The best time to post your music video

Many artists ask themselves when it is strategically best to post a music video: Already prior to the release of the song, at the same time as the release, or is it best to wait until the song is available for streaming? At the end of the day, every approach has its benefits – we’ll provide you with the corresponding arguments so you can decide which approach fits best with your strategy.

Before the release

When you post the clip before the release, you can build the anticipation for it. While this approach does not directly lead to more streams, it does help boost the number of pre-saves.

At the same time as the release

When the video comes out the same day as the song, chances are higher that a lot of people find out about your track at once. However, it does mean shooting the works in one go.

After the release

When the video only comes out one or a few days after the release, it serves as a good reminder for everyone who hasn’t listened to the song yet. By posting on social media and sending out another newsletter, you can go for a second round of promotion.

So, you should first decide whether you want to focus more on the anticipation and the pre-saves or whether you want to promote your song once more a few days after the release.

When is the best time to publish the video?

As we’ve said, there really is no right or wrong, but experts tend to recommend releasing the video after the song. However, it may not come down to what you prefer personally, but rather, the behaviour of the users.

An analysis has shown that people consume the most videos on the weekend. On weekdays, consumption is highest in the evening hours (the most prominent days being Thursday and Friday).

Keep in mind that YouTube always needs a few hours before the video is properly indexed, that is, before it will show up correctly in searches. So, if you want to release the video on a weekday, you should post it between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. On the weekend, you should try to post early, e. g. between 9 and 11 a.m.

Make sure to also check the analytics of your YouTube account to find out when your audience is most active on YouTube (not just when they watch your videos).

If the analysis shows that your fans are most active on Sundays, you should post your video on Saturday already – especially if this is the second strongest day. Assessments have shown that a video generates the most views in the first two days of its upload, so you can really make use of the two most active days. It’s also well worth experimenting a little to see which time works best.

In addition, we recommend setting up a premiere for the video and to promote said premiere. This also gives you the chance to chat directly with your fans before or after the premiere. Thus, you can promote your upcoming track as well as the pre-saves before the release. On the actual A-day, you can then promote the release itself, as well as the upcoming premiere, and finally, shortly after the release of the single you can promote the video, too.