Starting a vlog, video diary or even a written blog might just be the key to unlocking your potential in the music industry.

Why Starting a Vlog Could Help Your Music Career Explode | Music Vlogging 101

Vlog (Noun):
a video blog: a record of your thoughts, opinions, or experiences that you film and publish on the internet

Source: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vlog

Forget your preconceptions about teenage YouTubers, Vlogs have become mainstream, they are here and they are here to stay.

From business leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk (Vayner Media) to World travellers like Nadine Sykora, people are documenting their day-to-day life on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat.

No matter what stage of your career you are at in the music industry (note: not just artists but whatever you do in the industry) people will be interested in following your journey. As a self-confessed music geek I’d love to watch the daily grind of an up-and-coming music manager or booking agent just as much as watching a superstar rock crowds around the world.

People are inherently interested in the music business, why not document your journey and show what it’s really like to work in the music industry.

There are already some artists, DJ’s etc creating great video content and vlogs of their tours etc but the artists that are ahead of the curve will be documenting everything: the studio sessions, the promo meetings, the stress of not getting into Spotify playlists, everything!

This kind of content does not need to be professionally edited, you do not need to script it or be great on film – it’s just about letting your fans in on the real you and giving an insight into your world.

5 Benefits Of Starting a Vlog (For Music Artists):

1. Better fan engagement:

Get closer to your fans, create a stronger, bigger fanbase.

2. Easy social media content:

One vlog can be split into multiple bits of content, think Instagram quote images, Facebook videos, Instagram stories etc). Take out the stress of coming up with what to post on your Facebook and get into the routine of documenting your day.

3. New revenue streams:

Guess what? You can get paid to Vlog, Youtube shares a large percentage of their advertising revenue with the creators.

Create good content, get more views, get paid.

You can also soundtrack your videos with your own music, which helps get extra exposure for your music and once again, creates a new revenue stream.

4. Give Back:

Your fans invest a huge amount of time and money into you, let them into your life and they will appreciate it more than you think. By creating an honest diary (written, spoken or in video) you can also help inspire the next generation of artists and music execs.

5. GROW your fanbase and open your music to totally new markets

It can take a long time to develop a fanbase around a Vlog. It really helps if you already have some fans to start with, but even if you don’t create enough good content and you will organically build a following. Once you do start building a fanbase of people who follow your vlogs, you will find these fans are more loyal than any other type of fan, they will help to build your brand and sell tickets to your shows. Don’t underestimate the power of Youtube subscribers!

3 Tips for starting and running a successful Music Vlog

1. Don’t Overthink it!

Just start. You don’t need a fancy camera, your phone will work just fine. You don’t need a script and you don’t need to be going on a world tour. Switch the camera on and start documenting your day.

2. Be True To Yourself

The quickest way to loose fans and subscribers is to try and make yourself look like something you are not. Show the good, bad and ugly – don’t worry if your content feels boring or isn’t glamourous. Just make sure it’s honest.

3. Quantity over Quality

It might sound strange, but with YouTube – the key to growing fast is to upload content every day, or as often as possible. Don’t worry about making a beautiful movie, instead focus on good, honest and regular content.

Get Inspired

Need some inspiration to get started? Here a few videos/channels we suggest you check out:

Robin Schulz On The Road
Superstar DJ, Robin Schulz has a camera man that follows him around on tour, the videos are exceptionally well produced and very popular. It’s a good example of how established DJ’s can use video to grow their fanbase online.

Jon Sine

DJ, producer and engineer Jon Sine is a better example of an artist vlogging at an earlier stage in their career. Jon isn’t flying around the world in private jets, he is usually found in his studio or at home but his vlogs are interesting, entertaining and honest. He often shares the stresses of getting labels to pay on time or other issues.

Casey Neistat

Casey isn’t a musician or anything to do with the music industry but he really is the gold standard of vlogging. His daily videos have helped him gain more than 7 million YouTube followers. Want to know what a good vlog looks like? Watch this:

Want to start but not got all the camera gear? Watch this.. 

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