Hey guys, I really appreciate all of this feedback - I’m really beginning to feel like this community is being pulled back together in a super positive way. Feel free to suggest topics or ideas for videos, I am all ears.

Narrative always wins. I'm a marketing consultant and we did some research: well done music videos pull 6-10x more traffic on average VS raw audio. It doesn't matter if it's animated by a guy from Fiverr or high production value, as long as its engaging or tells an interesting and cohesive story (sth like 'hero's journey' by Joseph Campbell). Anyway - there are SO many ways to monetize as a musician, but we gotta start thinking of ourselves as a brand and business. And here's the big thing I don't want you to miss: These Days Music Is A Commodity - But A Personal Brand Is An Asset! People don't care about our tunes as much as we think they do. Sure, great music is important, but what people really want is to build parasocial relationships with musicians, because that's what we're all trained to do by the age of social media. And remember: trend is your friend. This can be monetized in a million ways. Being a half-decent - but entertaining and charismatic - musician can be 100x more profitable than being a prodigy with a personality of a wet paper bag. Music can be the hook to get their attention in the first place, but they ultimately stay for our personality and 'personal brand'.

Definitely narrative videos. Ones that tell a contained story. In The Sunshine was so good it gave me chills. I know those are more expensive and harder to write, but when done well they really have impact.

I appreciate everything you've done and helped others to understand. Don't get discouraged brother, your making a big difference by sharing your knowledge. Your efforts will be rewarded somehow, some way. I'd make your music videos in all different formats. Whatever gets the job done without breaking the bank or exhausting yourself. I think alot of people are reflecting on the last few years, and looking to streamline operations to prioritize their time. Your a smart dude who knows how to communicate well. That's always gonna be your ace in the hole. Don't change too much!

This is such a nice community to be involved in Rob - I really enjoyed this video too- (performance and narrative for me) ✌✌

I just clicked on while having a cuppa. Seeing how your mind works and your process was fascinating. I look forward to seeing your research professor Rob

Narrative every time. The most memorable music videos for me always tell a story.

A good solid mix of all three will be fantastic. Continue to be genuine and honest and those that appreciate will follow.

Really interesting Rob! Can't wait to see conclusions.

Performance. Really interesting topic. Most people watching this do want to help people like you that provide content.

Hi Rob, Looking forward to more music (really hope more ambient/Monkey Lord tunes are in the pipeline), and happy to continue to support you. You inspired me to return to music and guitar playing after I'd spent years away, and I'll never forget that. Echoing another comment, Mary Spender would be a great resource to link with for a video about how musicians earn money online via streaming and other platforms. If only we could all go back to the days when CDs and cassettes (and vinyl!) were the normal way to distribute music. I'd happily support that revenue stream - I try to do so now for those artists who manage to release on those formats. Looking forward to all that comes next. Cheers!

Thank you Rob. Greetings from Melbourne Australia 🤘... fascinating video (and your last one), thank you for taking the time to explain this stuff, I find it very interesting indeed (even though the revenue aspect doesn't really apply to me,.. you probably haven't seen it, but I put on my YT a concert of me playing the whole VH 1 album in track order a few years ago for the Melbourne Guitar Show, which has almost 300,000 views now, but of course.. they're covers, so no revenue for me lol). And that's ok. and as far as your music video.. NARRATIVE (with some snippets of Performance). If you have a colleague in animation that can help out, I find that can be a very interesting to look at but cost effective way to go! Peace and respect brother 🙏, Simon Hosford

I really enjoy the performance music videos the most. The Catalyst music video comes to mind. However, I also enjoy playthrough videos a lot. I hope to hear more tunes from you soon!

This is an important topic. Even for those of us who aren’t content creators, we want you guys to be paid fairly and get as much as possible. You are right - there’s gotta be a way to play the system and make it work to your advantage where you earn more than a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a cent. Looking forward to hearing an update about your findings!

I’ve really enjoyed Mary Spender’s videos on the subject of making money as a musician. It would be great to see a video with the both of you talking about it. Even some other viewpoints as well because people like Lee also have an interesting perspective from effectively using KZfaq and entertaining videos as a big advertising venture - and I love how open he is about the fact that the content of the videos doesn’t directly translate to sales of what was featured, but it does more to instil trust in the brand.

Narrative. I miss 80s/90s MTV and the surreal and avant-garde music videos of the time. I like it when the video tells a visual story to accompany the music.

Your channel has been kicking ass lately. Thanks for the new content

Performance What happens if I pay for YT premium and stop getting adds? Do content creators get screwed?

Playthrough or any sort of live performance. I like to listen to produced music on the platforms but i LOVE to see it played with the passion and even blemishes of a band vibing in the moment

Nice one Chappers!!!PERFORMANCE 100%

Definitely a performance, with extreme close ups of the guitar solo! =D

Playthrough is definitely my favourite presentation method

I really liked this video. Guitar channel creators (including myself) are driven by passion, which is music and guitars, and we don't think enough about money. By contrast, a creator that does finances will just be thinking about money and how to make more of it, so their content will automatically be attracting advertisers that spend more money on ads. You really gave me some food for thought, here.

Performance, but one where it looks and feels like it's natural and not staged.

You Tube has become so big and accessible, competition and quality expectations keep increasing. Only the very best will make money, it will just get harder. Play to your strengths, which in my opinions is that you and Lee at Andertons together are really entertaining - as in hilarious. I don't see heavy metal guitar playing that will beat that.

I LOVE the old Pomplamoose "VideoSong" medium from 10 years ago: "1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds)."

I think a travelog featuring finance hints and tips followed by a random jam using various tech in airport lounges would be greatly appreciated!

I personally like a mix of performance and narrative depending on what the song calls for. Sometimes the simpler the better.

Hi Rob. A couple of great video examples which combine performance with storytelling are Cleanse the Bloodlines and Northwest Passage by Unleash the Archers.

performance for sure !!

Performance. I believe it depends on the viewer. I am a musician, and I would much father watch artists performing. But that's me. Hats off, to you, for looking into this. I always been curious of this stuff. Peace.

For whatever it's worth, I totally got a mid roll ad for perfume on this video, after you had just talked about it being a high revenue ad. 😅

PLAYTHROUGHS: low effort, enjoyed almost only by musicians. NARRATIVE: thing of the past, can be obnoxious/"cringe" if taken too seriously, (I personally like funny though). PERFORMANCE with closeups and some non-band shots: great middle-ground!

As a fellow Yamaha RGX player I love that the robs 312 is so prominent in his vids.

playthrough with some narrative or behind the scenes footage would be my favorite

Performance and playthrough combination 😉 I really want to see the results of your little research. I think it's very interesting for every musician

AWESOME!!!🌎💯

Life is an adventure... so right!

Love this video. One of my favourite RC vids. You work great to camera. This is what I would like to see you do. You do a Joe Rogan long format - informal chat with music biz people that interest you. Podcasting if you will. As for selling music, if everybody gives there music away for free by streaming and that becomes the model - then everyone is fucked (Except spotify). Selling music is hard. But selling ANYTHING is hard. But that is the game. Its the thing that seperates the big boys from everyone else.

Performance/Playthrough - I like to see techniques etc. I really appreciate that you're going into so much depth with this mate. As an aside, my RPM is absolute ass, abysmal 😂 But, what I was going to say, I've been mulling over the release of my first EP early next year and I've come to the conclusion that as an unproven artist / youtuber releasing music, I'll put it on streaming and YT for the sake of eyes and ears as well as the fact that the audience considers that 'free'. Then I'll be releasing a PDF tab book along side it under a 'pay what you want' sort of model. If people listen to it cool and if people want to go further and support me in any way financially then that's a bonus. In your position, loyal fanbase and proven track record of great music the pay what you want model is riskier but might ultimate work out much better than streaming, as well as giving people the option to support after the fact if they primarily listen through spotify and feel a connection to the music. I'm far from qualified to speak on it though but I just thought I'd throw my thoughts out there. Thanks again for the work you're putting into this!

Performance with naritive. Carries the tunes message. Peace.

Performance music video for me, singles especially. Play through next and then cinematic/story thirdly, sometimes a good mix of performance and story are good.

No preferred option i.e. would prefer availability of all 3 options, but not necessarily for a single track.

Hey Rob, I enjoy a good mix…story makes me enjoy the new music more, if I like it, I usually want to see performance as some parts are played, not only guitar.

All 3 options are good if they are done well. 👍🏻👍🏻

Hands down, Live in the studio makes for some of my favorite videos.

Hi Rob! Why no a Storyline/performance video. a bit like metal videos in the early days? Nice talk and thoughts in the video ^^

I wish this affected me, but despite more than a decade on KZfaq and despite being amazeballs, my channel continues to inexplicably stall.

100% performance video 👍

Performance, cool location. The one from catalyst was a succesfull music video

Performance / Play through, I want to see how the parts are played 🤓

Performance!

A performance, broken down into important sections to highlight phrasing, harmonic progression, and the technical homework recommended to achieve all this. Places more value on the piece for its complexity, and gives aspiring musicians achievable mountains to climb.

I think music videos that are cinematic and story based are the coolest, but i don't think theres a wrong way of going about it. Just be sure that it serves the song well and matches the vibe

I think variety is the secret to music videos. I like performance and I like narrative, and many videos have elements of both, but I don't think there's any one secret sauce, much like the music that goes with it.

Performance for sures

As much as I love and I do love the video living in the sunshine my choice though is performance

I would say Narrative with a bit of performance. It’s nice to have a story because I think it can help connect with the song more and makes it memorable.

Narrative, but I like to see the band perform in between. Usually the narrative helps understand the song more and seeing the band reminds us that it's a song created by them and not only a random video

Mostly I prefer live performances or ones of the band members playing in a studio. Not sure if that's what you mean by playthrough. However, I often get drawn in to a new band by an interesting narrative music video. So I guess for discovering new music, narrative. For bands I already love, playthrough / live performance

Play through. I remember Ian Pace posting a video of a tune from Whoosh! (2020 album). It wasn't overproduced (2-3 angles) but the sound was great and the feel was there. I can watch it anytime and close my eyes when I want to feel the music. Music Videos leave an imprint in your head... Let the music do the talking... Remember what happen to Billy Squier?

Performance videos for me. 🤘

Narrative relevant to the mood of the song :)

@RobChappers I would have to say I prefer a live performance video. My meaning being as a musician myself I love to see how other musician's play the music as in the techniques the use for playing Guitar/Drums/Bass etc. Especially when you're music is good (as yours is) It's great to learn from other musicians. Hope that doesn't come across as a freeloading comment but I am always happy to pay musicians for their music and will continue to do so as it is well deserved :)

It depends on the song...I would refer you to examine The Kids Are Alright , where "A quick one while he's away " is a performance of the tune. A narrative of that would be sultry and interesting, but the performance they gave it captured a sense of intimacy in a different way. "Happy Jack" was a stronger tune that was given the narrative treatment in a low budget, rock 'n roll way that you either love it or you hate it. It works because it looks like they had fun.

Performance and play through

Performance for me 👍🏻

Rob - you could do ASMR 😂 very calming voice 👏🏻

I've been told that buying merch and CD's while at a concert helps the most for the artist, especially if they are in charge of the merch sold there. Do you agree?

I was recently demonetized because my channel was “inactive” even thought i have a popular recipe video, but there are still adverts on my vids. KZfaq can make money but not me anymore.

How about trying out a music travel show where you go off the beaten path and sniff out the best local music scenes? You also could visit Kansas City and have JHS Josh take you around. Visit Atlanta and have Rhett Shull and Rick Beato show you the local scene. Go behind the scenes with a band on tour and show what life on the road is like. Where do you eat when you leave a gig at midnight and have to go 500 miles to play the next night? I remember you doing videos out of hotel rooms during a trip over here in the USA.

I like Performance with some storyline like with , I stand alone by godsmack, but seeing a bit more of the band than in that video Thanks .

When it comes to music, it seems as if YT is more about demonetizing videos, while still showing ads on those videos and pocketing the money for itself, than it is about supporting the musicians. Not that that is surprising, the Music Industry, across the board, is known for ripping off musicians. It's part of The Entertainment Industry, and The Entertainment Industry is incredibly sleazy. As far as video style goes, who knows what the hell people want, anymore. You are never going to please everyone. MTV was instrumental in the popularity of music videos, but just as instrumental in the destruction of the video market. Through all that, the Industry bigwigs never figured it out. I've been in the restaurant game for three decades, and it's the same. The monster of the general public is capricious in its tastes, and as soon as you think you're getting it right, everything changes. A line from Rick Nelson's "Garden Party" likes to live rent free in my head, and pop up whenever I think about the issue of public demand: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself." If I had the answer to the question of what all the people want, I'd have Elon money. As it is, if I can please a few people, and earn a living doing it, well then, I can be happy with that. Good luck, Chappers. If you hit the mark, congratulations. If you miss the mark, but put out something you're proud of, congratulations. If you can do what you love doing, and can keep your family fed, clothed, sheltered, and happy, well then, you've won the game!

Performance always

Performance. Having said that a combination of Performance and Narrative sounds great to me.

I think video clips are of the past, I like the performance form like what Martin miller's band does where it feel like video/ rehearsal and you get to see the band perform and interact without the cheesy video clip aspect and effects it usually comes with. I think that's a winner format at least for the instrument players amongst us "guitarist/bassist/drummers"

Narrative music video FTW

Performance first but backed up with some narrative. As a musician myself I am most interested in seeing real people play real instruments. The narrative helps bring the subject matter of the song to light, especially as I don't necessarily listen to and understand the lyrics that much... 😉

Performance is cool but sometimes throwing in behind the scenes footage as B roll can be a cool narrative as can be doing something with the split screens. Has anybody done a performance split screen with the band playing on one side and a narrative on the other? Could be fun to do a period piece where the band is like the live act making the soundtrack to a silent movie… Hmmm that gets almost into Jesse Driftwood territory!

If it's instrumental, I prefer a playthrough style video, because I want to see what the musicians (Guitarist) is doing. If it's a band (With singer), I prefer narrative, most of the time. Loving these videos about revenue etc. There are a few sites out there that have lists of the most popular genres on YT for profitability, though interestingly they vary on what's best and some don't have 'music' specifically listed at all.

In some other communities it seems the way to earn money from KZfaq is to have a regularly scheduled live stream with a lively discussion and take in SuperChats. I think adding memberships to your channel would get you some revenue too. People will join and pay a monthly charge to support you. It works better when there is some exclusive content once in a while for the members.

I like your idea of making finance or trainers related songs 😂 just to expand on this a little bit (slightly related but also not that related) I collect Pokémon cards and a lot of Poketubers focus on the financial aspect of the hobby, what certain cards are worth and which sets to hold while they climb in value. I wonder if they’re doing it intentionally so they can bank that finance CPM rather than the gaming category or whatever trading cards falls under.

Narrative with some performance blended in. Lately got a lot into how Avatar shoots their videos, really like their full album story concept.

(Short answer Narrative style) I think it depends on the type of project. For example, if your band plays songs in hard rock style about Chupacabra, the videos should be as Narrative Style. For example, Obituary - Violence and Ten Thousand Ways to Die is a tiny story, with cartoon animation. Or you could find Danko Jones and his clip trilogy (Full Of Regret, Had Enough, I Think Bad Thoughts)

Oh! Life is a performance...

performance !!!

Performance and play through.

proformance videos with a bit of b-roll showing you guys have a bit of fun or relatable. seems to be a good formula

Performance FTW. Easy to make too (although the play-through is probably easier). In-the-studio videos are also cool, something like "Toe to Toes" by Mastodon. Narratives are good once in a while, but it needs to be a really good narrative. And no lip-syncing unless the band shows up in between. My wife played the "No More Lonely Nights" video and it shows Paul on a rooftop and suddenly breaking out in song. Doesn't' work (I think I literally LOLed).

A narrative music video.

Performance..... Also, you'll have experience of this yourself, but I have a few aquantancies that have been in very successful bands (at different levels). They are usually skint. All of them had to tour constantly just to pay the record companies back. In one case, the band, who were headlining large theatre size venues in the UK, Europe and US, only ever made profit from the merch sales. They were effectively t-shirt stall holders who played a gig at the start. I 'm small potatoes but I only survive by playing long covers gigs in pubs every week and some guitar teaching while trying to still be creative and make my own stuff. By the way, really enjoying this conversational format of vid.

Rob, you're talking about something that sounds like 'keyword stuffing' which google conciders a form of spamming and have some pretty good algorythms to spot and block.

Even if car buying has nothing to do with guitar playing, if click behavior of people watching guitar videos also shows they click on car reviews of new trucks, that relationship can be mined / discovered and used automatically by people buying impressions for truck ads to appear in your channel. The good news for you is those algorithms are slow to forget and even after the viewer stops being interested in new trucks cuz they bought one, the statistics will still cause advertisers trying to sell trucks to push impressions on your channel, possibly creating more revenue for you.

Suits for guitars?

The type of video doesn't really matter to me but I appreciate lyrics in the video. Assuming they are good lyrics that is.

There are so many comments here I can't read them all if this was mentioned, but in regards to cash in/cash out of a stream vs. youtube one major difference is of course you need the visual aspect for youtube. What would be interesting to see are different levels of monetary investment in the video aspect and how that translates into views/streams/follows/etc. Something like taking a single song with a low-budget self-made video compared to the same song with a higher budget paying a professional to make the video. Further, how do each of these work as far as cutting up to use as micro content on youtube shorts or tik tok to funnel viewers into the full video.

Guitar Fragrance?

Definately Performance...... makes it real

Performance

Narrative (usually) but it depends on what the song is about. As a photographer (and I did work with video, including clips, some 20 years ago) I do pay attention to the image part of the music video and sometimes a performance works perfectly, sometimes even a studio version (the band playing in the studio, recording the song) can be great. But overall, narrative is more interesting, to me at least.