What on earth is an Instagram influencer takeover? And, why is it useful? Read on to find out why it can be beneficial to have other people or influencers take over your account!

An Instagram takeover

An Instagram takeover is a type of social media campaign in which one person or brand takes over another person or brand’s Instagram account for a specified period of time. During the takeover, the guest poster creates and shares content on the host’s account, giving their followers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the host’s brand or sharing content that aligns with the host’s brand values.

Instagram takeovers are a popular way for brands to reach new audiences and increase engagement on their account. They’re also a great way for influencers or individuals to expand their reach and gain exposure to a new audience. The takeover typically lasts for a day or a few days and can be promoted on both the host and guest’s social media channels to generate buzz and excitement.

An Instagram influencer

Influencers are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followers of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to their views. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy the products they promote.

Influencer types:

Why is it a useful strategy on Instagram

An Instagram takeover is a useful social media strategy for several reasons:

  1. Increased Reach: By inviting a guest to take over your Instagram account, you expose your brand to a new audience who may not have been aware of your brand before. This helps to increase your reach and potentially attract new followers to your account.
  2. Diversify Content: A guest poster can provide a fresh perspective and create new content that aligns with your brand values. This diversifies your content and keeps your followers engaged.
  3. Build Relationships: Instagram takeovers can be a great way to build relationships with other brands, influencers or individuals in your industry. Be that as it may, collaborating with others can help to strengthen your network and create new opportunities for partnerships in the future.
  4. Boost Engagement: By creating a unique and engaging experience for your followers, you can increase engagement on your account. Live takeovers or Q&A sessions with a guest poster can help to generate buzz and encourage your followers to interact with your content.

All in all, Instagram takeovers can be a fun and effective way to connect with your audience and expand your reach on the platform.

How do you begin?

1. Set goals for your takeover.

Clearly outline what you want to achieve and how you will measure your success. Without clear goals at the start, you can’t possibly have a strategic plan that aligns with your goals for this takeover.

Your goals may include some or more of the following:

Ensure that you set specific and measurable goals in order to make it clear what is needed to fulfill them.

2. Research who the ideal person is to take over your Instagram account.

This person should at least have the following:

Several platforms have popped up that allow you to not only find influencers that fit the requirements you may be looking for but also allow you to negotiate, strike a deal and pay the influencer all within the same platform.

Or just by being on the platforms yourself and engaging with pages and people you like.

Once you have figured out who this person is, reach out! You may find that they have already done some similar campaigns and are quite familiar with how to run a takeover. You may also find the opposite. Either way, make sure they are keen and excited to do this – this energy will translate through to audiences.

In general, there is no hard and fast rule about what you should pay influencers. In a word, every influencer will have a different view of what they are worth financially and you should be astute when negotiating.

Equally important, to avoid any confusion or miscommunication, have a brief ready to go before you reach out. If possible, reach out via email, and keep a chain of all discussions and agreements made.

Make sure you and the influencer are clear on the following:

3. Agree on the terms and content.

If you are reaching for an influencer who has a lot more followers than you, you may find that they agree and then tell you their fee.

What is a post worth?

To calculate the engagement rate for a post, divide the total number of likes and comments by your follower count, and then multiply by 100 to give you a percentage.

Benchmark of engagement rate for accounts with real followers (no bots)

What is an influencer worth?

All things considered, an influencer is only as influential as their numbers. An influencer could have over 500k followers but have very low engagement. Do some research yourself online and also ask the influencer for stats from previous posts. Unless this person is famous or a celebrity, they should be able to present you with data proving their influencer success.

Be direct about absolutely everything. In the brief, you send to the influencer, they should be able to ascertain exactly what the tone, style, length, mood, and speed the piece of content should be. There should be no detail left unmentioned. Clothing, hair, purpose of the video, etc. UNLESS your plan is to let them freestyle and take it in their own direction that they know will work best with their audiences.

Make sure that you have discussions with the influencer before they begin making content and ask them exactly what they think you want. Clear up any confusion!

How do I know if my Instagram takeover was successful?

Ask yourself the following:

If yes, write down what you achieved in terms of stats so you know what your benchmark is to beat next time. If no, write down what you could have done better and where you think you went wrong.

It is important to take note of how you work together so you can streamline this for next time. Could you have been more organized? Could they have been more responsive? Were you clear enough? Get feedback from them if you can!

Financially, was this viable and worth the money? Time-wise was this fruitful? And in terms of goals, did you get what you wanted?

To conclude, all of these things will be helpful for you to keep track of for future takeovers. Make sure you keep this info in an easy-to-find place and keep nurturing the new audiences you now have.

Want to learn more about content creation? Try our >> Content Creation course on Vampr Academy.

Are you dying to sound like your favorite guitarist? Maybe you are highly influenced by Miles Davis, but you can’t quite figure out how to incorporate that into your sound? Have you ever gone to a gig and heard a musician play and thought, wow you can totally tell who they have been listening to?! Want to know how it is done? Read on to find out how to incorporate your influences into your sound!

Focussed listening.

Of course, the first thing you need to do is pick an influence to listen to! You may be a huge Hendrix fan and you want to incorporate some of that screaming guitar sound and technical licks into your playing. In essence, you want people to turn their heads when you play and say, “wow, they really sound like Hendrix!”. That’s the dream! Well, let’s make that dream a reality.

At first, you will want to pick a song from your favorite influence and have it on repeat. You want to play it so many times that you start to get sick of it. (But of course, you won’t because… Hendrix) Once the song is well and truly in your head, start paying really close attention. Are you starting to hear things you haven’t heard before? The best way to ensure focussed listening is to take away any other distractions. As well as listening in your car, through your headphones while you prep dinner, also listen with your eyes closed and in a comfortable position. The more attention you pay, the more you will hear.

Sing along.

Now that the song is well and truly stuck in your head, start singing along! Are there some parts that you find really difficult to match? Do you find the more that you do this, the easier it feels? Are you hearing even more than you did before now that you are trying to copy it?

Try your best to be exact when singing along. Hit the rhythms right in the middle and notice if you are pitchy in certain parts. This is not only helping you to begin to transcribe, but it is also building up your ear and your singing chops! You’re so welcome.

Copy your favorite sounds and phrases.

As you are singing through this epic and now borderline annoying song, are you noticing there are phrases that stand out to you? Ones that seem extra catchy and come to mind first when you revisit the song or even just think about it?

Start to recognize those phrases and sing them out loud and clearly.

Transcribing the sounds.

Whether you can write music or not, it doesn’t matter. It is now time to play what you have been singing. Start with those phrases that were super catchy! Once you have nailed all the notes and you are certain that you have the rhythm down, play along with the track. Your next task is to try and mimic the sound you are hearing. You will find that you will naturally change your movement and technique to try and match the sound. This is your brain searching for what is now ingrained from all of that focused listening.

Once you have your favorite phrases down, start working on the rest. Can you play the tune from start to finish in exactly the way the original artist does? Are there parts you get to and then fumble because it’s too tricky or you can’t quite hear what is going on?

Slow it down, and sound it out.

You may notice that some phrases are fast! So fast in fact, that your ear just simply cannot discern the individual sounds that are making up the phrase. You keep trying to copy it, but you know deep down you are missing notes and it just doesn’t sound quite right.

You can use tools like the amazing slow-downer. This is an app that slows the tempo of the music so you can hear each individual note! Be careful though, the more you slow down, the more the pitch will come into question. Slow it down just enough so that you can hear the phrase properly and work out which notes you are missing. Gradually, start to speed up the tempo again. If you speed up to a point where you can’t keep up, go back and work on the previous speed. Only increase the tempo once you have nailed it. Eventually, you will get back to the original tempo and you will have a new super-fast lick under your belt! Yay!

Take note of sound and nuance.

Now that you have all the notes down, it is time to pay attention to sound and tone. The aim of the game is to match the sound you are hearing. That may mean using some distortion techniques, changing the equipment or setup you are using, etc. But most importantly, adjust how you are playing. Gear can only go so far.

Every great artist has a distinct sound that is unique to them. Try your best to emulate it. This may take you weeks, months, or even years to get to a point where you are happy with it. The more you do it, the more it will seep into your natural sound. Get really picky about the sound, don’t settle until you feel like you have become Hendrix!

Consciously input those phrases and sounds when you are jamming.

Now that you have all the notes down and you have practiced and emulated the tone and sound, it’s time to include it in your playing. Go back to those favorite phrases initially were drawn to. Write them out and transpose them into different keys. (This way they will be applicable to every song!) If you have the know-how, practice the phrase around the cycle of 5ths and get really good at whipping it out at any moment in any key.

Now put on a backing track or find a friend, (preferably on Vampr) and have a jam! Pick a progression that will work with your newly learned phrase and start incorporating it randomly!

You will find as time goes on, it will become easier and easier to incorporate. Your ear will naturally know where to include it, how much space to give it, and when to punch it out. Even if it feels repetitive, keep playing it every time you jam. We want it to become muscle memory. You should start to just include it automatically without having to consciously think or put in the effort for this to happen. That is when you know you are there!

Let the rest happen naturally. Sound good?

Now just forget everything you have just learned! What?! Why!? Well, music is about creativity and freedom. You don’t want to manipulate too much of it to be a certain way. We can certainly influence our playing be building phrases and sounds into our muscle memory so we naturally go there without thinking. But, you want to be free when you play! Free to make creative choices in a moment and use your ear to hear what should come next.

Now, do it all again!

Now that you have successfully incorporated a phrase or two into your everyday sound… do it again! Preferably, stick with the same artist. The more Hendrix you transcribe, the more Hendrix will start to trickle into your sound!

Happy practicing!  ✌️

Ready to project manage your newest release? Great! Now that you have music ready to share, we have some strategies and techniques that will have you project managing like a pro!

What is project management?

Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters. What’s more, it has final deliverables that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.

For example, in relation to a music release, you will need to use your knowledge of the music industry to achieve specific objectives. The release date will be your deadline and there will be deliverables such as distribution, promotion, publicity, etc. in order to achieve your overall project goal.

What are the 5 steps of project management?

  1. Address important questions at the beginning of the project.
  2. Sketch out a scope and goals for your project.
  3. Communicate roles, expectations, and objectives to the team.
  4. Monitor progress and identify roadblocks.
  5. Make sure all deliverables have been met and finalize the project.

Address important questions at the beginning of the project.

For example, for a music release, your answers may be:

Sketch out the project scope and goals.

For a music release, you may answer:

Communicate roles, expectations, and objectives to the team.

For a music release, you may answer:

Monitor progress and identify roadblocks.

To list:

To illustrate answers for a music release:

Make sure all deliverables have been met and finalize.

Such as:

For instance, for a music release, you may answer:

Goal management.

All things considered, it is important that when you choose goals, you are choosing relevant and attainable goals. No point in setting yourself up with goals that are too hard or too easy for fear that you may not achieve them! With this in mind, set yourself up for growth instead.

In sum:

  1. Start with where you are and where you want to be.
  2. Break goals down into smaller parts. (objectives)
  3. Make goals specific and measurable.
  4. Match goals to team members’ strengths.
  5. Focus on learning as well as accomplishment.
  6. Show the relevance of goals to keep the team motivated.
  7. Agree on what goals mean.

Time management.

Time management is about allocating resources to complete tasks on time while staying within the approved budget. In any event, successful time management requires a developed schedule or timeline and an account of obstacles that could interfere with progress.

In essence, these skills include the ability to set goals, focus, organize, prioritize, communicate, and delegate.

Time management strategies.

For instance:

  1. Plan your work ahead.
  2. Set clear priorities.
  3. Focus on one task at a time.
  4. Minimize interruptions.
  5. Set yourself shorter deadlines.
  6. Learn to delegate.
  7. Learn to say “no”.
  8. Summarize each day.
  9. Use tools like Asana, Trello, and Monday to stay organized.

Flexibility and adaptability.

By the same token, throughout a release, you will need to be always looking at the unfolding situation and be ready to pivot if need be. Of course, just like in life, release plans don’t always go exactly how you want them to. In light of this, be open and flexible when planning. At any rate, the newly adapted plan might end up being even better than the original.

5 Ways to Demonstrate Your Adaptability.

For example:

  1. Staying calm and responding quickly to unexpected situations.
  2. Knowing when to push and let go of your ideas.
  3. Taking on different roles and responsibilities when needed.
  4. Upskilling and reskilling yourself.
  5. Changing your communication style based on who you’re talking to.

Use these strategies and techniques in your next social media campaign. But first, read our latest blog on >> 4 steps for a successful social media campaign plan

Ready to launch a social media campaign for your next release? Amazing! Have you got a structured plan in place and all the assets ready to go? No? Don’t worry, we got you! Look over these social media campaign steps to ensure you are prepared to launch your music into the world in the best way possible! 🚀

What is a social media campaign?

A social media campaign is a coordinated marketing effort that utilizes social media platforms to achieve a specific goal or objective. In your case, it might be to get as many streams as possible on your new track. Or, it could be to sell out your launch gig. Campaigns differ from everyday social media efforts because of their increased focus, targeting, and measurability.

Another key point to remember about a social media campaign is that it is all about organic, non-paid posts. That means that this particular part of the campaign should be creative, and authentic and really speak to your audience using your original and unique voice.

Why are social media campaigns important?

Overall, social media campaigns are an important part of a comprehensive marketing strategy as they can help musicians achieve a range of goals and objectives.

These goals can include:

Need more convincing? Here are some more reasons why social media campaigns are important!

Know your social media campaign goals before you do anything!

Don’t jump into creating content and posts before you have sketched out a plan! You need to know what you are trying to achieve before you go ahead and put time into asset creation and scheduling. You can have more than one goal, but make sure these are realistic. Campaigns are just a small part of the bigger picture. Don’t set ridiculous goals that will leave you feeling like you failed.

Step 1 – Goals

Ask yourself, what are my goal/s for this campaign?

Example goals:

Step 2 – Tactics

Ask yourself:

Example tactics:

Step 3 – Metrics

Ask yourself:

Example metrics to focus on:

Step 4 – Track and measure progress

Ask yourself:

Example tracking and measuring:

Requirements of a social media campaign

You’re almost there! Now you need to gather the things that you need for the campaign.
At this point, you should have:

You now need to get your content together for your campaign.

This will include:

A content calendar

A content calendar is a planning tool used to organize and schedule content creation and publishing activities for artists and creatives. It is a tool used to plan out the topics, themes, and types of content that will be created and published across various channels, such as social media, blogs, email newsletters, and other digital platforms. This will help you keep track of what you have published on your socials and what is still to come. It will also help you time manage effectively as you will have to plot out your posts over a timeline and assign a publish date and time.

Having a content calendar is a great way to ensure a consistent flow of content and that you meet your goals.

A timeline

Timelines are useful for providing a visual representation of events or processes over time, helping to organize and communicate a lot of information in an easy-to-understand format. This can be really helpful especially when the campaign is long-winded. You can see an overview of when you want to be hitting certain milestones and when big events are set to occur.

Assets

Having all of the assets ready to go prior to the campaign can save an incredible amount of time and stress! Think ahead about which platforms you will be using and what sizes you will need to ensure optimization. Generally, it is safe to have a square asset 1:1 and a story asset 9:16. However, this entirely depends on your tactics and strategy. In either case, being more prepared is better than being underprepared! Free tools like Canva are great options for creating multiple sizes of assets.

Copy

Copy refers to the written component of your campaign. Don’t be fooled, copy is an important element of marketing and advertising. Effective copy can make a significant difference in the success of a social media campaign. Take care to think about the language you use and if this truly represents you and will really speak to your audience.

Be sure to tag relevant collaborators and geo-locations. Relevant and accessible hashtags are also an important inclusion for the copy. In addition, be sure to include subtitles for videos, captions for live, and image and video descriptions so you are being fully inclusive to audiences.

A theme

Having a theme that people can relate to is important for a social media campaign. You want to create cohesion so anyone can look at your posts at any point in the campaign and understand what is going on. No need to pick too many themes! Stick with no more than 2 for a campaign!

Things to note before starting your socials media campaign

Now that you have all of that ready, you can start your campaign! At any rate, you should still be asking yourself some key questions before, during, and after the campaign. Above all, you want to give your music the best shot you can for it to succeed and that means being flexible throughout the campaign.

Things to note while a social media campaign is running

Things to ask yourself after the completion of your campaign

Need some strategy ideas for your campaign? Read our blog >> 10 social media hacks you should know. 

Reputation is incredibly important in the music industry. The reputation you build can affect whether you succeed in the industry! This is because it can be what helps someone determine whether they will work with you in the first place or again. One thing that many music industries across the world have in common is that they are generally tight-knit communities. Once you know the key people, you are in!

What is reputation?

Reputation refers to the collective beliefs, opinions, and evaluations held by others about an individual, group, or organization. It reflects how that entity is perceived, judged, and evaluated. This is based on its behavior, actions, achievements, social status, image, and brand identity.

Reputation can be positive, neutral, or negative. It can have significant effects on your social, economic, and political outcomes. A good reputation can enhance trust, credibility, and influence, attract opportunities, and provide a competitive advantage. A bad reputation can damage credibility, reduce trust, and harm relationships, leading to losses in business, social, or personal life.

Who you know matters.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “it’s all about who you know”? Of course, this is not the only thing that works in your favor, but it definitely plays a large role in potential opportunities you may access to. You might have less experience than another band in the same genre, but if you have a closer connection with the booking agent of a particular venue, you will have an advantage.

Managers, booking agents, A&R reps, and publishers are all seeking relationships with creatives. This is in order to build their reputation and leverage off of the revenue that comes from this. Music is also the kind of industry where people do not tend to work with people they don’t like or enjoy working with. When you work in an industry that is passion fueled, you are unlikely to tolerate people who are not like-minded or helpful to the overall cause. If you have a bad reputation, you may not even be afforded the opportunity to work in certain spaces, as unfair as this is!

Maintain a good reputation via relationships with industry people.

Whether you have a good experience with someone or not, you should still try and maintain a good relationship with people in the industry. Be polite and friendly via email and on the phone. We are all trying our best to survive in the industry and people remember when you have been rude. Your reputation in the early days is arguably your most valuable asset. If you start off on the wrong foot, news will spread. People may not take chances on you or give you a big break. It is common for industry members to ask their colleagues about certain bands. If they hear back and there are multiple negative responses, that can be enough to block you from growing.

Don’t burn bridges.

Whether you have a good experience with someone or not, you should still try and maintain a good relationship with people in the industry. Try your best to be as considerate and kind as possible. People remember this! Even if you don’t get the chance to work with someone right now, if you leave the door open you are setting yourself up for success.

Collaboration is often about the perfect timing in the music industry. Sometimes, it just isn’t the right time to work with that particular booking agent or manager. However, if you burn that bridge, you will never have another chance to try and make it work. If you thank them for their time and stay in touch, you never know where it might lead in the future. You are here for the long game, so play it strategically!

Protect your reputation. Word gets around.

The industry is small and people talk. Don’t be one of those people who talk about others behind their backs. You may get a reputation for being a gossip! That is almost as bad as having a reputation for being hard to work with. Word of mouth can be incredibly powerful in the music industry. It can make or break a business. You may keep getting referrals from people you have worked well with that results in a substantial portion of your revenue. Alternatively, you may find you keep getting turned down for jobs just because an influential person has a few bad words to say.

Be careful who you DM on Instagram and what you email. Anything in the form of writing can be screen captured and shared without your knowledge. Best to say only lovely things and keep the nasty stuff for venting to your cat when you get home! 🐈

Stand up for yourself when you need to, but don’t be difficult or unreasonable.

The music industry is still rife with inequality, injustice and discrimination. You should most definitely stand up for yourself and others when something immoral occurs. However, make a point of choosing your battles carefully. You can disagree with someone about the way they behave and still walk away and be civil.

It is likely you will work with and experience the same people several times throughout your career. People tend to stick to those they like and know. So it is best to not leave any situation unresolved if possible. You can internally choose to never work with someone again, but don’t stoop to nasty comments or talking about them to others once you walk away. Be the bigger person and walk away with your head held high.

Build a reputation that people respect

If you act and represent yourself as a person of value and dignity in the industry, not only will you feel fulfilled, but others will recognise this. Command respect by being kind and compassionate. Stand up for what you believe in when the time is right. Lead by example and behave like the person you would want to work with. You will naturally attract like-minded people who respect you for your work ethic and values above all else.

The more positive experiences you accumulate with people in the industry, the more you will feel like you belong. The music industry is after all a bunch of people who love the same thing – music! Find common ground and relate to people on a human level. That is how you build solid personal relationships and garner a reputation that other will respect and honour.

Want to know what else is important in the music industry? Go to >> Vampr Academy to learn more!

What level of accessibility is your online content? It is important that we think about the audiences who want to engage with us online. Can they easily access information about you as needed? This can be achieved by putting some standard practices into play.

What is accessibility?

“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability.”

Is your online activity structured in a way that allows ease of access?

Inclusive and accessible language.

Disability or disabled can feel like a scary word. Is it politically correct to use the word disabled?

Absolutely. Disability is not a bad word. It’s a word that describes a proud community of incredible people. The disabled community is the one group that any race, gender, or diverse person can be a part of. It’s the one group that spans beyond who you are and what you look like. It is also the one group that we should all strive to be a part of later in life. If you become old enough, you will likely join this community. So why don’t we have more representation, more inclusion, and more access for such a large group of people?

What language should I use when referring to people with lived experience?

Whenever in doubt, ask someone with lived experience!

Online Accessibility.

Statistics from World Health Organization (WHO) show that 20% of the population is disabled. If you exclude people with disability, you are ignoring a large part of the population who could be your personal super fans. Those people could bolster your audience drastically if you are inclusive.

Practices you can implement to improve accessibility include but are not limited to:

Website accessibility.

It is important that anyone with a disability can access your website and change the formatting so that it can be made accessible for them. A great tool for this is User Way. User Way allows you to incorporate some code into your website that presents as a widget for the website visitor. When clicked, this icon offers an array of options to make the website more accessible.
These options include:

There is a free and paid version of this tool.

Accessible image and video descriptions.

Video content is the most popular and engaging form of content in the current digital landscape. Don’t you think everyone should be able to access the content that you and everyone else has been sharing?

Image/video descriptions are textual descriptions of visual content such as images, videos, or graphics. They are intended to provide information about the visual content to individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have other disabilities that prevent them from perceiving the visual content.

These Image descriptions can be added to digital media, such as websites and social media posts to make the content more accessible to all users. They should be concise and descriptive, providing enough information to convey the purpose and content of the image.

They can also be used to enhance search engine optimization (SEO) and improve the accessibility and usability of websites and digital content for all users. They are an important aspect of web accessibility and inclusive design, helping to ensure that digital content is accessible to everyone.

Include alt. text.

Ever hovered your mouse over a spot where an image should be but it is coming up blank and all that you see are some words describing what should be there? Imagine you haven’t ever been able to see that image. Alt. text is there to help describe what you might not be able to see.

Alt text, also known as alternative text, is a textual description of an image that is used to provide information about the image to users who may not be able to see the image. Alt text is typically used by screen readers and other assistive technologies to help visually impaired users understand the content of an image.

This text should be concise and descriptive and should also be relevant to the context in which the image appears. Alt text can be added to images in HTML code and should be included whenever an image is used on a website or in other digital content. This is the main difference between image descriptions and alt. text.

Including alt text is crucial as it is an important aspect of web accessibility and inclusive design, as it helps to ensure that all users can access and understand the content of a website or digital media.

Capitalized hashtags

It might be easy to type your hashtags in all lowercase letters, but those extra seconds you take to capitalize them properly could mean the difference between someone being able to understand your hashtags or not.

Capitalized hashtags are hashtags that use capital letters to distinguish between words within the hashtag. For example, #BlackLivesMatter is a capitalized hashtag that uses capital letters to differentiate between the words “black,” “lives,” and “matter.”

The Capitalization is often used to make the hashtag more readable and understandable, specifically when it comes to accessibility and particularly if the hashtag contains multiple words. Capitalizing each word in the hashtag can also help to improve its visibility on social media platforms, as some platforms use algorithms that recognize capitalized words as separate keywords.

It’s worth noting that while capitalization can make a hashtag more readable and recognizable, it doesn’t affect how the hashtag is used or searched for on social media platforms. Users can search for a hashtag whether or not it’s capitalized.

Live-streaming and ASL interpreters.

Have you ever held a live-stream event? It was all the rage during the pandemic… and also the only option. Did it occur to you to incorporate some accessible tools to make the event more inclusive?

Accessible live streaming refers to the practice of making live video content, such as webinars, conferences, or live events, accessible to people with disability. This includes providing accessibility features such as closed captions, sign language interpretation, and audio descriptions, as well as ensuring that the live stream is compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Here are some tips for creating accessible live streams:

  1. Provide closed captions: Closed captions display a transcript of the audio content on the screen, making the content accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Many live-streaming platforms offer built-in captioning tools or integrations with third-party captioning services.
  2. Include sign language interpretation: Sign language interpretation can be provided through a separate video stream or by having an interpreter on-camera. This makes the content accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing and use sign language.
  3. Use audio descriptions: Audio descriptions provide a verbal description of the visual content in a video, making the content accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
  4. Ensure compatibility with assistive technologies: Live streams should be designed with compatibility in mind, ensuring that the content is accessible to people using assistive technologies such as screen readers or magnifiers.

By implementing these practices, live streams can be made more accessible and inclusive, allowing people with disability to fully participate in the content and engage with the material being presented.

Subtitles and Closed captions

Subtitles are textual versions of the dialogue or narration in a film, television show, or video. They are intended to provide a written representation of the spoken words, allowing viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing to understand the content. Subtitles can be displayed either on the screen, as part of the video itself, or as a separate file that can be turned on or off by the viewer.

They can also be used to provide translations of dialogue that is spoken in a language other than the primary language of the video. This is often referred to as “closed captioning” or “subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing” (SDH) and is typically used in television shows and films that are broadcast internationally.

SDH and closed captioning are valuable tools for improving the accessibility and inclusivity of video content and are increasingly used in online media such as YouTube videos, online courses, and webinars. They can also be used to improve the overall user experience of video content, allowing viewers to watch videos in noisy or quiet environments or in situations where they are unable to turn up the volume.

Ask yourself, do I take the time to include subtitles in all of my video content? Did you know that you can tap a captioning sticker in both Instagram and TikTok that auto-generates your captions from the video? Game changer!

Championing other disabled artists on your channels

Don’t be afraid to spotlight and champion artists with disability who are already making headway in the industry. Champion them like you would any other artist whose music you adore. Take a moment to look at what they are doing and see if you can implement any strategies that will make your online presence even more accessible.

More representation

The more we implement these standard accessible practices, the safer people with disability will feel when entering the music industry. With more accessibility and inclusivity, the more representation we are likely to see more from the disabled community.

This starts with you! Make sure you are doing everything you can online and in person to make your music inclusive and accessible. Ask a musician with lived experience to support you at your next show, or offer to support them! We all need to do our bit to cause a change in the music industry.

Go and try out your screen reader

Every phone has screen reader capabilities in the settings. To try it out for yourself, follow the instructions below.

Go to:

  1. Settings
  2. accessibility
  3. Voice over
  4. Voice Over practice (go here)
  5. Voice Over learn more to learn the cues
  6. Choose the speaking rate
  7. Once you feel familiar with the cues, close your eyes and try to navigate around your phone.
  8. Finally, go to social media and see how easy it is to understand when your eyes are closed and you are using a screen reader.

Interested in learning more about accessibility? Go and read >> How to make your performances more inclusive and accessible.