Facebook's Video Specs

Since Facebook is promoting video as a big part of its service going forward, rewarding those who use it in their posts with increased organic reach, it's worth noting exactly what the platform's video specs are.

Remember that to get the most out of a video post, you have to upload directly to Facebook and not embed from another service. For best video results:

• Optimize all videos for HD quality
• Output from your editor using the H.264 video codec with AAC audio to either a MOV or MP4 file
• The aspect ratio can be no larger than 1280px wide, so best to output 1280x720 for best results
• Use a frame rate of 30fps or below
• Use stereo audio with a sample rate of 44.1kHz
• Less than 40 minutes long

So basically any hi-def video file should work as long as it's not too wide or too large should work for Facebook.

Keep in mind that regardless of the length of your video that most people don't watch through to the end so keep the most important information up in front.

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You should follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business, Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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Using The 8 Types Of Videos

When musicians think of videos they immediately think of the now-traditional produced music video where the picture helps tell the story of the song. There are many more types of videos available to musicians though. How many of these are you using?

1. The Produced Music Video: This can be expensive or relatively cheap, but it almost always takes some time to put together, which holds many artists and bands back if they think it's the only type of video.

2. The Gig or Concert Video: The latest thing is to do a live stream of a gig, but a video of a gig that's polished a bit in postproduction that shows an enthusiastic audience can be interesting as well.

3. Fan Generated Content: Do your fans shoot video of you? Have a contest to see who can create the best video to a song. How about a mashup of available footage to one of your songs?

4. Lyric Video: Lyric videos are the easiest way to release a video with the least amount of work. Sometimes they even get as many views as the produced music video. It just goes to show that it's really the music that counts in a music video.

5: Behind The Scenes: A day on tour, in the studio, at rehearsal or backstage can be a good way to treat fans to things they don't normally see without spending a lot of time and money.

6: Cover Songs: Many acts have gained large followings because people were introduced to them via a song they already knew. If you want to be really strategic about it, look at what's currently trending for an idea for a song to cover. It doesn't have to sound exactly like the record, and in fact, it's better if it isn't if you want to introduce potential fans to your sound and style.

7. Breaking News: Been named to a festival roster? Going on tour? How about an EP or album release? A quick trailer-length video (a minute or so) can give fans a heads up about the latest news.

8. Tutorial: Is there something on one of your songs that's particularly challenging to play? Do a tutorial to show how it's done. How about something that's basic that's overlooked (like the way you play to a click track)? Everyone has a slightly different way of doing the basic things, so why not show yours?

As you can see, not all videos have to be music videos, but they do have to be entertaining if you want people to watch. Finally, if you want to learn more about music video production, check out The Musician's Video Production Handbook.

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Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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