So, if We Recommend some YouTube channels from local artists, producers, and music companies there’s one thing you should keep in mind; there are a number of really high quality channels operated by folks from the DMV. So many in fact that what we decided to do was just throw a few links out there as a way of getting the ball rolling. Hopefully, those of you reading this will add a comment with more recommendations or just shout out your own YouTube channel. You can do that in the comments section below, or hit our Twitter page @_OnStageDC.

We think this is a good topic because there’s an evolution going on with YouTube and being in front of it is critical in the music business. Astute artists see the potential to do more than just share your latest video with the hope it may blast off and go viral and the next thing you know Baby or Rick Ross is calling you. There’s too much churn and over-saturation on YouTube for that to happen, even if you knock down 100,000 views in one month. To even get noticed you’d have to do something like 100,000 a day! So the trend is not to think of YouTube as your one-in-a-million shot, but as one of the main components of building your brand and developing a loyal customer base. Music is a business. A business needs customers. If you’re making music you should be using YouTube to acquire customers.

With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at what DMV music folks are doing on YouTube and offer a few examples with our observations and suggestions.

Our friends at Trilogy III, an extraordinarily talented rap trio, have been developing their channel, The Real Trilogy III’s Channel, and it’s moving in the right direction. It’s got a nice look and all the available information blocks are filled in. The “About Trilogy III” info blurb is perfect. It mentions their new album, refers viewers to more information on the web, and most importantly, provides contact information for the group’s management. There are a couple suggestions we’d offer though. Think of a YouTube channel as an elongated commercial. A commercial is carefully crafted to get a distinct message across to viewers. In this case the message is that Trilogy III is a talented group whose music should be bought or who should be hired to perform in venues. Anything that deflects or blurs that message is not useful. Trilogy might want to consider whether the number of videos they have on their channel help to get their message across, or blurs the message. For example, instead of uploading static videos of every song with just a picture of their album cover, would the message be conveyed better with a single new official video featuring the lead song from the album? We think that might be better because with a total of 42 uploaded videos there is a danger of giving potential “customers” too much latitude in deciding if paying for your music is worth the risk. The challenge with YouTube is to turn viewers into customers. With that said, 2 favorites on the channel are the newest upload, “B-More 2 DC” ft Spoony, and of course, the great “Wassup” which was a hot video in the OnStage Video Showcase.

Trifecta 3ENT has an established and well visited channel that stays true to the collective’s vision. They make room for all the tribe with videos from DanMan Tha Bully, Freaky Reek, Low Lavish, and Ca$h. It’s a good panoramic view of their talents and skills and shows how seamlessly they work together. We would have liked to see the “About Us” profile filled out with the information we talked about above. Taking advantage of the available information blocks means an artist is not just thinking of a YouTube channel as a fan page with visitors who already know you. Instead, remember to see every visitor as someone sampling your product. Providing bio and background information is a good first step in doing that. Artists should also consider putting together a 60-90 second video that shows them talking about themselves and their music. Put that video on YouTube channels to help personalize your brand. All in all, we like this channel though because we like what we hear from Trifecta 3ENT.

We like RoyalFam TV, which is actually a sub-channel of the 368 Music Group Channel. Phil Ade puts out high quality, classy videos and his YouTube channel is classy as well. He’s only got 8 videos up, but with 575 subscribers and 135,791 views his team is doing a great job of leveraging this social stream to its full advantage. They do it as well or better than anyone else in the metropolitan area. If we have any question it would be, “How much is 368 taking advantage of the opportunity to extract revenue from the great product placement already built into Phil Ade’s videos?” In his case, the clothes, shoes, liquor, even the background shots are all, or should be, revenue generators for him because his fans are going to emulate his choices. If he’s getting paid by those product makers then his channel is a perfect example of what other artists should be aiming for.

RealGVTV from OnStage favorites GV is a good channel with a great background. Stylistically it’s got a great look and feel with the GV logo prominent behind the videos. They do a good thing strategically by including videos from other artists that they either like or are influenced by. It sends a subtle message to viewers that they have shared interests in music. By way of personalization they have a short interview video up but we’d also suggest they fill in the “About Us” profile and include links to their ReverbNation page. Because they update frequently they should also look for product placement opportunities. If your channel is attracting a steady stream of visitors use that as an inducement to advertisers. The attractiveness of the channel itself is enough to get them interested.

We’ll wrap it up here. Let us know your thoughts though. What other suggestions do you have? What other channels do you recommend? We’ll come back with another article based on your comments and input so Stay OnStage!

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