This is a beginner tutorial for those that are looking for ways improve online presence using YouTube. If you are not actively using YouTube as part of your online music marketing strategy, then you are missing a lot of opportunities that can help you in succeeding your music career. The following steps can get you started quickly:
Step1.) You signed up for a Google account. This will automatically grants you a YouTube account which is required before you can upload videos, etc.
Step2.) Make some original music videos of your music performance. To be very effective, try making music videos that showcase your core talent such as singing, playing guitars, music production, audio mixing or even audio mastering etc. It can be your original song or cover song.
But I suggest you put more work in your originals if you are marketing yourself as a singer-songwriter/original artist and not just a singer/vocalist. Also due to some recent licensing restrictions in YouTube; refrain from using copyrighted sound recording as part of your video production unless if you are granted a license to use it. So it’s best to perform live with a guitar or piano accompaniment and don’t use any copyrighted music along it.
Live music performance in videos is a great way to show some proof of your talent as a musician. It works best if you really have the talent in singing or playing instruments. You should also have great charisma/honesty in front of the camera; of course the quality of the audio and video matters. You should invest buying some gears that could help improve the quality of your audio and video recording.
Configuring for high quality audio and video can be tricky for beginners but below are some suggestions:
a.) Invest in high quality recording gears if you seriously need quality results. To record your audio, use either an external USB or Firewire audio interface and connect it to your computer. Check out this list if you are looking for the cheapest 24-bit/96KHz USB audio interface.
You do not need to build a high end recording studio just for producing YouTube videos. You can simply convert your PC into a recording studio. You do not need a high end nearfield monitors and you can still use your existing computer speakers since you are not mixing or mastering music. For camera, shoot at HD (High Definition) and use HD camera such as the Flip UltraHD
Do not use cheap/low end web cameras, they do not produce quality video results.
Connect all your hardware for audio and video. You need software that can synchronize your video and audio elements. If you are on the tight budget but still want great results you can use Reaper.
For detailed video on how to do this, you can watch this video tutorial.
b.) Now you have produced a great video, it’s time to upload it to YouTube and start the marketing work.
Step3.) The first step in the marketing work is to gain friends. Start with your own friends in school, work, community, organization, etc. Using other social networking tools like Facebook; this will make your work easier. Provide them the URL where they can watch your video and kindly request them to subscribe to your channel so that in the future they will be updated easily if you add some new music videos or have some news.
Depending on your hard work and the quality of your music video, the good news can spread like wild fire. No one knows the video might become viral and would be viewed by a lot of audiences. Your buzz will then start to grow and you will start to earn a lot of fans and subscribers. The good thing with YouTube is that there are lots of users that are constantly looking for new and fresh music.
Step4.) Support your video with professional sound recordings of your original music. This be either be an album or single. I would suggest doing this if you already made a lot of buzzes and is confident that you can earn money from the sales of your music.