Attention To Detail- A Video

See, the thing is, companies have it absolutely backwards, and the ones that figure this out first will capitalize while the window's still open.

What they think they want to do is restrict people from using their music in their videos. They think this makes people less likely to buy their music.

Unfortunately, they miss out on the value-added when someone "endorses" their music. When someone's inspired by their product to do something creative with it and send that out to their friends, who send that out to THEIR friends, the music gets MORE publicity, not less. The music's MORE likely to be bought, not less.

This is why you have links on YouTube now to buy music that's featured in the videos there. Once the industry figures this out, they might be able to recover from the tailspin they've been experiencing for quite some time now.

We knew this two years ago. http://vlogdeathmatch.blogspot.com/2007/05/bill... .. Sooner or later, companies are going to get with the program.

It would be great to see a band run a contest for their fans to create their video for them - they could provide some materials to assemble it - a whole video of the band playing the track, which the audience can intercut with imagery of their choice. If this was run in conjunction with either a video cam manufacturer (Flip, Kodak spring to mind), or one of the online video editing sites, I think we'd see a very interesting mix of user generated and professional content which would benefit both the band and the sponsor. It would be like Rock Band for video editors.

Death Cab For Cutie tends to inspire - both loyalty and, clearly, artistic urges. I'm excited for a future world where anyone inspired by anyone else can contribute to a bigger and better whole. I think Social Media is a gigantic step in that direction. Viva La Evolution!

Did you read my tweet today about trying to make a music video on a budget or are you just psychic? ;-)

Thanks for the inspiration. Again.

Viva Open Source!

Well, I just went and bought their album because of this video- never heard of them before, but I love it- and the video just sold it completely.

Although as someone who occasionally contemplates playing with video, the amount of work and patience this took, not to mention time and creativity makes me envy Ross Ching completely. Simply Wow. Makes my head hurt contemplating executing anything in this style....Way to go, Ross!

Very inspirational video, just because of how creative it is; thanks for sharing! I too have purchased the album because of the song/video. Watching this makes me really question high-dollar marketing campaigns that lack creativity.

Very Cool Video!

In this age, music has to be seen to be appreciated. Hearing is not enough anymore.

I think this is the future of marketing. If you want to stand out with anything, animation and video are going to be key. You don't need to write an ebook. You need to make a movie.

Chris,

Cool stuff...both the video and the inspiration behind the video.

Bands, like many corporations, have always dictated their image to us on the outside. Certainly managing and protecting the integrity of a brand image is critical. But I have always felt like a consumer of product, never really a part of anything more.

Open source should be renamed open possibility. These fans of DCFC are now able to become more than passive consumers of music. The shift from passive to interactive is a huge shift in marketing attitudes. Interactivity exponentially creates additional value for both the consumer and the brand, or band. Interactivity equals inclusion, and when we feel included we are more likely to contribute more passionately.

I love birthdays but I've never been a fan of store-bought greeting cards. I love it when my kids make me a birthday card. It is no where as pretty as the Hallmark, but for me I get to see and feel their love for me expressed as only they can do it. They feel included in the process, which build and solidifies our relationship.

Isn't that what this is all about? Building relationships between brands and consumers, bands and fans, and even Dad and his kids?



Great post...love the way your stuff forces me to think...



Thank you for posting!



Peter

The best example of this I have seen was the Radiohead $100k contest: http://www.aniboom.com/Radiohead many outstanding videos

Just watched this with my 8 yr old son (who recently learned about stop motion) and he proclaimed it most excellent. Fun way to start a Saturday. Thanks Chris!

Chris, this is such an inspirational video and posting. I've been following your twitter for a few month (thanks to Aliza's recommendation), and I really respect your open/liberal attitude toward the society and community. I'm from Japan and as much as I love my country and culture, there's a missing nature in our people--- openess and healthy argument toward any issue. I've been living US over 20 years and finally, I'm convinced that "openess" is the key ingredient for better society. Thank you so much for your effort.

This IS the official video, at least according to Ross Ching's homepage and the subsequent Atlantic Records press release he posted. DCFC named it so after seeing it.

...and when someone else treats your material like this -- so obviously loving the lyrics, for example -- they bring out something you might not have thought of (since you know the lyrics to death, for example) and which newcomers can benefit from.

This work reminds me a bit of designer Stephen Sagmeister's work, some of which he showed at TED Global last month in Oxford....having monkeys seeming to arrange words with bananas (but really showing reverse motion action of them taking away bananas set out in sentences) and ducks doing the same with corn.

As a writer I really like the visualization of words!

I have heard so much about Wordpress. Now I don't want to be a "coder" but I am good enough to use programs like Expression Web. I know how to FTP and all. So what book would you recommend reading before I explore the world of Wordpress? Wordpress for dummies has been suggested...YOUR thoughts? I love to see more artistic expression done in our sites. The more the technology gets transparent the more the arts will engage in the web.

Just got my first HD camera with a audio plug in ...can't wait to get started!

Would be cool to see quotes from Trust Agents done in this format! Thanks for inspiring!

Wow, thank you very much for sharing this with us Chris! :)

Yeah I'm not sure if I could handle such a project either... but very grateful that others can, so we can enjoy them!

Bill is right. Recording companies are so far behind the curve. They are wedded to a 1960s business model. The music barn door is so far open, not only is the horse gone, he's married and has colts running around now.

There should no restrictions on using music. Look what happened when Nine Inch Nails started allowing free downloads of their music - sales increased.

Music executives argue that allowing music to be given away will ensure no one will ever buy it. I have two words for them - "bottled water." If people will buy water, they will buy just about about anything.

What amazes me is that the music industry doesn't realize it did this to itself. For you youngsters out there, here's a brief history lesson:

Albums used to contain somewhere between eight to 10 songs. That's all that the record would hold. When CDs came along, companies kept putting eight to 10 songs on them, but charging as much as $19 - more than albums cost. When burners came out, people discovered a CD could hold up to 20 songs. People felt ripped off and decided that it was better to use sites such as Napster to get the music for free. It was a tit for tat kind of thing - you rip me off, I will rip you off.

Plus, many times people only wanted one or two songs off the album. Hence the birth and success of ITunes.

The music industry needs to get with the program, take these factors into account, and come up with a brand new business model.

Bands used to encourage user-generated videos on jumpcut, back when it was still supported.

This one was well done, thanks.

That probably took a while. Look at the result... free promo for the song.

Passion + Heart + Talent = This.

I think I'm having heart palpitations. This is very inspiring for a video geek like me.
Thanks for sharing it. :)

song was great and vid even better. I can only imagine how organized you'd have to be in order to keep that all in front of you. I'd be interested to know how many indvidual pics he had to take to get that done. Also, Chris, you may wanna check out this cool spoof interview someone did about you and trust agents, pretty creative actually.
http://tinyurl.com/llasx3 it gets better near the middle and end methinks.
AL

I don't have the patience either. But I can respect the true artistry of it

I originally made the music video for fun to add to my portfolio to try and get a job, but it actually ended up on the front page of digg.com and got 100,000 hits in its first week! Since then I've been so overwhelmed with the response and work. It has essentially kick-started my career. Atlantic Records loved it enough to buy it from me and make it their official video.

More info on it is on my website here: http://rossching.com/little-bribes/

There is a lot that can be said about big business and the music industry from this video. But, as a creative I see this as a call to action. If you have a passion or desire to create something you love and you feel just has to be made, then do it. Hell, if you want to recreate Michelangelo's David out of mash potatoes, then do it. You may or may not reach the level of success as Ross did, but I bet you might reach at least one other person out there who recognizes your passion and maybe you will ignite a spark in them too.

Wow...so creative! I only wish I could be half as good as this guy. Amazing work.

Open-source or crowd-sourced artistic projects are a fantastic idea that has only become possible with the power of the web. The main factor for success in my opinion is the passion generated that turns into amazing contributions. Clearly a group like Death Cab for Cutie has the power to provoke the level of passion to make an open-source project worthwhile. Unfortunately (or predictably) many consumer brands think that they can use this as a marketing ploy and ask for user contributions to generate campaigns. But there are not many brands that can create the passion needed. People just don't care enough. Here's an interesting example of a brand looking for user-generated ideas and, knowing that the brand isn't going to create enough excitement alone, calls in the help of Justin Timberlake. Will be interesting to see if it works for them. http://www.901.com/901at901/