1. Creative Marketing
Promoting music goes hand in hand with music videos, which have been around since the early to mid 1980s. Back then music videos were played on the likes of MTV and VH-1 and viewers would have to hope that their favourite clips were shown, before we had on-demand service like today. Music videos were supplementary to radio play and record purchases in the early days, though the industry has been on a path of interactivity and video for years now. 2014 will see the fiercest competition between artists, competing for video views online. In todays connected environment, YouTube and Vevo have been integral parts of boosting awareness of upcoming singles. Integrating Top 40 tunes with social media platforms & online 'tubes' is undoubtedly the way of the future. Currently, "Wrecking Ball" is the most watched video in 24 hours according to Vevo. Before this, Rihanna, One Direction and Justin Bieber all had held onto such a crown. Twitter is always buzzing when a new music video is about to be dropped. There are hash tags trending left right and centre and tweets from the artists themselves hits an all time high. Crucially, Vevo and YouTube music videos have links to digital music markets like iTunes so viewers can get their hands on the music straight away. In addition to getting these views up, some artists have adopted creative marketing techniques to increase in engagement. Videos are shared around the internet on social media, this is nothing new - but when big moments occur on the likes of Twitter, they make their way over to traditional forms of media - being reported on TV and radio. Having that kind of mass airtime is priceless for a struggling industry. This is exactly what Bieber's management were hoping for, when they pulled off a brilliant piece of music marketing with his single "Beauty & a Beat". Justin tweeted out from his account, that his laptop had been stolen with some private videos on its hard drive. His fans were outraged and saddened by what they believed was the truth, when in fact it was an elaborate prank. The marketing ploy then linked fans to the missing footage, which was actually a uniquely filmed music video in 'selfie' perspective. The trickery immediately caught the attention of international media, that fuelled a global publicity fire storm that no record company could buy. Getting creative and thinking as far outside of the traditional proverbial box will be the crux of 2014. Pop went a little bit crazy in 2013, so expect it to be lifted up a notch again as we move into the bigger releases of the year. More exciting music videos, unpredicted release dates and big impact moments should be expected in this new year.