FAQ
- Why a video EPK?
YouTube is now 60% of all Internet traffic. There are one hundred million people every day looking for compelling content on YouTube alone. Online video has quickly become one of the best venues to engage an audience. This new medium allows an artist to communicate a message on multiple levels - via visual imagery, the spoken word, music and visual text. With online video you can reach a huge potential audience for a minimal investment.
- How Will The Audience Find my EPK once it's posted?
There are several ways viewers find video online.
Our videos are posted on the Jazz Video Guy channel on 12 different websites, including YouTube, Daily Motion, Yahoo Video, AOL Video, MySpace, Metacafe, Revver, Blip, Veoh, and Crackle. Each Jazz Video channel has a subscriber base so that when new video is posted, subscribers are automatically notified.
Each posted video contains tags that also drive viewers to the pages.
The EPK for a recording by pianist Buddy Bishop named 'In Monk's Zone,' featuring Thelonious Monk compositions would have the following tags:
Buddy Bishop, In Monk's Zone, Thelonious Monk, Jazz, piano, Round Midnight, Bemsha Swing, Brilliant Corners, Monk's Dream, Blue MonkThe EPK for a recording by Boston based vocalist Kathy Harris entitled "Midnight Madness" featuring her original compositions, influenced by several known vocalists, would have the following tags:
Kathy Harris, Midnight Madness, Jazz, Vocals, Betty Carter, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Boston, Berklee School of Music.
These tags drive traffic to the video via the site search engine, as well as under Related Videos. So if a video featuring Monk playing Bemsha Swing is being viewed, the Related Videos box will show other video by Monk, as well as other artists playing Bemsha Swing.
Tags and video descriptions are also utilize by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and AOL Search, so that the Buddy Bishop video will be listed in the Search Engine Result for a search on Bemsha Swing. Because Google owns YouTube, videos posted on YouTube usually place higher on Google results.
Artists and labels can also utilize their own email listings to send a group email with a link to the Jazz EPK. Services such as Jazz Promo Services send out Email blasts that are received by thousands of people, both fans and the media. This has proven to be another potent vehicle to drive traffic to the video.
Video links should be included in all press releases, and on artist and labels websites.
- Can the Video Also Be Used On Other Websites?
Once video is posted on YouTube it can easily be embedded into your own website or any other simple by copying the html code from the YouTube page and copying it on to the html code of your website.
Your embedded videos can also be posted on blogs, the websites of venues, music publications, or any other website.
- Can I produce my own EPK and post it?
Of course. Low cost camcorders and easy-to-use video editing programs like iMovie and Vegas Movie Studio are highly recommended to produce simple videos that can easily be posted on YouTube and other video sharing sites.
For artists and labels who want to produce and post their own media, we offer a one- hour phone consultation to help you with the process, and to answer your questions. The fee for the one-hour phone consultation is $100. Email us for details.
- Is there a standard format for a Jazz EPK?
As long as the video includes the CD cover, excerpts from the recording, track and personnel info, and something the about the artist, any thing is possible.