Muscic videos are an art-form all on their own

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MUSIC BIZ 101

Music videos can have a positive effect on CD sales. More and more, it is expected that a music video will accompany a CD release to add to the artist's visibility and exposure in the market place.

Much Music Television was launched in the early 1980s and became another avenue to expose an artist's image and talent. In this sense, the music video must be an extension of the CD concept and the marketing campaign.

The standard for a music video is very competitive and it takes a lot more than taking a digital camera and shooting scenes at random. The video should have a concept and a plan to execute it.

Today, producing music videos is an art and, increasingly, music video producers are being sought after much like their counterparts who produce the actual music. And, don't be fooled. You'll soon find out that the music video that cost $10,000-plus to make may not even get aired.

The process for getting new music videos to air on music television is to initially fill out the submission forms provided on the Web site at www.muchmusic.com. All videos received for a given week are reviewed every Tuesday by three to six programmers. A roundtable discussion takes place on the merits of the video, the marketability of the music and the current buzz on the artist. This will also determine if the video will play on Much Music, Much More Music, Much Vibe, Much Loud or Much More Retro. Once this has been done, just like radio airplay, it becomes a question of heavy, medium or low rotation. Coming out of the gate with heavy rotation means the video will be played at least once daily, medium rotation means it airs every second day and low rotation is every third day.

A video can be upgraded from low to medium rotation based on positive viewer feedback and weekly music charts.

Sending an e-mail or fax or calling audience relations does help to determine a video's life span. It is estimated that every call made represents 10,000 viewers in the audience. Believe me, when something grabs an audience's attention, the telephone starts to ring. Your vote does count!

As mentioned in a previous column, FACTOR (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records) has funding for music video production with grants to cover 50 per cent of the cost of video production. Be careful about production companies who approach upcoming artists with a plan to secure funding on their behalf with no interest in how the music industry operates, the production values of a video or the fickleness of the market.

What is hot today soon becomes "so yesterday!" An experienced music video producer is 'in the know' about current music trends. You can find out more about music video producers by watching videos and inquiring about them through the artist's record label.

Music videos also generate royalty income, depending on the number of cable subscribers and television stations. The royalty fee ranges from 20 cents to three dollars per minute. An average song is about four minutes. Much Music pays the highest fee of all the cable stations. Every time the song plays it is recorded on a broadcast log and sent to the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) and AVLA (Audio Video Licensing Association). Based on this, SOCAN (Society of Composers and Music Publishers of Canada) sends out cheques every three months to songwriters. A song on heavy rotation on Much Music can expect to generate about $250 in royalty payments. With new technological advances, additional income will be forthcoming to the songwriter for pay audio satellite stations such as Max Trax and Galaxie.

This column is for reference and education only and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice. The author assumes no responsibility or liability arising from any outdated information, errors, omissions, claims, demands, damages, actions, or causes of actions from the use of any of the above. Ann Brascoupe can be reached at abrascoupe@hotmail.com.