10 Videos every Musician should create, and most are simple to produce
Video is one of the most effective ways to promote music. That’s why music marketers focus on TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and YouTube.
by Chris Robley from the Reverbnation Blog
A good music video can:
- grab attention
- invite deeper engagement
- push a track further than it might’ve traveled without visuals
But for many artists, video production can be overwhelming. Especially when music marketing experts say you should be shooting dozens of different videos for every song. It can be difficult to know where to begin with so many different approaches, platforms, and formats.
That’s why we put together this list of music video ideas.
Check it out! Then, choose whichever concept feels most inspiring.
10 types of music videos you should create
1. The official music video
It’s still useful when promoting your music to media outlets. Some blogs still like to premiere official videos. And your diehard fans will enjoy full-length official videos too. But keep in mind: “official” videos aren’t as useful at reaching new audiences on short-form platforms, so don’t spend a fortune here.
2. The song-snippet video
Just make a video for the hook of your song. In fact, make a lot of different versions. Get creative. No one said you can only have one video for a song. And if the video is only 15 seconds long, you can create more options!
3. Visualizations
These are the videos that have graphics that move to the music. Just like the official music video, these won’t be great for outreach to strangers, but for the loyal fans, they’ll dig it. So make them as subtle or artsy as you want.
4. Lyric videos or karaoke videos
These are great for fans who want to sing along, or read along and get the words correct! Same caveat as earlier: These are videos for existing fans, not for wowing brand new audiences.
5. Art track videos
An Art Track is a video that displays a static image of your album artwork while the music plays. It’s handy to have. And thankfully, YouTube creates them for you automatically when you distribute tracks to YouTube Music.
6. Spotify canvas video
A Spotify Canvas is the short looping video that plays on Spotify. They should be roughly three to seven seconds long. There aren’t many rules here, so get creative. Just remember that the video will not be “synched” to the song, so you might want to avoid clips of someone singing specific lyrics. By the way, you can swap it out anytime. So try different things and see what works best.
7. Short-form videos
It’s a category of its own, but think of all the shorter videos you see artists making on TikTok and Reels. There’s a lot to dive into, and countless options to explore, so let your personality shine.
8. Cover song videos
These work extremely well for finding new audiences, and you should definitely use them! Even if your focus is on original music, remember that acts from The Beatles to Adele leveraged cover songs to broaden their appeal. Best of all, with social platforms, you don’t even need to do the WHOLE song. It could just be a TikTok of you singing the chorus.
9. Live videos
Just don’t post boring videos from the back of the room. Get creative. It could be live on stage, or “live” in your bedroom. Just capture something magical about your performance skills, whether it’s your voice, your instrumental prowess, your production skills, or your songwriting.
10. Behind-the-scenes videos
Give your fans a peek behind the curtain of what it’s like to be an artist. Share the sights and sounds (and smells) of being on tour, in the studio, at a radio station, or the rehearsal space. You could do this as a mini-documentary, as an AMA (talking to the camera), or as a quick vertical video.
There are, of course, many other forms of video you can create to promote your music. And you can mix and match any of the above — add lyrics on-screen during your “official” video, do a live cover song snippet, etc.
The most important thing is:
Realize the power and importance of video for moving your music forward.
And then go make a video!
