In September of 2024, a sponsored ad popped up on my Instagram feed that was a video that I had taken and posted to my Instagram. It was a video to promote an upcoming UK tour by Rum Jungle, and they used this very low-quality video I took on my phone and recorded it off my feed. I jokingly messaged them to say I could have given them a higher quality version, to which they replied, “don’t mind this one, gotta charm to it”.

 

This really got me thinking about how indie-rock bands and artists promote tours and music on social media in a way that is appealing to their target audiences, enticing them to come to their shows and capture that energy they bring to these performances. One thing I have noticed a lot recently is that bands are capturing videos at their gigs professionally and sharing them on social media with the studio recorded version over the top. So, I have spent the last year, recording six different indie-rock gigs with different artists, in different venues, with different set ups and approaches to determine the best way for artists to record these kinds of shows and share my conclusions to allow them to do it themselves, and make effective promotional short form content in this new age of social media. To answer this research question, my four criteria to determine the most optimal recording and mixing of the audio includes the accessibility and reliability of recording set ups for a gig and the clarity and energy translated in the mix.