Viral Via Music

One of the most underrated aspects for videos is the musical selection. You find that perfect song and combine it with amazing production and creative and you have an instant hit, heck the production/creative don't even have to be that good. Take the Free Hug's Campaign for example. It's also win/win for the musician(s) because they get exposure to new audiences from their song being forwarded as the video goes viral (I mean come on, who doesn't type 3 lyrics from a song in google and hit search everyday).

I have recently seen the roll out of a 100% New Zealand ad campaign and they found the perfect music to accompany a wonderful commercial. I would never have gone to the website or thought twice about the commercial if they hadn't used this song, which I couldn't get out of my head (and i've even traveled to New Zealand and know how amazing it is). The use of the song to connect with the viewers helps carry them to the magical place that is exhibited throughout the ad.

If you are trying to create a viral video, finding a great song that is not necessarily well known yet, is a great way to go viral. Or, find something that matches the tone, feel, and rhythm of the rest of the video and works perfectly in harmony with it. And if you are a band trying to make it, I suggest you have a creative person in your group that can make a cool video to attach your music to. Then watch the sleazy record label guys come running.

Here are some other videos that employed this technique:

Apple does this better than anyone: Did you know who Yael Naim was or Feist before these ads?

Telus has caught the buzz recently, but use well established bands like White Snake

Heineken, i've never heard of Chris Knox but i'm sure he got a lot more hits after people tracked him down from this ad.

This is a commercial for Swedish Berries, I was actually trying to track down this song for a long time.....until I learned it was a jingle just for the commercial. Well lo and behold there was so much interest for it, they turned it into an entire song!