Members elsongs Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 I recently did a cover song on You Tube...so far I got like 44 views. To make those figures suck even more, I got more likes on Facebook than views, which means most of them didn't even bother to watch. Meanwhile, these Millennial kids do a cover song on You Tube, and get like 40 million views. So what's the deal? Is it because I'm not a Millennial? (For the record, I'm a Gen-Xer, and I know for a fact most people on HC are Baby-Boomers who don't listen to anything but prog rock, so I don't know if any of you would actually relate...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 Hey, Elson - long, long time since I've seen you around these parts. Always admired your chops, man. I suspect there are ways to rig a zillion YT hits if you know some hack or other. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 For starters, there's no link to your videos in your post...if there had been, you would have gotten another view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 So what's the deal? Is it because I'm not a Millennial? Haven't heard your song, but yeah---that's probably most of it. Listening to music on YouTube is primarily for the kids. Young people are going to be interested in what young people do in a manner that relates to them. Unless it's some sort of goofy parody thing or something, why would they be that interested in a cover version of a song by a 40-something dude? Why would that go "viral"? No offense to you or your talents or your performance. Again, I didn't see your vid (like Craig said, no link ) But just generally speaking? This is a young man's business, this rock 'n roll game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 Right... kids relate to other young folks, by and large. They can look into the future as far as their twenties at times but... I think, for a cover to be 'interesting' to folks either you have got to bring something new and pretty notable to your version or your listeners have to already be clued into you as an artist and then want to see what you do with a familiar tune. HOWEVER, sometimes you can pull out an old, underexposed chestnut that still has some 'instant likeability' attached to it and maybe catch a little lightning in the bottle that way. But, a sincere, straightforward, expertly performed cover with a middle aged guy or gal staring into a web cam singing earnestly? Pretty much the YouTube signalong magic only works for cute, teen-age girls, and then I'm thinking the audience is mostly teenage boys. At least we hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted February 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 For starters, there's no link to your videos in your post...if there had been, you would have gotten another view Fine, here goes. My specific video wasn't really the point of the discussion, just posting YouTube videos in general. But even if people thought I suck and stopped the video 10 seconds in, I'd still get views in the counter, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 You've picked a song that mostly appeals to Gen X dudes like me. Though there was a DM cover video that went viral in the past few years (the guy with his kids doing "Everything Counts"). I think that 90% of traffic for cover songs is generated by people who want to learn how to play the song exactly the way they hear it on the record, so that may explain some of the lack of views. Also, Youtube is just an incredibly strange, inexplicable place. For example, there is a huge demand for videos of people buying cheap plastic toys, wrapping them in play-doh, and opening them in front of a camera. People also get traffic by uploading random videos, then going to places Yahoo Answers and pretending to ask a question about it, like "what's the song that is playing at 4:42?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 Nobody's going to watch a video that they don't know about.There are millions of videos on YouTube with more being added everyday.You have to market to your potential audience and let people know your video exists.Posting it on forums like this one or maybe a Depeche Mode forum may be a good start.The chances that masses of people are randomly going to find any video on YouTube is pretty slim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted February 21, 2015 Moderators Share Posted February 21, 2015 There may be various reasons that explain these differences. A lot the younger people on Youtube post current or relatively new songs. Those songs have more traction because they have the most attention in the media. Another point thing is younger people's online experience thrive on sharing content and re-posting. Much of their social interaction with others revolves around social network, and those things can sometimes cause things to spread like wildfire. Having a more polished video might help. A visually appealing or interesting video thumbnail may help sometimes as well. Sometimes you have post the clips in as many places as possible and you might need to post multiple times as well. If your work stands out from the crowd, then it WILL gain some attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted February 21, 2015 Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 Again, no offense, but the screenshot I see is a profile of a middle aged dude sitting in front of a keyboard and the song title is of a relatively obscure (at least in the US) 30-year old song. Heck, even I'M not inspired to click on it, and that's my era! If it's any consolation---even the original Depeche Mode video of that song only has 1.7 million hits and it's been up for 6 years. So no, I don't know that what you're doing there is going to inspire even a 10 second click. The trick is do something that inspires them to click in the first place, then if they like it, they'll stick around. You seem to be going about it backwards: presuming that just because it's on YouTube that a whole bunch of people are going to at least check it out for a few seconds. It doesn't work that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goober(s) Posted February 21, 2015 Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 elsongs, I am a fan of yours. I LOVED one of your songs on your website that I listened to a while ago. I listened to it again and again. I think i even tried to buy it. really, it was great. but that video is boooooooring. the song is boring, the performance is boring, your shirt is boring, even my comment about your song is boring. if you want people to stop whatever they're doing and listen to you, you have to give them more than that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted February 21, 2015 Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 I suggest an experiment: Go to your local high school and find a kid to shoot video of pretending to play keyboards to your soundtrack. Post the new video and see if it draws more views or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted February 23, 2015 Members Share Posted February 23, 2015 Fine, here goes. My specific video wasn't really the point of the discussion, just posting YouTube videos in general. But even if people thought I suck and stopped the video 10 seconds in, I'd still get views in the counter, right? In all seriousness, don`t put your mug in there. I`ve toyed with the idea of hiring a professional male model for my next album and having them pose for the front cover… someone in their mid 20s… sex appeal, you know? Instead of getting some dude in his 40s on the cover, you`ve got this one good looking guy in the prime of his life… hmmm… his music sounds more mature than he looks… he's ahead of his time! Seriously, like Blue mentioned, kids relate to other kids… I`m going to watch your video after this post but what I see is a male in his 40s at a keyboard, he may or may not be talented but I`m not expecting to feel a sexual energy from him…. now, maybe if you were topless and pretty toned and staring at the camera with a sly smile, I may think differently… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members workstation M.I Posted April 2, 2015 Members Share Posted April 2, 2015 I really like this one-it's my favorite of all the Journey Tributes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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