Norman Lebrecht posted an item at Slippedisc.com yesterday poking fun at what he calls “the worst-ever orchestra promo video” and I have to agree, it’s entirely uninspiring. But Lebrecht’s post got me thinking about video promos in general and I found it difficult to think of anything that really caught my attention over the past few years.
There is no shortage of promos with excellent production quality but they tend to follow a tried-and-true approach: play the music (probably not the group being sold), show the conductor being conductorly (BIG cues), some crowd shots (A millenial, a millenial! My kingdom for a millennial!), throw in some lens flare transitions and call it a day.
But one series that stands out are the videos from the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Second City collaboration. If you haven’t come across them, you’re missing out.
An earlier version of that same mix included a cut with Patrick Stewart.
From 2012 through 2014, Second City did a running series called Doctor Opera (#DrOpera).
What are some video promos that have stood out for you over the years and why?
Related Posts
-
Among the wave of trends following the economic downturn, moving performance events outside traditional venues is among the more popular. Groups are practically tripping…
-
Following up on our 9/14/2015 list of orchestras with expired agreements, here's an overview of what's been going on. Philadelphia Orchestra The employer and…
-
Toward the end of 2015, I had the pleasure of working with Brian Artka from Size43 Creative, a firm that describes itself as creating…
In your post you note that many groups include music in their videos, but they are not performing it. One reason for this phenomenon is that often the group may be performing the piece for the first time and has no archival recordings. what’s an arts marketer to do? It’s a chicken and egg question. Thank you for the humorous alternatives you offer!
I’m glad someone took the time to point out that Catch-22. For premier works, the problem is much more difficult but on the other side of that coin, providing a tiny segment of the something listeners aren’t familiar with already will have marginal impact on ticket buyer decisions. For standard repertoire, it’s a tougher nut to crack but focusing on creating archival recordings that can be used for promotional purposes per media greement standards is one of the most useful approaches. When that’s not an option, then licensing music is likely going to be your best bad option.