Circa catches up with Music Video Director Loraa White to find out if there’s any hope for the classic music video in this era of streaming
Award winning music video director Loraa White founded the platform Music Video Marketplace (MVM), which provides the tools to visualise their music WITHOUT THE MUSICIAN. Unlike traditional video production companies, MVM is a “one stop shop” where customers can create countless visuals in minutes. Loraa started making music videos for herself as a hobbyist musician, which led into making music videos for independent artists in 2011. In 2013 Loraa started her own production company called ‘Budget Music Videos’. Over the course of the next ten years, she has embarked on an impressive journey, completing over 1200 music video productions.
C: At Circa, we have always been big music fans, and I remember when I was younger, I would scroll through the music channels, watching all the videos and countdowns. But now, in the streaming era, I feel like that culture has been lost. I wanted to get your professional opinion on that.
L: Do you mean you think music videos are lost?
Circa: Yeah, in a sense.
L: I have research that differs. So, everyone thinks there’s been this huge pivot to short-form content because of TikTok, Instagram. But the reality is YouTube is still the number one platform.
Music videos are still in the top percentile for the most trending content on YouTube. Still. But what you’ve got to understand is that short-form content – like TikTok – is 24-hour content. Music videos, on the other hand, are legacy content. That’s the difference. Music videos are still important because if you’re releasing a song that’s going to sit in a catalogue for the next 20 years, you need to have a good music video. That’s how record labels make good money.
The problem is that people are making short-form content, and then they have to rinse and repeat the next day. And that’s exhausting, right? But when you make a legacy piece of content, it stands the test of time. Plus, the monetisation on it is way better.
C: So, despite the dominance of short-form content, there’s still value in music videos?
L: Absolutely. There are numbers around engagement as well. If you put up a lyric video or a visualiser and compare that to a high-quality, engaging music video, there’s about a 600 per cent increase in revenue streams and views. It’s night and day. So, as much as everyone thinks music videos are dead, they’re not.
And here’s something else: imagine you were in America a couple of weeks ago, and you were a musician on TikTok, putting your whole heart and soul into it. Then they shut it down. Not a good place to be, right? YouTube is still the number one platform.
C: That makes sense. I guess people don’t always think about how risky it is to rely solely on newer platforms like TikTok.
L: Exactly. Nobody can compete with YouTube – not even Spotify. Even Spotify knows how important music videos are. It’s now introduced music videos into their platform.
But I have inside information that it might not be staying forever because they haven’t figured out how to manage the data that goes into video streaming. It’s a whole thing – they’re struggling with it.
C: Wow. I didn’t realise there was so much going on behind the scenes.
L: Oh, yeah. But I’m sure Spotify will figure it out – they’ve got the money to do so.
It’s not that music videos are dead; it’s that the way we digest content has changed. People sit on their phones and scroll, deciding, I’ll watch this video for three seconds or I’ll watch this one for 10 seconds. But think about it – if you’re listening to a song, you’re not listening for three seconds, are you?
C: No, of course not.
L: Exactly. You’re listening for three and a half, four minutes. So, the music video will always be there.
What we’re doing now is changing how artists get their music videos – making them more efficient, more accessible, and more affordable. My company is a music video marketplace. Fundamentally, we’re a giant catalogue of ready-made music videos that artists can buy off the shelf.
I’ve been a music video director for 15 years, and I work closely with record labels and huge catalogues. We’re in an era now where there are massive catalogues – millions of songs that are making money, even if people don’t realise it.
C: Millions of songs?
L: Yeah exactly! A catalogue song is any song that’s three years or older, and record labels make more money from catalogue music than from new music. In fact, 85 percent of a record label’s income comes from catalogue, not new releases.
C: That’s a lot!
L: Yeah, it is. And labels are relaunching songs from 20 years ago, 15 years ago – even bands from the ‘60s are making a comeback, take The Who for example. I have jazz music from the 1950s that’s being relaunched.
Just yesterday, I was in a meeting with Armada Music. They’re an electronic dance music label, and they have about 50,000 tracks in their catalogue. That’s just one. Another label in Nashville has built a catalogue of 80,000 tracks by going around and buying up music rights. Now, they’re all rereleasing these songs, putting them on streaming platforms, and running small campaigns behind them. That’s where I come in – I provide the visuals for those campaigns.
C: So, the music video is still a crucial part of the industry?
L: Yes, labels want to monetise those videos, and they’re making money from them. So, it’s definitely not dead.
C: That’s great to hear.
L: It’s just that the way we consume content has changed. MTV is dead, sure, but music videos aren’t. Here’s something else people don’t realise: more people consume content on their TVs, than their phones.
M: Really? I would have assumed the opposite.
C: Everyone thinks people are only watching on their phones, but it’s actually the reverse. Live TV isn’t as popular as it used to be, but we’re still using our TVs, just in different ways. People consume YouTube through their TVs more than they do on their phones. YouTube’s highest numbers come from TV watching.
C: That’s fascinating. So, to sum it up, music videos aren’t going anywhere – it’s just the platforms and the way we engage with them that are evolving?L: Exactly. It’s all about how we consume content now.