Promo video - is it worth the extra $$?

[Al Krow]

Trying to work out whether spending extra on getting a semi-pro promo-video done was worth the $$, or whether a DIY job is perfectly adequate for getting higher-end gigs?

If you have a few mins, please have a listen to these clips of my band through headphones and let me have your thoughts on whether we did the right thing in spending the extra on getting a semi-pro video (#3) done?

The three clips (which should come up if you click on the links) are:

#1 fully DIY ($"free" - obviously after I had invested in a video cam, a decent mic and some video editing software! I used a Panasonic V750, a Rode Stereo videomic and PowerDirector 15 video editing software). Set up the camera on location, with -10dB mic input to avoid distortion, and took the recording from two separate events to provide a bit of variety.

#2 low budget promo-video by a mate ($100) - hobby enthusiast with a couple of cameras in a bar, one stationery and one hand held to get more interesting clips.

#3 medium budget promo-video ($950) - sound separately recorded in the studio and "live" video overlayed with the drummer using a click track to keep us to time! A couple of days time and effort involved.

 

[twinjet]

Trying to work out whether spending extra on getting a semi-pro promo-video done was worth the $$, or whether a DIY job is perfectly adequate for getting higher-end gigs?

If you have a few mins, please have a listen to these clips of my band through headphones and let me have your thoughts on whether we did the right thing in spending the extra on getting a semi-pro video (#3) done?

The three clips (which should come up if you click on the links) are:

#1 fully DIY ($"free" - obviously after I had invested in a video cam, a decent mic and some video editing software! I used a Panasonic V750, a Rode Stereo videomic and PowerDirector 15 video editing software). Set up the camera on location, with -10dB mic input to avoid distortion, and took the recording from two separate events to provide a bit of variety.

#2 low budget promo-video by a mate ($100) - hobby enthusiast with a couple of cameras in a bar, one stationery and one hand held to get more interesting clips.

#3 medium budget promo-video ($950) - sound separately recorded in the studio and "live" video overlayed with the drummer using a click track to keep us to time! A couple of days time and effort involved.

I would scrap the DIY at this point. The low-budget promo video is usable, but given how excellent that medium-budget video came out I wouldn't use anything else. That band is worth booking!

By the way, great sound.

 

[Bodeanly]

Wanted to go with #1, but I don’t know just how far your artistic vision and creativity go. If it would be your first video project, go with #2. If it’s your mate’s first video project, find someone else or go with #3. People cannot unsee a crappy video.

 

[Alkali Ike]

#3 as long as you can faithfully reproduce that studio performance live.

Seems to me the perfect promo video #4 would capture a live performance with audio quality close to #3.

But what do I know.

 

[Al Krow]

#3 as long as you can faithfully reproduce that studio performance live. Seems to me the perfect promo video #4 would capture a live performance with audio quality close to #3.
But what do I know.

Thanks for listening and your comments. Actually #3 was a live performance, but with the audio separately recorded. Does that meet your criteria for #4 or did you mean something different?

 

[Al Krow]

... given how excellent that medium-budget video came out I wouldn't use anything else. That band is worth booking!

By the way, great sound.

Thanks! That's very kind of you to say.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Thanks for listening and your comments. Actually #3 was a live performance, but with the audio separately recorded. Does that meet your criteria for #4 or did you mean something different?

In my usual overthinking things & being too critical mode, it seems like the audio being from a studio session could be a potential negative. What I was getting at was a live performance captured with the audio quality of #3. Not a video combined with a separate audio performance made under studio conditions.

How much would it cost to make a video of a live performance with really high quality audio of that live performance?

I probably don’t know what I’m talking about.

Also, I too would book that band.

 

[garp]

With all due respect, #1 = Kiss of Death. Multiple cameras are absolutely essential for any band video – even at the risk of compromising audio quality. #3 is definitely worth whatever was spent on it, if only because it clearly conveys "our audience is having a great time," and that's what will command superior compensation. #2 attempts to capture that vibe, but #3 does it better.

 

[Al Krow]

With all due respect, #1 = Kiss of Death. Multiple cameras are absolutely essential for any band video – even at the risk of compromising audio quality.

Out of interest did you get all the way through #1? (If you didn't, that says something in itself!) - we did get a bit of a change of camera angle with the different clips.

I take your point about benefiting from multiple cameras - and it should not impact sound quality as you can take all the sound from just one of the cameras which is best position for sound.

 

[nutdog]

The video and sound quality is definitely superior in 3 but the sync bothered me. It probably wouldn’t bother a non-musician. Two was good and more authentic but sound quality could be better. I like the blue flowery dress in 1 the best.

 

[Oddly]

This may sound shallow and sexist but if I were making a promo video of your band I'd use shorter clips of more songs, show a few more shots of people dancing, less shots of guitars, and a lot more of your female singer.
She sounds great, and more importantly, looks great.
Honestly, no disrespect intended towards the rest of your band - you're clearly tight, and know your stuff, but to anyone booking, she's what's gonna sell the band.

That said, the video is made already, and as others have said, I'd book based on it.
The third one is clearly more professional, use that.

 

[Al Krow]

This may sound shallow and sexist but if I were making a promo video of your band I'd use shorter clips of more songs, show a few more shots of people dancing, less shots of guitars, and a lot more of your female singer.
She sounds great, and more importantly, looks great.
Honestly, no disrespect intended towards the rest of your band - you're clearly tight, and know your stuff, but to anyone booking, she's what's gonna sell the band.

That said, the video is made already, and as others have said, I'd book based on it.
The third one is clearly more professional, use that.

So the bride booking a wedding (and believe me she will have more say than the groom!) or the female executive organising a corporate event is going to be most swayed by our talented female singer 'cos she looks great?

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

This may sound shallow and sexist but if I were making a promo video of your band I'd use shorter clips of more songs, show a few more shots of people dancing, less shots of guitars, and a lot more of your female singer.
She sounds great, and more importantly, looks great.
Honestly, no disrespect intended towards the rest of your band - you're clearly tight, and know your stuff, but to anyone booking, she's what's gonna sell the band.

That said, the video is made already, and as others have said, I'd book based on it.
The third one is clearly more professional, use that.

This. Except for focusing on one person more than the other.

If you are looking to get bookings, and want to have easy access media, make a combo of all videos and keep it under 2 minutes.

We did that and it has helped some.

Here is my bands “promo”. You can get the idea from these two videos. I made the second one with audio and video clips collected throughout the first 4 years we were together. The second is a low budget pro shot. Not that great but I think it was like $150. This sort of thing seems to work here around Chicago. YMMV.

We have a booking agent so he just emails a link of the video to the new venue that is interested in us.






Hope it helps.

 

[voodoobassist]

I'd vote #4,....actual live performance multi-tracked and pro video editing. I opted for that route with my band early this year and it paid for itself within 2 months time. Cost was $800 , and for that , we got 5 tunes condensed into an epk, a full sets worth of raw audio tracks, and sound and lights for the night. I picked up two more rotating casino jobs because of that expenditure. Since then, I've gone back and purchased 2 more full song videos from our supplier. I've got 45 minutes of multitrack live raw audio that I've used on our website as well. Another nice thing about it is, if you have decent video editing software, you can take the vids you now own and do your own diy promo spots for individual gigs. Spend the money,...it's worth it!

 

[pcake]

This may sound shallow and sexist but if I were making a promo video of your band I'd use shorter clips of more songs, show a few more shots of people dancing, less shots of guitars, and a lot more of your female singer.
She sounds great, and more importantly, looks great.
Honestly, no disrespect intended towards the rest of your band - you're clearly tight, and know your stuff, but to anyone booking, she's what's gonna sell the band.

That said, the video is made already, and as others have said, I'd book based on it.
The third one is clearly more professional, use that.

pretty much what i wanted to say to a t. the singer is the face of the band, which doesn't mean leave everyone else out, but give a variety of views of the singer at their best.

So the bride booking a wedding (and believe me she will have more say than the groom!) or the female executive organising a corporate event is going to be most swayed by our talented female singer 'cos she looks great?

absolutely - not always, but often. you may not have noticed this, but women's clothing catalogs made for women feature very cute, sometimes very sexy shots. books for women - paranormal romances, period romances, etc, feature very attractive women in often very sexy clothes.

covers from "chick books" on amazon (usually 90% or better of the reviews are from women)

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Sided-Magic-Legacy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01MQF5KPT/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Five-Reverse-Harem-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B07B6HZ5N7/ref=sr_1_21?i

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSEO50P/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Magic-Covenant-Book-ebook/dp/B07CZ39YYV/ref=sr_1_3?

that is, unless they feature guys like this

https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Pact-Vampire-Shifter-Romance-ebook/dp/B07CWFFYT8/ref=sr_1_21?

at least this guy gets his face in the pic
https://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Neighbor-Lulu-Pratt-ebook/dp/B078S5BSB6/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?

 

[buldog5151bass]

So the bride booking a wedding (and believe me she will have more say than the groom!) or the female executive organising a corporate event is going to be most swayed by our talented female singer 'cos she looks great?

No, but because she is the face of your band. Take a look at most bad live videos. Unless the guitarist is the star, the lead vocalist get the majority of face time.

 

[bherman]

I like #2 because its more of an active venue and seems more real. I'd lose the t-shirts and maybe look at your overall image a bit, hard to see you getting high-class gigs let alone weddings without a better overall image.

 

[BAG]

Edit: Sorry, didn't read the OP through properly and neglected to actually watch the links. You might actually be able to mix a couple of scenes from #2 with the audio and video of #3 to get some grittiness into the final promo.

What I originally wrote below, but still stands.

It depends what is acceptable in your region. I've just moved to NZ and manage a venue that puts on some solo, duo and trio acoustic based acts. The level of promo is very low. Most acts don't even have a decent promo photo and only a couple can steer you towards any video at all.... usually crappy phone recording from an audience member. The one i put together just before leaving Australia (which i thought was average) looks downright professional compared to what i've seen so far. Three cameras recording and the audio was recorded straight to USB on our Soundcraft Ui12 and then EQ'd a little. Bass doesn't come through too well, but it gives venues an idea of what we do.

 

[trevcda]

... she's what's gonna sell the band.

It is difficult to look at it from the perspective of a purchaser rather than a musician. I didn't make through much of the first video before saying to myself, "Seen it before. Next." The next two were better and for all of the obvious reasons. But I inserted the above quote because although musically you are a tight unit, everyone but her and possibly the bass player (in the third video) look like they just got off work, didn't have time to change and are being forced at gun point to play these gigs. If you are shooting for the better corporate and wedding cover gigs, you need to develop a style as a band and up your entertainment factor. There are times when you are just musical wallpaper. Very well compensated musical wallpaper, but wall paper none the less. But there are other times, often later during the same gig, that you are expected to engage and entertain that same audience. She looks like she could pull it off, but the rest the band? Not so much. This is a band out Reno that are what I would be striving for if I were trying to break that same market: Link Removed Not my band, but a great example.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

Trying to work out whether spending extra on getting a semi-pro promo-video done was worth the $$, or whether a DIY job is perfectly adequate for getting higher-end gigs?

If you have a few mins, please have a listen to these clips of my band through headphones and let me have your thoughts on whether we did the right thing in spending the extra on getting a semi-pro video (#3) done?

The three clips (which should come up if you click on the links) are:

#1 fully DIY ($"free" - obviously after I had invested in a video cam, a decent mic and some video editing software! I used a Panasonic V750, a Rode Stereo videomic and PowerDirector 15 video editing software). Set up the camera on location, with -10dB mic input to avoid distortion, and took the recording from two separate events to provide a bit of variety.

#2 low budget promo-video by a mate ($100) - hobby enthusiast with a couple of cameras in a bar, one stationery and one hand held to get more interesting clips.

#3 medium budget promo-video ($950) - sound separately recorded in the studio and "live" video overlayed with the drummer using a click track to keep us to time! A couple of days time and effort involved.

I’ve gotten a lot of business with crappy, raw, energetic videos, shot with an iPhone or webcam. I’ve seen some “mid budget” videos with fake audiences and synced vocals... not good looking stuff, not sure how effective it is though.