When I really enjoy any kind of musical performance, whether it's a band performing a song or a pianist performing a classical piece, I search YouTube for a video of the artist performing it. While sometimes I am fortunate (or very fortunate), most of the time there is no live performance!
That's amazing to me because, as someone who has never been good at musical instruments but always has wanted to be good, I know that if I magically acquired the skills, I'd want to shout from the rooftops and perform for everybody; just give me an excuse!
And here I see wildly talented artists, having been accepted to Magnatune or other major record labels, having highly rated audio tracks on YouTube, not capitalize on video! Teeming hordes of fans, drooling for more multimedia by their favorite artist, being turned away? What's going on here?
My best guess is that artists underestimate themselves. They believe that people only want them for their voice and sound. So they don't want to invest in a videorecording. Maybe the artists even believe that creating a videorecording makes them appear conceited. But that's not true! Fans want it! Fans want everything! Fans want audio, video, interview transcripts, bloopers, autographs, locks of hair, and favorite recipes! There are also those who want to watch the technique. While a song may be great to listen to, watching the stage presence may be twice as satisfying. A classical piece may be awesome, but you don't see the fingers flying. (Go click "very fortunate" if you haven't yet.) I've bought many songs and even whole albums either by discovering it on YouTube or by liking the song, finding it on YouTube, and being doubly impressed by the video.
Artists: you have a wonderful gift. Share it every way technology permits! And gain fans as a result!
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