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! You can only have a music video processed if you have paid the fee for distribution to the “PLUS” partners. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Important Notes:
- Please read the guide below in its entirety
- Submit video 3+ WEEKS BEFORE your “go-live date”
- VEVO artist photo, banners, links, etc., can be updated with a ticket request.
- There is no VEVO login access per user.
- Videos will not be sent to VEVO if the video has already been released on another Youtube channel.
Before you begin doing any submission, it is important that you know that we can only accept original video content and thus, your video can’t contain third-party content that you do not own. Here are the basic requirements to distribute your video
- 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.
In terms of the content of your music video, there are some DON’Ts as well. Please read this important list of items to not include in your music video.
- All videos need to only show the music video itself with no on screen distractions
- NO URLs, hashtags, social handles, dates, shoutouts, or other promotional text on the screen.
- NO burn in logos in the corners of screens throughout the video.
- NO front / ending slates, title, or end cards in the video (white text on black screen).
- NO MTV style credits in corner of the video.
- NO still image or a blank screen in video, videos need to have active pixels.
- End credits cannot be longer than 3 seconds TOTAL.
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
