Question of the Day - April 2, 2009

The Holodigm.com

ARE VIDEOS VIABLE?

A. Holden asks:

Do you think it is still profitable / a good idea for artists to invest a lot of money in making videos since music videos are rarely aired on television anymore?

Hartmann responds:

No, I don't think large capital investment in video is a good idea. Nor is it necessary. The easiest form of video is documentary in nature and can be created by passing the camera around the band and adding some creative editing. Imagination is the greatest source of production value. Make them cheap and real to appeal to the true fan base. Post them on your web site and let the fans see you doing your thing. These home made videos are also called micro-movies, webios and min-docs. the fans are looking for honesty, fun and personality. These elements don't cost much if you have them.


L. Robinson comments:

So if it not profitable, why do bands keeping making music videos? Especially when many of these videos do not get seen?

Hartmann responds:

There are two reasons bands keep making videos even though they are not being seen on TV. One is ego; bands want to see them selves as "rock stars" and a video is one way to revel in that fantasy. Second and more important is that video is still the best way to demonstrate an artist's music and image together. Since the Internet is the primary promotional tool, video will continue to be a very important component. However, bands will probably create the video themselves and the giant profit in producing videos is probably history. Only record companies had the budgets to create the expensive video product formerly seen on MTV and that has fallen off considerably. A lot of video directors and producers are moving into documentaries and narrative film making.