by TNGlive

In part 4 we’re looking at the various formats you’ll want delivery of, from your editor, for your music video product to be ready for distribution.

You can revisit the preproduction stage here, recap your responsibilities during production here, and review what we discussed in part 3 in regards to useful things to know in your capacity as producer during the post production stage, in order to make sure you’re getting the best value for your investment.

So, now your colourist has returned the file to your editor, and the cut is ready to be delivered to you. Let’s look at a checklist of the formats you’ll have to make sure you’ve secured, or at least be aware of. You might already know your way enough around your edit suite of choice, and you’re confident you’ll be able to open the file and churn out whichever format you need,our checklist will help you stay organized.

This checklist consists of different typical exhibition platforms you may want your audience to go to, in order to view your music video.

Youtube: The young generation’s current first preference for streaming music.

Delivery Specifications

Preferred Video codec : H.264. Recommended Video Bitrate (for 24, 25, 30 frames per second): minimum 1 Mbps for 360p, maximum 35-45 Mbps for 4K. Recommended Audio Codec : MPEG Layer 2 or Dolby AC-3. Recommended Audio Bitrate: 128kbps for mono. 384kbps for stereo. 512kbps for 5.1

Where to deliver?

Through the upload button on your Youtube page when signed in.

iTunes logoiTunes/Apple Music: An underrated platform for monetising your music videos. Remember banking the cents makes sense?

Delivery Specifications: It's important to note that all music videos must begin and end with at least one black frame.

Recommended Video Codec : Pro Res 422 HQ. Expected Video bit rate is approximately 220 Mbps. Frame rate: 24 or 25 progressive frames per second. Resolution: 1920 x1080. The HD file can be delivered matted (letterboxed), or could be delivered full frame with metadata encoded to specify the crop rectangle. The audio must be 5.1 (if available), 16-bit or 24 bit, at least 48kHz. Alternatively it must be MPEG-1 Layer 2 Stereo, 384kbps, 48 Khz, included in the same file as the delivered video.

A Music Video Screen Capture Image is required. This can be an unconstrained JPEG (.jpg), or PNG (.png), RGB Screen standard (CMYK print standard images will not be accepted). Minimum dimensions, 640 x 100.

Where to deliver? Click here for the list of content partners that can get your music video onto iTunes/Apple Music.

MTV Base: TV still matters a great deal in Africa when it comes to increasing brand value.

Delivery Specifications: Format: (SD/HD) .mov. 25 frames per second. Acceptable Codecs: Apple Pro Res 422 HQ, XDCAM HD422 1080i 50 (50mb/s), XDCAM HD720 p25 (50mb/s), MPEG IMX 625/50 (50mb/s), DV PAL, HDV 1080i50, HDV 720p25, DVCPRO 50 PAL. Audio: Stereo

Where to deliver? Contact details here

Channel O: Again, TV still matters a great deal.

Delivery Specifications: 25 frames per second. Acceptable Codecs: Apple Pro Res 422 HQ (120mbps), XDCAM HD422 (50mbps), H.264 (10mbps), Resolution: 1920x1080. Audio: For Pro Res and XDCAM it should be 24bit at 48kHz. For H.264, it should be 16 bit at 44.1 kHz.

Where to deliver? Contact details here. Note that currently their first requirement is for you to email them a Youtube link to your music video.

Trace TV: More TV exposure with more targeted audiences.

Delivery Specifications: Format: .mp4 or .MOV. Resolution: 1920x1080. Acceptable Codec: XDCAM HD422 50 Mb/s. Audio: 24bit, at 48kHz.

Where to deliver? Contact details here. Take extra note of the differentiated contacts specific to each region and language.