Fan Videos and The Music Industry
Just to follow up on our conversation last week about the integration of “fan videos” into the revenue model currently being used by the record industry, I came across this article from The Toronto Star that draws on a report claiming that revenue from fan-produced videos has surpassed the amount of money generated from the online distribution of videos.
It’s an interesting development and one that I think record industry types must be excited about because it lets them generate revenue without the extra investment of having to produce a video themselves.
Along related lines, I thought I’d share this article about non-commercial music video production. It was published in 2010, so it would be interesting to think about whether or not things have changed since then.
Screen capture from the “Chatroulette version” of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call me Maybe” that was viewed by 14 million people on YouTube.
I do not think the integration of “fan videos” into a revenue model is successful because of the actual music, but because of the creativity of the fans and the uniqueness they bring. These days, a lot of professional music videos are so banal, even though a lot of money went into the production. On the other hand, fan videos provide a fresh sense of creativity, where ordinary individuals can express something with limited resources. As a result, fan videos may be even more appealing than music videos from original sources. I am not surprised that fan videos generate more revenue than the online distribution of videos.