“If the first iteration of online video was about silly pet tricks on YouTube, the next wave will be about professionally produced full-length content…” according to Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst. “This shift will be propelled by a combination of technology integration, demographics and a growing comfort level with the idea of watching video hosted on Websites.”

As quoted in a recent article on Hypebot via eMarketer, longer, more professionally-produced video will be the next big growth area.

For independent musicians this means you need to start developing your medium and long term online video strategy now.

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You’ve recorded your first album. Now what?

If you are recording an album yourself, here are some important steps you should take to protect your music and to make sure you collect royalties that are owed to you when your music is performed on television, radio, and the internet.

Register your copyrights

An important step to take to protect your rights is to register your copyrights with the US copyright office.

If you are recording your own music yourself, there are potentially two copyrights you could hold: a copyright in the composition and a copyright in the sound recording. You can and should register both.

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I came across an article this month by Greg Rollett called “Justin Bieber and Lady GaGa Marketing” which highlights a video featuring Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter and Justin Beiber’s manager Scooter Braun from TechCrunch Disrupt.

Rollett lists some of the highlights of the video in his post, but even at 20 minutes long I think its worth it to watch the whole thing. Carter and Braun discuss strategies they use with their superstar clients, but they still offer some really valuable advice that artists at all levels can use.

One of the most important lessons I took away from this is the impact that producing quality online content can have.

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