DanceTelevision (DT) is launching a new electronic & dance music Creators Community on his Content App for New Media Consumers
Popularized by brands like DanceTrippin TV (now DanceTelevision), Boiler Room, Be-At.TV, and more recently Cercle, DJ set video shows are a content mainstay in the dance music community.
Natural adaptations to our new media content consumption habits rapidly stood and flourished, alongside them, many other successful video formats with different themes, styles, lengths, etc...
Supported by the dance industry's worldwide growth, the rise of live streaming, and today’s affordability of DJing and videography equipment, the web is now crawling with long-form music shows, music videos, interviews, after-movies, announcements, interviews, masterclasses, jams, reviews, tips & tricks, VLOG, etc... There is a plethora of choice for a global audience of fans craving to discover new electronic music and fresh related video content.
The technology and the audience are there, but the competition is fierce. Monetizing music content also holds risks of prohibitions and bans unless you carefully navigate the complex landscape of rights as well as your content platform's specific tools, limitations, and user consumption habits.
Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Tik Tok, dedicated platforms (like DanceTelevision), Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc... are amongst many outlets where your brand can be exposed to potential customers and be driven to your preferred (sales) touchpoints. Each has its specificities, benefits, and drawbacks that are often difficult to navigate as these platforms' features remain in constant evolution.
The majority of today's music and event promotion whether organic or paid occurs on overcrowded social media platforms which limit your reach and make it even harder and more expensive to get noticed. Nevertheless, Artists, Events, Labels, and Creators with qualitative audiovisual content and successful distribution strategies can generate valuable business opportunities and drive up:
But as an artist, label, event promoter, or creator, your focus should remain on your primary mission rather than burning precious time and energy figuring out and dealing with the countless vagaries of maximizing the distribution outcomes of your videos... shouldn't it?
For almost 20 years DT has been developing and refining its music video distribution strategy, developing its outlets, nurturing its customers and its audience. It has promoted and elevated electronic music brands, both newcomers and superstars alike, with organic and measurable results. Today that expertise is accessible to carefully selected electronic media content publishers through the DT Pro Publishers program.
DT supports its community of Pro Publishers with digital and human resources to improve their content strategy, quality, and distribution results, with the intent to help them live off their passions and keep creating high-value content while attracting more viewers.
So how can a well defined and executed video content strategy help your brand grow its audience? To grow its revenues? And create a return on investment that will make it worth your while?
There is no one definite answer to that question since brands and audiences have their specificities, but some best practices can be applied to help ensure your success.
Regularity and consistency are key for any publisher on any platform. Maintaining a high-quality standard and a regular publication schedule will have you perceived by the algorithm and your audience as a reliable source of entertainment and information that they will return to.
You don’t watch TV like you watch your phone. Nor do you scroll through content on Facebook as you do on Tik Tok or even Youtube. Every platform driven by audiovisual content has its own 'preferences' and 'rules' that you should follow or risk punishment by the algorithm.
Your content must take into account its users' average behavior and attention time to be successful.
Platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter are best geared for 'Content Snacking'. Users consume a high volume of content from a large volume of providers at a fast pace. The average video watch time is generally lower than 45 seconds, making quick and impactful 'overview' video content best suited for these platforms.
Platforms such as Youtube (to some extent), DanceTelevision, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc... are instead a 'lean back' watch experience more in-line with traditional TV where viewers would spend a longer period in front of their bigger screens. Watch time on DT's Youtube channel averages 10 minutes while our TV app averages 1h. Therefore it is important on such platforms to make long-form content that is better suited for such audiences.
With 3.48 billion users in 2019 and a current overall growth rate of 10% (The Next Web), social media platforms have great potential to develop your brand and business. First, however, you need to "emerge from the masses". Niche thematics and being unique can be one way to achieve this.
Check out this studio stream from DT Pro Publisher 'Back2Tape'.
Live streams from the studio are the most common long-form dance music video content on Facebook & Youtube. Back2Tape's Dmitri T Jay added a 'twist' to the concept by building his own custom tape deck players out of Pioneer CDJs. The show calls out to many viewer's nostalgias of cassette tapes, the cool factor of technical 'nerdiness', and demonstration of old school beat-matching skills which are nearly lost nowadays.
Soundscape also found its originality in showcasing exceptional Brazilian locations and artists. Their shows capitalize on the national pride of Brasilian viewers while arousing international fans with gorgeous vistas of exotic locales.
The trick is to keep a good balance between cost, quality, and expected results. What equipment can you produce your video content with? Do you own a professional camera? Are you an avid smartphone user? Do you have filmmaker friends or a creative content agency that can help? There's always a way to make it happen if you are ambitious and diligent, and working within constraints can often improve your creativity as well as accelerate your learning process. Make a list of what you own and/or can get access to, this will already give you a better idea of what can be achieved.
Creating video content is one thing. Publishing and get the eyeballs for it is another. As you did with point 3 above, next analyze your assets. Where are you already publishing? Where is your audience following and interacting with you? Where are your potential fans consuming similar content to yours? Which media and platforms would fit best with your profile and provide the tools to reach your objectives?
This is easier if you are already publishing content. Simply look at your publication results and compare them. You will at least be able to identify trends in topic, format, and length if you know how to read them.
If you aren’t already creating content and publishing it, there's no shame in trial and error to learn what works. Start with what feels true to your values and what you take pleasure in. Content Creators should continuously consider innovation even when they have figured out a winning format, and always strive to improve from audience feedback and analytics.
Social media growth can take time and be extremely frustrating. Define realistic objectives over set periods and key performance indicators (KPI) that delimit the scope of your efforts.
Some KPI examples?
Once you have a clear idea of the above, it's now time to get to it...and to stick to it! Results may seem to take ages to achieve, but only the most resilient content creators will reach the tipping point to exponential growth and success.
After only a few months of operating their video show distribution, several of our artist creators reported a substantial increase in their booking requests, and events have observed higher attendance.
If you've been watching even a little Youtube lately, you've probably noticed the presence of advertisers 'inside' the videos of your favorite channels rather than the traditional ad break interrupting your watch experience. This is called branded content, or sponsored content.
Whether you like it or not, branded content is likely to gain ground in the future for several reasons including harsh user privacy data laws that limit the targeting options for advertisers and programmatic ad-blocking technologies that hurt digital ad consumption. Many viewers are also simply tired of pre and mid-rolls which have nothing to do with the subject of their interest in the content and bring no value to their content experience. These trends have pushed many advertisers towards a different model of involvement in the content itself.
This creates a funding and growth opportunity for content creators and publishers, but can also be a double-edged sword if wielded carelessly. Introducing sponsored messages through your content will be negatively perceived and break the trust with your followers if those messages do not fit with the values of your demographic. Your audience will understand and support your decision only if you are transparent about it, clearly relate the brand’s involvement, and do so in a way that doesn’t cheapen the content experience. Therefore, the perfect match-making between a creator and a brand is mandatory in fostering a successful relationship between creators, their audiences, and consumer brands.
Branded content is any advertising activity that takes place outside of the traditional advertising break. The regulations allow brands and products to be endorsed by presenters or brand ambassadors – provided it is transparent to the viewer that a commercial arrangement is in place.
"Branded content gets 86% recall, compared to commercials’ 65%, is 22x more engaging than other content, and customers loyal to a brand spend up to 2x as much on your services."
When done right, branded content allows a greater level of integration of the advertiser's message within the content, and greater relevance of the ad to the viewer. The existing trust and unique relationship between a publisher and his audience can radiate to the sponsor directly through the connection and relevance of their message.
With the developing trends in marketing and increasing competition of independent content producers and influencers to secure funding for their projects, branded content is a trend to count on for 2020 and beyond.
If you are endorsing a commercial brand which is connecting to your audience through yourself in order to increase its sales, then you should get paid for it. Branded content price evaluation isn't an exact science, but is often composed of:
Do not allow the sponsor to dictate against your judgment the content of your video and the form of endorsement. These must remain true to your own brand and values, or you risk losing your followers and ruining your own brand.
How to get brand money for your content?
Here comes the hard part. All of that sounds good in theory, but how to get there?
Sponsorship managers will be looking at data and quantifiable results to evaluate their return on investment. It is important to clearly define the scope, realistic objectives, and success measurements of your branded content project. It demonstrates professionalism and a results-driven approach while helping to prevent miscommunication, sponsor "disappointment", and uncomfortable situations.
Do 'big numbers' matter? Yes and no. Of course, they can influence the sponsor’s perception and priority of your project. But in reality, synergies between your two missions, similarities between your audiences, and conversion results matter most. So look for the brands you relate to and trust, otherwise, such a relation cannot be successful.
"Ok, but now, how can I fulfil my mission, plus create video content around it, plus publish it, plus make sense of the numbers, plus pitch it to brands in order to collect sufficient funds to make all this happen?!"
Good and legit question! It wouldn't be fun if it would be easy! :)
But we, of course, understand these challenges since as creators we navigate them as well (despite DT's "big number"). So our simple idea to fix this is: "We are stronger together" and that's why we've created the DT platform and the DT Pro Publisher Community.
DanceTelevision is a content platform connecting artists, labels, events and brands with electronic & dance music fans everywhere.
Our talent managers have a mission to identify and select qualitative content producers to onboard as DT Pro Publishers support with our 20 years' expertise in video production, content distribution, and social media growth.
Since Facebook and Youtube's future (and others alike) are uncertain, out of our control, and unlikely to be built from the ground up for our specific industry and audience, the main focus of DT is its app platform. Today still in development, it is meant to become a meeting and market place for all industry stakeholders, where content consumption drives artist bookings, subscription, donation, advertising, affiliate sales, and sponsorship revenues. Our objective is to help you grow, to grow alongside you, and together to become an indispensable dance music content platform driven by top content producers.
Pro Publishers can publish their content across all the DT distribution outlets, access all of our educational content of tips, tricks, and best practices, and receive personal assistance from their talent manager.
Pro Publishers also can further promote themselves and their content at preferred rates outside of the DT App with our display, direct, and social media marketing services.
By joining the Pro Publisher community and working with us on your content production or distribution, DT will ensure consistent and superior growth results. By tracking your content and audience stats, we will work with you on generating efficient monetization strategies and processes for your brand. Let's get stronger, together.
We are looking forward to sharing and making great content with you!
Dance hugs.
The DT team.