Where Are We Now – Music Videos
As the old saying goes, Video Killed The Radio Star. Then as MTV moved away from playing just music videos, the internet emerged to revive the Radio star. We are seeing a similar emergence happening in the digital world with platforms like Spotify and Apple Music looking to add video to provide a richer music experience for those looking for more than just audio. Vadio’s CEO Bryce Clemmer saw this trend emerging a few years ago, and set out to build a company that could deliver video in a world where audio is simply not enough.Clemmer is confident enough in this bet that he’s built the Vadio platform to enable any media site or app to create a video experience, using a drag and drop interface for curation. He feels that video is the largest opportunity currently available in the marketplace. By the end of 2016, he predicts that every streaming music platform will have to get into the video game. He also points out that digital music video content can solve a big problem today as traditional television budgets move online in the form of digital video advertising which requires premium video content to spend against. Vadio is focusing on music first given that it is the top category driving consumer engagement in digital video overall.Videos are a multisensory form of content and yet today's streaming platforms aren’t multisensory. You can listen to music on them but it’s typically audio only. When brands go to advertise, they’re really just guessing what type of engagement they’re paying for. If it’s text, they’re paying for display ads. If it’s audio, they’re paying for audio ads. Clemmer adds, “There’s huge potential when the audience can fully engage with premium video content. Video simply provides a deeper experience than other formats can."Clemmer noted that advertisers view services like Pandora and Spotify as serious players in the digital advertising mix today. But there are also others not normally top of mind when it comes to online radio who are seeing success with music video already. CBS-owned Radio.com ran a test with Vadio that proved that people will in fact stick around watching music videos to the tune of nearly an hour per session, which is up to 10 music videos, and all ad supported. And today with connected screens everywhere, engaging consumers all of the time, Clemmer believes that these rich video experiences will become commonplace outside of just music. Clemmer plans on branching out beyond just the Taylor Swifts and Adeles of the world, as he asserts every media site and app will require premium video content to engage their audiences. Music videos make sense for today given the movement of the major music players towards integrating video, and the high level of engagement with consumers.When it launched, MTV changed how music connected with a generation of people and became a media juggernaut that drove widespread cable adoption at the start of the 80s and served as a source that brands willingly tapped into. When Pepsi launched its Pepsi Generation, they did so on MTV and in MTV’s language – a highly produced music video starring a start-of-his-prime Michael Jackson. With the new wave of video, it remains to be seen if it will be as impactful as its predecessors, but if the data has anything to say about it, we could see digital music videos become the choice for the new always-connected generation.
