteoric rise in views for one reason or another (which is the dream), you will see that video progress through the ad types as the views continue to rise. And it should go without saying that your revenue will reflect this positive trend.

Another option would be to have you content used or reposted by a large channel, which will serve the most lucrative form of ads from view #1 because they are a channel with enough daily viewership that advertisers are willing to pay without seeing proven success by any one particular video. And, just to demonstrate how complex this whole thing can get, each ad will pay out $$ from the advertiser not only based on the type of ad, but also on how much of the ad was viewed before it was most likely skipped by the user.

OK, AdSense links the Advertiser with the content, but how does AdSense find my content on YouTube and know to monetize it in the first place?

YouTube does that for you. To create a platform where videos and music could be uploaded and shared freely without people constantly suing each other over copyright violations, YouTube developed a pretty darn sophisticated process (called Content ID) for scanning each and every video it serves. As I touched on above, this scanning looks for visuals and audio that match not only other user-generated videos on YouTube, but also all sorts of copyrighted audio and visual content, regardless of whether that content is being posted by its owner or not.

This happens through the uploading and fingerprinting of “assets” and reference files to YouTube’s Content Management System (or CMS) for Content ID scanning and monetization. It can take up to two weeks for a newly uploaded video to be scanned against every asset in YouTube, but once a video is identified as containing something that belongs to someone else, YouTube with act according to policies set by that content owner.

So, the content owner will likely want a video that contains their original material claimed on their behalf and monetized. This means that the proper copyright owner of that content being used will signal that ads should be placed on that video (if it’s not already monetizing) and collect up to 55% of all revenue earned.

Content owners can also set all sorts of custom policies that take into account particular assets, length of match, % of match to the original reference file, and desired action (monetize, track, block, or do nothing at all). Of course, it’s not a perfect system and it can cast a very wide net at times, so there is always the option to dispute any claim on your content that you feel is incorrect.  This dispute process will force an actual human to review your content and determine if the claimant has any rights to what is in that specific video. But we’ll go more in depth on that process another time.

What is important for me to know if I want to make all the moneys?

The most important things for an artist or channel owner to do in order to monetize their content to the fullest are:

  1. make sure that you fully own all of the content you are attempting to monetize, and optimize all information and reference files associated with that content so that it is clear and complete. If you don’t own the content, you can’t monetize it, and the conversation ends there.
  2. Provide complete and accurate metadata. The more complete the metadata related to a song, composition, or video on YouTube, the easier it will be for your content to be identified and claimed and for YouTube to verify your ownership against any fraudulent actors. The accuracy of this info includes making sure that if you are claiming to own the composition, you actually did write the song and can legally claim the publishing (for cover songs or works in the public domain, you CANNOT claim the composition). The amount of content floating around out there is staggering, and accurate information can be the difference between impactful earnings or none at all. So, stay vigilant and do the work to keep your assets up-to-date and accurate.

Sound like a lot of work? It doesn’t have to be if you find a reputable company to optimize your music and videos on YouTube for you. CD Baby can do both via our YouTube Monetization program and Illustrated Sound, our multi-channel YouTube network. Apply to join today!

[This article was written by Nicholas Salomone, CD Baby’s Senior Content ID Analyst.]

 

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How I shot my pro music video without a record label

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This post isn’t a “how-to” shoot a music video. I’m sure you can get all types of suggestions from Google on which direction to go if that’s what you are looking for. This post is how I shot MY music video, without a record label backing me and paying for it all out of my pockets (which are currently empty, except for the lint).

Since there are probably several things vying for your time, I will try to keep this as brief as possible, while still getting you the necessary info you need.

The song, the story

First, I had to choose the song on my album which was good enough to be considered a “single,” but more importantly to me, the song that had the best story that could be told with actions, images, and acting. I felt I chose a song that had a story that most people could relate to, as well as being “catchy.”

It’s people, people

Step number two was to pick my “team” with regard to turning these song lyrics and melodies into a visual medium. I’ve never made a music video, but I assumed I needed a director first, and that was the right move to make. A friend happened to be married to someone who makes movies for a living so that worked out well for me. You might have to do a google search.

She (my fearless director) helped me immensely with who I needed to choose next, the DOP (director of photography), as well as figuring out my budget and how the story line would play out. Together we mapped out the crew we would need (i.e. assistant director, assistant camera, lighting, key grip, production assistants, hair & makeup, etc.), selected locations to shoot in, and started to select cast members based on the story.

Dreaming first, then the details

We started story-boarding the lyrics into different scenes, while plugging in the locations and cast members (on paper). As we were doing this, we tried to guesstimate how many days we would need, as well as how much all of this was adding up to. Once we had an idea of what was necessary to make our “dream vision” come to life, we started to add up how much it would all cost. Then we started making decisions based on budget (i.e. eliminating the piro, and cutting everything else).

We figured we needed three days to shoot at all the locations. Proximity from location to location was considered when we needed to shoot in more than one location in one day. The longest day of shooting was all done in one location. We shot the scenes out of order, from most people needed to least people (scheduling all the people involved was probably one of the most challenging parts). 

We used three cameras (one drone, a Steadicam, and a stationary camera), and a follow focus (which controls the focus of the Steadicam). There were stage lights that were available to use at one of the locations and the other lights we used we got at Target, on sale.

Keeping costs down

Some of the locations required us to possess insurance (an unexpected cost that got added in). Any props we needed, we tried to find in our own apartments. Almost everyone who was cast, extra, or crew was a friend that was doing me a favor, so they participated for nothing or less than their quote (it probably helped that the main day of shooting was on my actual birthday. I think their participation was their gift to me haha). Asking time from people was one of my big considerations, as I knew their time was precious and I didn’t want to impose or take it for granted. In some cases, I bartered services. They participated in my video for nothing (or less than they deserved) and I did stuff for them for free (recordings, their videos, gigs, cooked BBQ, etc).

I covered the cost for all the craft services (meals, snacks, hot and cold drinks) and made sure we had plenty of breaks for those things to be consumed. It kept everyone happy when we would take time to set up the different scenes.

PRO TIP: Having petty cash on hand while you’re shooting is necessary in case you run into any last min snags or emergencies (same goes for gaffer tape and extension cords-aka stingers or whips)

Legal and logistics

Being transparent with information (especially schedule) is a must.

Have people sign release forms so you are legally protected.

The more time you spend in preparation; the less time it will take to execute in real time.

PRO TIP: Knowing everything will probably take three times longer than you want it to is a good mindset to have to keep everyone calm and in good spirits (plenty of snack and drink options are key!)

Executing and adapting (with drones!)

The most important part was that the lyrics were being portrayed in the acting. Also, we wanted to make sure the personality of the people involved came across (hopefully a lighthearted, comical theme came across as well as the courtship aspect). In a few cases, people we had cast as specific roles became unavailable. We had to come up with a “Plan B.” Since we were going for a comical vibe, it was decided that I was a re-occurring figure that made multiple cameos throughout the video.

There was one tricky part we didn’t expect. Those were the drone shots. Different cities and states have laws in place for drone use since 9-11. Some are restrictions on nighttime flying, residential vs. city flying, and more. Fortunately, my city and state don’t have any laws like that (for now) and I know a high ranking detective who told me if I had any issues the day of to call his cell. My drone operator was extremely nervous and cautious. We were flying in the middle of a busy downtown city, near powerlines, at night, a few blocks from the police station. Not to mention weather plays a huge deal with drones. You can’t fly with any precipitation and it has to be a non-windy day. If you have a slight breeze, it is multiplied dramatically the higher off the ground you go. There are websites to let you know if you can fly your drone that day, provided you need one for an outdoor shot.

Wrapping up

After we shot all the scenes, we had to edit them into the story we were trying to tell, and then pick the alternate “filler scenes” to stick into the action to keep your attention. Once all the scenes were in order, then we had to color correct everything and then add the beginning and ending credits.

Now, I’m sure you’re asking how I paid for it all? Even though I got the “Friend Discount,” I still had to spend money. I had saved up some money from merch sales on my own gigs. I also took every type of gig offered to me. I lit up my credit card (so much so, it’s glowing). I did eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly (and made a lot of meals at home). All said and done, this music video probably cost me less than $5,000. That still may be a lot for you, but there are many creative (and inexpensive) ways to make a video and I’m sure the internet can help you discover them.

I did have an extravagant vision for this video, and I knew I was only going to make this one. So when it came time to cut things to make the budget smaller, there were some things I couldn’t cut out if I wanted it to look a certain way. The other thing that helped was I spread the shoot days out over a longer period of time so I could save up more funds (whoring myself out) in between the selected shoot days.

Added bonus, here is a link to slang terms on a film set that sound sexual, and what they really mean: http://howtofilmschool.com/25-grip-lighting-terms-that-sound-sexual-what-they-really-mean/

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Managing your rights on YouTube: “The Anatomy of a Claim”

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I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that if you’re reading this you know there’s money to be made on YouTube. And, as a platform, it sets the standard for individualistic expression while still respecting intellectual property.

But did you know that the entire system that allows for this expression and rights enforcement is based on the simplest of devices? Almost every cent of the billions of advertising dollars that flow through YouTube each year is due to one thing: The Claim.

What is a claim on YouTube?

It’s a simple concept: Rights can only be enforced if copyrighted content can be identified and linked to its respective owner. That’s precisely what a claim is: a link.

A claim is the link between a video and a particular copyrighted asset. And the function of a claim is to allow the owner of the linked asset to assert ownership over, and apply policies (monetize, track, block) to, the content of the videos that contain that asset.

A claim consists of three parts:

  1. The Video
  2. The Asset
  3. The Reference

The Video

A video on YouTube is a digital file that contains one of two kinds of content: partner-uploaded and user-generated.

Partner-uploaded content is a video you upload to a YouTube channel that you own. Your claim to the video is made as you upload and apply a usage policy to it.

User-generated content (also known as UGC) are videos that other people upload to their channels. When the video contains content that you own (as determined by a Content ID match or a manual claim), you claim the video and apply a match policy to it. The match policy determines where and how the video is available on YouTube.

The Asset

An asset is something that a content owner provides to YouTube for rights management purposes. Assets are not YouTube videos; they contain information that refers to a piece of intellectual property, including various metadata (such as title, artist name, album, and ISRC for a sound recording), ownership information, claims, policies, and a reference file (which we’ll get to in a second).

There are multiple types of assets:

Sound Recording — A Sound Recording asset represents an audio recording, and has metadata like ISRC, artist, and album. In it is embedded one or more Composition Share assets (see below), and it may in turn be embedded in a Music Video asset.

Composition Share — Represents an ownership share of a musical composition.

Music Video — Represents the official music video for a sound recording.

Art Track — Represents the video of a sound recording that doesn’t have a premium music video (for instance, it may just display the album cover while the video plays).

Web — Represents YouTube original video or other types of video content not covered by the other asset types.

Movie — Represents a feature film.

Television Episode — Represents an episode from a television show.

A “policy” lives within each asset and is a set of rules that specify how a content owner wants YouTube to handle a claimed video.

As an owner, you choose whether users can view the video and whether YouTube displays advertisements with the video. You say how you want YouTube to handle the video by associating a policy with it.

Basic policy types:

Monetize: This policy allows users to view the video and displays advertisements that create revenue for the asset owner.

Track: This policy allow users to view the video without advertisements, but will collect statistics about video views.

Block: This policy will not allow users to view the video on YouTube.

The Reference

A reference allows the asset to match and claim content found within user uploaded videos. It is an uploaded file of the actual content being represented by the asset. So if your asset is a sound recording, then your reference will be the actual sound recording file.

Managing rights

YouTube’s system for managing your intellectual property consists of three major components:

  1. The YouTube rights management system identifies the owners and administrators of your intellectual property and defines the policies used to enforce your rights.
  2. Content ID automatically scans YouTube videos for content that matches your intellectual property and applies the defined rights policy to the matching video.
  3. YouTube videos are the (optional) public representation of your intellectual property, available to users on youtube.com.

So, when you upload a piece of intellectual property to YouTube, it is represented in each of these three components separately as an Asset, Reference, and Video. The asset lives in the rights management system, the reference is used by the Content ID system for matching, and the video is what contains your intellectual property on youtube.com.

And what connects all three of these together so that they can do their job and protect your intellectual property? THE CLAIM.


Monetize your music on YouTube with CD Baby, and take your YouTube channel to the next level with CD Baby’s YouTube network, Illustrated Sound.

The post Managing your rights on YouTube: “The Anatomy of a Claim” appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

6 ways to earn more money from your music on YouTube this Holiday Season

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Prep for the holidays; reap the benefits year-round!

Aunt Sue is wondering whether she really wants to buy you the album you asked for this Christmas, the one by Sexy Demonic Wombats from Beyond the Gates of Oblivion (“SDWBGO” for short).

If she’s like most people with Internet access, she’ll turn to YouTube for a minute or two of “research” first.

Much to her surprise and relief, Demonic Wombats is a mostly harmless polka band that performs 1970’s prog-rock covers — so you’re all set. She orders the CD and everyone (Aunt Sue, you, the Wombats) is happy come Christmas.

This is just one of countless examples of how people use YouTube these days. The video streaming giant is now the world’s jukebox, a customizable replacement for both MTV and radio, a deep musical archive, the #1 search engine for music, the #1 music discovery tool online, and much more — all available on your smartphone.

So it’s hardly surprising that artists are now earning so much in YouTube ad revenue. CD Baby pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to indie musicians for the usage of their music on YouTube — and the holidays also happen to coincide (not… coincidentally, of course) with a huge spike in YouTube advertising revenue.

One interesting and encouraging thing about the amount of revenue artists generate on YouTube is that people who’ve monetized their music are actually earning more from fan-created videos (also known as “user-generated content,” or U.G.C.) than from the official music videos they’ve uploaded to YouTube themselves.

[Check out our podcast interview with Josh Collum to hear an example of how one artist earned more than $200k from user-generated content.]

As I’ve said in previous articles, the modern music industry is built on a social economy. What your fans do (and want to do) with your music has real value.

No, you’re not going to earn nearly as much per usage as you might if the same song were licensed for a Coke commercial. Instead, with YouTube, it’s all about VOLUME and time (since the videos that use your music will be up on YouTube for quite a while) — and as our monthly YouTube payouts demonstrate, when your fan community is empowered to take social action with your music, you make money.

Here are 6 tips to help you make more money from your music on YouTube (this holiday season and beyond)

Making money from your music on YouTube isn’t just a holiday thing, but this busy music season is a perfect time to make sure you’re doing all you can to take advantage of this increasingly important revenue stream.

1. Sign up your entire back catalog for CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization program

The obvious early step to earning money from your music on YouTube… is getting set up to earn money from your music on YouTube!

In the digital age, your music doesn’t have a shelf life — and you never know when one of your songs will find its audience. So sign up ALL your songs, old and new.

2. Encourage your fans to create user-generated content

It’s the holidays! One of your songs might be the perfect soundtrack to someone’s ugly-sweater video Christmas card, or as the background music to a classic home movie of kids unwrapping presents around the tree.

Here are a few ways to get people to use your music:

* email your fans and let them know they’re free to use your songs for their holiday videos, wedding videos, family reunion videos, company or school projects, vacation slideshows, etc. Your songs are already in heavy rotation in these peoples’ households; might as well be in their crazy cat videos, too! If one of them goes viral, you’ll make even more money.

* host a video contest where you ask your fans to create music videos for their favorite of your songs. Whether its footage of a dance party, a stop-motion animation, or a bunch of kids lip syncing, these kinds of videos can add up to serious ad revenue from YouTube. Plus, you’ll get to share your favorite of these entries through your website, newsletter, and social.

3. Put your most important links at the top of your video descriptions

For any videos you upload to your own channel, be sure to include the URL to your website or preferred music store right at the top of the description. You want viewers to be able to click through without having to scroll down or hit the “show more” button. Don’t make people search.

4. Create and upload videos for ALL your songs

In addition to all the other things YouTube has become, it’s also the #1 preferred listening platform for younger music fans. Make it easy for them to hear your music. The more videos you make available, the more opportunities you have to earn ad revenue.

If you don’t have the time or budget to shoot that many “proper” music videos, you should at the very least upload simple album art videos for every song.

[Important: if your distribution through CD Baby includes streaming services, we will deliver Art Track videos to YouTube for you!]

5. Record a holiday greeting video

If it’s not in the cards to film a video for a Holiday single or to shoot a live performance, just use the camera on your smartphone and say hi to your fans. Post it on YouTube, embed it on your website, and spread some cheer!

6. Use smart calls-to-action, cards, and end screens

YouTube offers a number of tools to enhance your videos and to drive further engagement. Be sure to explore all your options within your YouTube channel, including adding cards to your videos that will encourage purchases, boost channel subscriptions, increase views, and more. Also be sure to check out end screens!

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What are your tips for boosting YouTube activity (and ad revenue) this holiday season? Let us know in the comments below.

[Take your YouTube presence to the next level with Illustrated Sound. Click HERE.]

[Photo of YouTube app in iPhone from Bloomua / Shutterstock.com]

The post 6 ways to earn more money from your music on YouTube this Holiday Season appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.


Super Chat: a new way to make money on YouTube

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Your fans can pay to highlight and pin their messages to your chat feed during a live stream.

YouTube is now beta testing a new message system that they plan to roll out more broadly on January 31st for creators in 20 countries, and for viewers in more than 40 countries.

It’s called Super Chat, a monetized tool that allows fans and creators to connect during live streams.

[Take your YouTube channel to the next level with Illustrated Sound, CD Baby’s YouTube network.]

Here’s how it works: Imagine you’re live streaming a concert from your living room, or giving fans a glimpse of your work in the recording studio; anyone who’s watching your live stream on YouTube can purchase a Super Chat, which is a message in the chat feed that’s highlighted so it stands out from the rest of the comments so it’s sure to get your attention while you’re streaming (assuming that you’re monitoring the conversation).

The color of the highlighted message, the length of the message, and the duration which the message stays pinned to the top of the chat (up to five hours) are all determined by the amount of the Super Chat purchase.

YouTube says this of Super Chat:

For creators, this means Super Chat does double duty: keeping their conversations and connections with (super) fans meaningful and lively while also giving creators a new way to make money.

If you’re already live streaming on YouTube, Super Chat could give you a new way to make money from your efforts.

Are you excited about this new tool? Skeptical? Let me know in the comments.

The post Super Chat: a new way to make money on YouTube appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

There’s no excuse for not optimizing your YouTube videos

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5 simple ways to drive more video views on YouTube.

Let’s assume you’ve got great music and a great music video. You worked hard on that video and you’re ready to share it with your fans.

YouTube gives you quite a few ways to “optimize” your videos so you can get more out of them and see greater engagement. Some of these things are so simple that there’s really no excuse for not doing them any time you upload a new video. What are they?

1. Use playlists

Create playlists (for instance: live videos, music videos, lyric videos, interviews, etc.) and arrange your videos accordingly. Whenever you share a video, grab the link from within the playlist so that when someone’s done watching the one video, another one begins playing automatically. Go HERE to find out how.

2. Custom thumbnails

Whenever you upload a video, YouTube gives you a few default options to select as the thumbnail (the still image representing your video that someone sees before clicking to play it). Those options might not be the most thrilling or intriguing moments from your video. Instead, create and upload a custom thumbnail that’s sure to entice. Go HERE to find out how.

3. End screens

End screens are extra visual elements that appear during the last 20 seconds of your video (on both mobile and desktop) that allow you to encourage additional views for videos and playlists, subscribes, merch sales, and more. Learn how to add End Screens to your videos HERE.

4. Cards

Like end screens, cards are visual elements that appear while the video is playing to help you boost subscribes, views, sales, etc. Unlike end screens, a card can appear at any time during the video. You designate a moment in the timeline where the card will first appear (though YouTube may adjust that for further optimization), and viewers can click to expand the cards at any time for further information. Go HERE to learn more about YouTube cards.

5. Video descriptions

It happens often, and I’m still always shocked, when I watch a YouTube video and see the video description has been pretty much ignored. It might say something like “Filmed live on 03/04/17.” Really? What about the venue, the song, the band name, the songwriters, the players? The lyrics? Links to subscribe or follow you on social? Give us some details — and some keywords! It only takes 5 minutes. Plus, all that information helps YouTube more accurately index your video for search.


That’s it. Easy. So easy that you have no excuse to ignore these optimization methods, right?

Got any other easy optimization tips for YouTube videos? Let me know in the comments below.

The post There’s no excuse for not optimizing your YouTube videos appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

How DEMONETIZATION could affect your YouTube revenue

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Did the title of this post make you worry about demonic possession? Well, demons COULD be responsible for some artists’ money-making woes, but in this article I’m talking about recent events in the world of YouTube that have lead to significant changes in content monetization.

The short version of the story

It started in the UK when media outlets pulled advertising from YouTube after discovering their ads were being served on videos with racist and pro-terrorist messages.

Then advertisers worldwide (including AT&T, Verizon, Walmart, and Pepsi in the US) distanced themselves from YouTube advertising, except in the case of targeted search. Some analysts have predicted this advertising boycott will cost YouTube $750 million.

So… YouTube responded by giving advertisers new safeguards: they won’t allow channels with fewer than 10,000 lifetime views to join the partner program.

They also made changes to “Restricted Mode,” a tool that filters out mature or objectionable content (see YouTube’s guidelines HERE) in hopes of demonetizing any video advertisers might find unsuitable for their brand.

In YouTube’s attempt to only monetize videos that are advertiser-friendly, many videos were demonetized that shouldn’t have been. To fix this quickly, YouTube then made a move to accelerate its appeals process for channel owners who feel their videos have been unfairly flagged as “not advertiser-friendly.”

It’s been an eventful 2017 so far for YouTube, creators, and advertisers. What does that mean for you?

Well, many advertisers still have cold feet and are waiting until YouTube irons out all these compromises between free speech and monetization. In the meantime, less advertising dollars spent on YouTube means fewer ads being served, which COULD mean your content on YouTube generates less revenue too.

You could wait patiently for advertisers to return to YouTube en masse, or you could be a bit more proactive:

  1. If you don’t have at least 10k lifetime views across all your videos, promote your channel and videos to get to that milestone so you can monetize the video content on your channel.
  2. Make sure all your videos are optimized for search and engagement.
  3. Apply to join Illustrated Sound, the YouTube network powered by CD Baby.

With Illustrated Sound, our team will routinely audit all your YouTube content (checking video titles, tags, descriptions, etc.) to make sure it’s optimized not just for search and engagement, but also for maximum ad revenue potential. As a member of the Illustrated Sound Network, the effect that YouTube’s broad demonetization efforts will have on your income could be significantly minimized.

Apply to join Illustrated Sound today!

The post How DEMONETIZATION could affect your YouTube revenue appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make

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An interview with Jensen Reed about his music video “Back to the 90s.”

Planning. It might not be necessary to make great music, but it certainly comes in handy when you’re trying to produce an entertaining music video.

And the video for Ben Giroux & Jensen Reed’s “Back to the 90s” is entertaining from start to finish, with crazy attention to detail, lots of extras, lookalikes, props, and locations to keep you looking and listening and laughing the whole time. The video took a loooooooooong time to plan and execute, but it was worth the wait. In its first week, “Back to the 90s” has been viewed more than 30 million times across YouTube and Facebook.

I’m really interested in the video production process — whether it’s no-budget, shot by a pro in an afternoon, or something more elaborate — so I asked Jensen Reed about what went into the video for “Back to the 90s.”

CR: Can you tell me about the timeline for the production? How long did each phase take?

JR: It took almost a year and a half from concept to finished video. Ben Giroux came to me with the idea of doing a music video that’s a celebration of all things 90s. We both were 90s kids and sensed a movement for 90s nostalgia, so we knew we were on to a solid idea.

A big part of the challenge was incorporating multiple genres into one song effectively. My production partner Christian Hand had the genius idea and I knew we had to figure out a way to execute it. I enlisted my buddy Jared Lee who is an amazing songwriter and artist to help us with the chorus and my man Dirty Hollywood who is pure rock n roll to work out the grunge bridge with us.

Our Cinematographer Zach Salsman absolutely crushed this shoot. Zach and I have worked together on a bunch of my music videos and his eye and talent behind the camera is unmatched.

We shot the video in two long production days. (Show in the video below):

The key to knocking it out so efficiently was the pre-production process that lasted for months…locations, crew, cast, times, logistics etc. It was truly a massive production with over 100 people on set.

One thing that allowed for the shoot to go smoothly was the lyrics. Because we had so many specific 90s references, we knew exactly what shots we needed. Unlike most of my other music videos where we roll the entire song and do a bunch of performance takes, we only shot the snippets of the song in each setup we needed. This also made the original skeleton for the edit come together quickly because we knew which shot went where in the timeline.

Did you call in a lot of favors to get this video done?

There was an immense amount of talent involved in the project that donated their time and expertise or worked for us at a major discount. This was a team effort in every way imaginable.

I found the attention to detail super impressive. Can you talk about scouting locations, gathering props and costumes, finding lookalikes, and so forth?

Locking down an airplane hangar to re-create the vibe of the iconic Backstreet Boys video “I Want It That Way” was the biggest challenge. We found Whiteman airport outside of Los Angeles and the owner was open to cutting us a deal because he was a former film school student and understood the idea of a passion project. All of the locations and minutia involved in a shoot this big were handled masterfully by our Producers Jon Rosenbloom, Scott Thomas Reynolds, and Marc Barnes. They are masters of getting sh*t done!

We secured Bullock and Snow Casting to cast all of the roles and they knocked it out of the park! Every person they cast was incredible. They also got us the amazingly talent Alexander Arzu (who plays the kid we educated about how great the 90s were).

Our Art Department Melissa Lyon and Marissa Bergman took the production to another level with the ridiculous attention to detail in creating spaces covered with 90s paraphernalia. There are so many ‘Easter Eggs’ littered throughout the video for viewers to discover, which has led to many people watching the video over and over. And our Wardrobe Designer Chelsea Kutun found all of the iconic and memorable looks for everyone involved in the shoot.

What happened between the final edit and the launch? How did you prepare to promote the video?

Ben and I edited the video and got it to an almost final point before we enlisted Animators Doug Bresler, Ilana Schwartz, Tony Celano, and Zoran Gvojic to add their magic touch including NBA Jam, Ren & Stimpy, Doug, Celebrity Deathmatch etc. VFX by Jake Akuna was the final piece of post production that added more detail and interesting effects, upping the ante yet again.

We had a live release party in Los Angeles the day before we released the video. It turned out to be one of the most fun parties that any of our 300 guests had been to in a while. We encouraged everyone to dress in their best 90s gear. Jared and I performed a couple of our original songs and we then screened the video and performed “Back to the 90s” live.

We encouraged everyone in attendance to share the video at 10am on Monday, May 1st when it was released to get the ball rolling. It helped tremendously that many people in attendance have a lot of social influence because of their own creative pursuits. We didn’t hire a publicist. We just put it out to the world with the hopes of it being so good that people would instantly want to share and that’s what happened.

What are you most proud of about this video?

I’m most proud of the incredible team that Ben and I assembled to make this project a reality. It’s very rewarding to have so many working parts feel attached to your creative vision and hustle on your behalf. It’s a testament to working hard, respecting others and ultimately fostering a positive environment where everyone can thrive.

What would you do differently next time?

I have to say there isn’t anything we could’ve done better on this one. It’s as near perfect as it gets and 36 Million views speaks to that.

Any advice for an independent musician that’s just starting to think about shooting a music video on a limited budget?

My advice is to collaborate with others and when you find good creative relationships, go back to them again and again. Ben and I have a philosophy of less-is-more, meaning we aim to create a smaller number of projects with high production value versus a bunch of smaller ideas. This is the typical 15 year overnight success story. I have 16 other music videos and Ben has been a working actor for well over a decade, so there is a lot of hustle-equity built up behind the success of “Back to the 90s.”

One technical skill that I believe every musician should have is Video Editing. I’ve edited almost all of my videos. It’s a skill that came very easy to me because I know the story I want to tell and it’s similar to editing audio in Pro Tools. Cinematographers will be much more likely to work with you as an artist when you can handle the 50 hours of post production work it takes to pull select footage and assemble an edit. It also gives the artist creative control over the video and saves a bunch of money.


Check out more of Jensen Reed’s music videos at http://www.jensenreed.com/videos. More from Ben Giroux can be found at http://www.bengiroux.com.

The post The power of planning: how an indie music video that got 30+ million views in its first week took 1.5 years to make appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

YouTube for Musicians: “How is all the $$ made?”

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So, what is YouTube monetization?

Monetization on YouTube is the process by which original content makes, you guessed it, money. That original content can come in various forms, including:

  • audio sound recordings
  • audio compositions
  • visual content
  • or (the perfect marriage of audio and visual) the music video

This content can be uploaded by individual users as unique videos or as separate audio/visual “assets.” Audio and visual assets are uploaded separately in order to be eligible for Content ID, the process by which copyrighted material is correctly identified from among all the content uploaded to YouTube, and claimed by the appropriate rights holders.

The separate delivery of audio and visual assets makes your content more likely to be found within user-generated videos (videos that you are not creating yourself) or on YouTube Red.

So, if you’ve submitted your music to a YouTube Content ID service (such as CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization program) your music will be uploaded as sound recordings and compositions by your rights administrator and any videos using your original music will be identified, claimed, and monetized on your behalf.

What does monetization mean to you?

Well, if you are a YouTuber creating videos and uploading them to your channel, then you can set those videos to monetize and begin making money off the ads that are served on your videos. In order to do this, you first need to make sure your video content meets the YouTube Community-Guidelines for Advertiser friendly content.

Next, you need to sign up for an AdSense Account and decide which ad types you are willing to have shown on each of your videos. AdSense is the service that connects advertisers with applicable content and, once ads are served on that content, charges the advertiser and pays the person whose content was used to run their ads.

And if you are a video creator or musician who is using a content administration service, that company will monetize your content on your behalf and collect all revenue via their AdSense account before distributing your earnings directly to you.

Not all ads are created equal…

Ads on YouTube are placed via the AdSense Auction. This is where the content is linked with the specific advertising.

The auction process is almost all automated based on things like:

  • demographic
  • video type
  • channel
  • and (most importantly) number of views

Essentially, advertisers sign up and set policies for how much they are willing to pay for videos with certain levels of viewership, and within these policies are the ad types they would like to run (pop-up, skippable pre-roll, non-skippable pre-roll). So, if you post a video, or you have content in a video, that gets a meteoric rise in views for one reason or another (which is the dream), you will see that video progress through the ad types as the views continue to rise. And it should go without saying that your revenue will reflect this positive trend.

Another option would be to have you content used or reposted by a large channel, which will serve the most lucrative form of ads from view #1 because they are a channel with enough daily viewership that advertisers are willing to pay without seeing proven success by any one particular video. And, just to demonstrate how complex this whole thing can get, each ad will pay out $$ from the advertiser not only based on the type of ad, but also on how much of the ad was viewed before it was most likely skipped by the user.

OK, AdSense links the Advertiser with the content, but how does AdSense find my content on YouTube and know to monetize it in the first place?

YouTube does that for you. To create a platform where videos and music could be uploaded and shared freely without people constantly suing each other over copyright violations, YouTube developed a pretty darn sophisticated process (called Content ID) for scanning each and every video it serves. As I touched on above, this scanning looks for visuals and audio that match not only other user-generated videos on YouTube, but also all sorts of copyrighted audio and visual content, regardless of whether that content is being posted by its owner or not.

This happens through the uploading and fingerprinting of “assets” and reference files to YouTube’s Content Management System (or CMS) for Content ID scanning and monetization. It can take up to two weeks for a newly uploaded video to be scanned against every asset in YouTube, but once a video is identified as containing something that belongs to someone else, YouTube with act according to policies set by that content owner.

So, the content owner will likely want a video that contains their original material claimed on their behalf and monetized. This means that the proper copyright owner of that content being used will signal that ads should be placed on that video (if it’s not already monetizing) and collect up to 55% of all revenue earned.

Content owners can also set all sorts of custom policies that take into account particular assets, length of match, % of match to the original reference file, and desired action (monetize, track, block, or do nothing at all). Of course, it’s not a perfect system and it can cast a very wide net at times, so there is always the option to dispute any claim on your content that you feel is incorrect.  This dispute process will force an actual human to review your content and determine if the claimant has any rights to what is in that specific video. But we’ll go more in depth on that process another time.

What is important for me to know if I want to make all the moneys?

The most important things for an artist or channel owner to do in order to monetize their content to the fullest are:

  1. make sure that you fully own all of the content you are attempting to monetize, and optimize all information and reference files associated with that content so that it is clear and complete. If you don’t own the content, you can’t monetize it, and the conversation ends there.
  2. Provide complete and accurate metadata. The more complete the metadata related to a song, composition, or video on YouTube, the easier it will be for your content to be identified and claimed and for YouTube to verify your ownership against any fraudulent actors. The accuracy of this info includes making sure that if you are claiming to own the composition, you actually did write the song and can legally claim the publishing (for cover songs or works in the public domain, you CANNOT claim the composition). The amount of content floating around out there is staggering, and accurate information can be the difference between impactful earnings or none at all. So, stay vigilant and do the work to keep your assets up-to-date and accurate.

Sound like a lot of work? It doesn’t have to be if you find a reputable company to optimize your music and videos on YouTube for you. CD Baby can do both via our YouTube Monetization program and Illustrated Sound, our multi-channel YouTube network. Apply to join today!

[This article was written by Nicholas Salomone, CD Baby’s Senior Content ID Analyst.]

 

The post YouTube for Musicians: “How is all the $$ made?” appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

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