10 Video Content Ideas for Bands and Musicians
Promote your music while engaging your fanbase with these video content ideas for bands and musicians.
BTS image of Silo - “Warpaint” music video shoot with Noble Bison Productions
Today’s social media platforms have made it easier than ever for independent musicians to share their artistic identity with people from all over the world. Musicians can now have personalized interactions with their fanbase and relate to them through their style, personality, values, and most importantly, their talent.
As an independent band or solo artist, keeping productive with your online engagement and content is essential to your success, especially since these spaces have become exceedingly competitive and saturated with other artists who are also self-promoting. The path to a larger following is to build a strong relationship between you and your fans, and you want to do so while promoting your music. Give audiences a way to relate with you and your music.
The reason we want to specifically share video content ideas for musicians is that it has been declared the greatest form of content when it comes to social media marketing. Video is an engaging and extremely palpable way to connect with your people. Most musicians want to primarily focus on their craft versus being “content creators,” which is why we’ve put together a list of video content ideas for bands and solo artists that merges music with engaging social content. Check it out below:
10 Video Content Ideas for Bands & Musicians
DIY Social Media Clips
How To
Album Mini Documentary
Gear
Behind the Scenes
Behind the Song
Lyric Videos
Drummer’s Process
Origin Story
Live Stream
1. DIY Social Media Clips
Still image from Before Their Eyes - “Lies” music video shot & directed by our owner/DP Jeff Riley
I start with social media clips because it’s less focused than the rest of the content ideas and really falls in line with how video and social media are such great tools to promote your music and interact with your fanbase on a more personal level. Take to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Live to share in-the-moment snippets with your audience of song teasers, travels, live shows or rehearsals, etc. Even shortened clips from the content ideas below are great. Again, your music is the focus but your followers are interested in the musician(s) behind the music as well. Show up and be authentic.
2. How To
Share with your followers what you have learned being in the music industry – you absolutely have followers that are aspiring musicians themselves and would love to learn through your experience. Consider creating quality videos that explain:
Recording studio experience and set up, from home studios to pro studios.
How you record and get your album mastered
Booking gigs
Promotion and networking
Merch
3. Album Mini-Doc
Liontortoise Studio Journal Teaser
Show the process, creative inspiration, and even the trials and tribulations of creating an album from start to finish. You may consider hiring a videographer or video production company to make your documentary content super polished and high-quality for your viewers. Not only are they professionals who are skilled at camera work and editing, but they are expert storytellers. And the final piece will shine because of it. For example, check out this teaser we filmed for Liontortoise.
4. Gear
Let your followers in on your gear:
Gear set up
Essential gear for a one-man band
Gear list for a live show
Pedalboard set up
All-in-one rack set up
Reviews and suggestions
Chronicle the instruments and gear you’ve used over time
5. Behind the Scenes
BTS still of Noble Bison Production shoot with Silo
Document behind the scenes of your music videos. This is great content for a few reasons. First, viewers love to discover how something came together, especially if you have scenes or costumes that are interesting. Secondly, viewers get a more authentic view of the artist(s). Many big-time artists release BTS of their music videos, and it’s a fun way to learn more about their personalities. Additionally, BTS videos really underscore all the work that goes into that 3-5 minutes music video. Music videos are generally not cheap to produce, so this gives you additional content to promote from your investment.
6. Behind The Song
Let your fanbase in on the details behind your songs. What was the inspiration of a song, both lyrical and musically? How long did it take to write? How do you feel about the song? This last question makes me think of how some bands notoriously hate their most famous song, like “Creep” by Radiohead. Or how some songs elicit an entirely different emotion from the creators than the listeners.
7. Lyric videos
In the same sense as BTS videos, song lyric videos are an opportunity to create additional content from your songs. These are great because you can build your YouTube inventory and promote your songs via video when you don’t have a music video or you’re still working on one for a particular song.
8. Drummer’s Process
Still from Liontortoise - “v3” music video by Noble Bison Productions
Particularly if your music is drum-heavy, like jazz, rock, or metal, you're guaranteed to have fans and fellow drummers interested in BTS content chronicling your drummer’s process.
9. Origin Story
Tell the origin story of your band and its’ members. How did you all meet, how did you decide your name, did you start out playing different instruments, etc. This concept is great even for solo artists who can tell their musical history and/or what made them decided to make music a serious pursuit.
10. Live Stream
I specifically bring this content idea up because our Noble Bison Productions team filmed for an event last year called Death in My Metal, Not in My Streets. It was such a cool event and the bands’ fans loved the live stream. You can set up live stream events for philanthropy causes, yes, but your fanbase would also just love to watch a live jam sesh or show.
To conclude, video content is the best way to capture and promote your music with audiences across the internet. You can focus on your music while showing who you are as a band or solo artist as well — people relate to people. It’s always a great idea to document your band or musician journey because you never know how that content can come in handy, whether it becomes good behind-the-scenes content or a special addition to a music video. Your fanbase will appreciate it.
DENVER MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
Are you a band or solo artist in Colorado looking for a video production company in Denver? We’d love to hear from you! Our team works with musicians for music videos, documentaries, and live stream events. Reach out if you have questions or would like to get a quote on your next video project:
