5 Tips When Making Your First Music Video   A Band's Guide to Music Videos. Making a music video is a fun and exciting experience for your band . Avoid some common pitfalls by following these simple tips.  1. Decide on a song that represents your band as a whole. Maybe the sweet lullaby with the dulcimer twinkling in the background is your favorite song, but if your band's fare is usually severely punk, then spending all that time on that one song may mislead fans who are looking for a mellower sound. Find your signature tune (usually the most popular tune you have), and work with that. Make sure everyone is familiar with the tune, inside and out, even the new drummer who replaced the old drummer who only lasted three gigs. 2. Decide on a budget. How much can you afford, really afford, to spend? At the least, even with borrowed equipment, a free location, and your brother doing post production , you will probably blow at the least a few hundred making this video. Hi...

With the advent of You Tube, almost anyone with a computer and a webcam can become a director. Here is something to think about: 70% of a viewer's movie enjoyment lies in the quality of the sound Not 5%, or 25%, or an even 50-50%. In other words, most viewers prefer watching a cruddy movie with an AMAZING soundtrack than watching an inspiring and well-written story that has a junky soundtrack and the noise of jets from the nearby airport wrecking ever-so-inspiring dialogue.  Another over-done mistake by You Tube and amateur directors is including the latest Top 40 hit as their soundtrack. Unless you have worked out copyright and license arrangements with the artist, while your video may have Oscar-worthy performances and a compelling script, it is no more than really good fan-art. Popular soundtracks have their own popularity and their own cultural connotations, which means use of these tracks already taints your work with the image of the artist. Besides, without the rights, you c...