Before you submit a music video, it is important that you understand how to properly format your audio, video, and much more. We’ve prepared this checklist that serves as a “Best Practices” check-list to help you understand our specifications. Once you’ve read this checklist, complete the submission form and process your payment so we can start distributing your video!
Ensure your music is original and doesn’t have third party material
- Must contain 100% original material (audio and visual).
- Must be professionally produced or have some production quality.
- Only officially produced music videos accepted (album art, track, lyric videos* are not accepted by all partners )
- Cannot contain excessive or full frontal nudity, explicit drug use or graphic violence.
- Cannot contain the release cover artwork.
- Your video cannot exceed 10 minutes.
- No logo or MTV style credits in the corners of the video
- *Lyric music videos with lyrics stylized into a produced video are accepted. Other lyric videos that fall under the following styles: karaoke, static text over graphics or stock elements or just have the lyrics on the lower third of the video will be rejected.
Properly encode your video and audio with these specifications
Now that you’ve understood the idea of originality in terms of music video distribution, the next step is to properly encode your video and audio for distribution to our partners. This is one of the most important steps so please take a moment to read through all and, if all of the below is complicated or if you need any assistance terms of your own encoding efforts, feel free to contact us.
The higher the quality your submission the higher the quality the encode delivered to the iTunes and other partners. If your music video doesn’t meet all minimum specs, it will be delayed for delivery until the video is corrected. Please make sure your video meets guideline before moving forward.
TECHNICAL SPECS (AUDIO)
Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz for HD, 48 kHz for 4K
Bit Rate: 320 kbps CBR
TECHNICAL SPECS (VIDEO)
Compression Type: ProRes – Preferred for HD or H.264 – Also Acceptable
File Format: .mov (ProRes) or .mp4 (H.264)
Dimensions: 1920×1080 preferred for HD, and 3840 x 2160 or 4096 x 2160 preferred for 4K
Frame Rate: Native (No less than 23.98 FPS)
Bit Rate: Unrestricted (at least 150 mb/s is Preferred for HD, If H.264 at least 50mb/s) and (at least 400 mb/s is Preferred for 4K, If H.264 at least 250mb/s)
The video must be de-interlaced and be set up for multi-pass encoding
NO frame re-ordering in your encoding settings
Do not include front or end slates, title or end cards, etc.
The size of your video WILL be a large file due to the recommended bit rate and video format (H.264/ProRes).
Please export all encodes using Compressor or Quicktime.
Prep your delivery (Filename and Image Assets)
For VEVO and other partners, they do require some image assets and additional information in order to properly complete a profile for the artist that is featured on the music video. In addition, it is important that you also label your filename correctly to avoid delays.
File Labeling (Your file must be labeled as per below)
Artistname_VideoTitle_Version.mov
Example: LittleRed_Maryhadalittlelamb_Clean.mov
No spaces and/or special characters allowed (: ! # , @ $ % ? “ ‘)
Only English and Numbers Language alphabet
(No other languages with accent marks or unique characters to be listed for the file name wise ie. Russian, Asian, or Arabic letters)
Now that you’ve got all that squared away, Step 4 is the delivery process.
PR Photo and Banner submission
Your PR photo and banner image must be formatted as follows.
- Artist PR photo (it cannot be a logo or graphic, at least 2400px x 2400px at 72dpi, centered and some space from the edges ) for VEVO Youtube channel creation* VEVO will use this photo for your artist profile on all VEVO platforms.
- Artist Banner Image/Graphic: 2560 x 1440 px or 2560 x 423 px is recommended for a new YouTube Vevo channel in this size. The template is found here. Please read through all of the instructions and ensure your art is centered. ** see blended mockup **
Samples Below
Almost done! Please proceed to the next step!
We often get asked if we can deliver music videos in other languages. In regards to the video content itself, all of our video partners accept music videos that are performed in another language. In regards to how the titles themselves are displayed on each video platform, please see the below:
FOR EXAMPLE:
ENGLISH TITLE: “FOREVER A CAT”
NATIVE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE TITLE: “НАВСЕГДА КОТ”
RUSSIAN TITLE USING ENGLISH CHARACTERS: “NAVSEGDA KOT“
Start your video distribution now by following the instructions above.
Check out the video upload tutorial below.
