Help

Radar is a free network used by labels and professional musicians, to find and commission talented music video directors worldwide.

Use Radar to:
* Post a brief for your next music video.
* We promote your brief to all director members in the network.
* Set a budget greater than £2000, $3000, €2400 and your brief will be promoted as a Premium Brief, which attracts more experienced and successful directors.
* Minimum budgets are £500, $750, €600.
* Directors send you their treatments.
* View directors' profiles and previous work.
* Get references.
* Commission the perfect director for your music video.

Our services are free for record labels, management and artists looking to find directors.
We are not an agency, and we do not take commissions. The only cost to use our commissioning services is a small monthly fee paid by Radar director/producer members to see briefs and send treatments.

post your brief for free now!

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Radar hosts music video briefs, all with budgets, from record labels and independent artists worldwide.
Subscribing directors and producers can see all briefs and send treatments direct to the record label, manager or artist who posted the brief.

You can use Radar to:
* Gain access to new labels and artists,
* Build your music video director reel,
* Find music videos to make in between other projects,
* If you are a production company, keep directors busy with work from Radar.
Our services are free for record labels, management and professional artists looking to find directors.
We are not an agency, and we do not take commissions. The only cost to use our services is a small monthly fee paid by Radar director/producer members in order to see briefs and send treatments.

If you haven't signed up yet, you can register now!
If you want to see briefs and submit treatments, you can upgrade to full membership now!

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RadarMusicVideos is a revolutionary online network which enables record labels and DIY artists to find and commission affordable music videos from director talent worldwide.
Using Radar to find directors doesn’t cost you anything, and we have dedicated Site Managers here to help you every step of the way.
Use Radar to:

* Post a brief to make your next music video, it's free,
* We invite all director members to submit treatments,
* You check out and contact directors who send treatments to you,
* Let non-shortlisted directors know they are unsuccessful without revealing your email address. Your name and email address remains hidden unless and until you reply to directors you want to connect with,
* Use Radar as well as your usual approach to commissioning - there is no obligation to commission directors through Radar.
If you want more information about how to use the site, please use the link below to contact us. Or if you're ready, post your brief for free now!

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post your brief for free now!

See examples of some of the briefs and the treatments that resulted in great videos over at the blog, in Behind The Commissioning Curtain

Label/Artist account holders can see details of their own live brief only. People who want to see all the live briefs need to create a Director account and take out a paying subscription.

If you are posting a brief with Radar for the first time or have changed your email address, you will be sent an 'activation email' to verify that the contact email address is correct. This is to ensure that you can receive the contact emails from directors responding to your brief.

If you do not receive an activation email and think you should have, you will need to ensure the email address you provided us with is correct and that the email has not been stored in your 'spam' or 'junk mail' folder.

Please contact us if you need us to resend your activation email.

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At this time, briefs must be edited by Radar staff.

If you would like to make a change, please contact us using the link below and we will update your brief for you. Please note in particular budgets can’t be reduced once published.

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It helps directors to hear the track and see lyrics. It's difficult for them to write a treatment without them.
You can add a track as an Mp3 or provide a Soundcloud link.
Add lyrics as a .doc file, or copy and paste them into the Brief Description.

Concerned about security?
Post a low grade Mp3 or make your Soundcloud link password protected and paste the password into the Brief Description.

REALLY concerned about security?
If you don't want to put up the track in any form, post a video/s of the artist/band that are musically similar - and make it clear these videos are for music reference and that they are / are not for visual reference.

We have found that brief listings with logos attract more attention than those without.

You can add your logo to your profile in ‘My Radar’ or we can add your logo to your brief post any time after it has been approved. Simply send us an email with your logo included as a .jpg attachment. Please include your brief number with your request.

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Premium Briefs are the briefs with bigger budgets, usually greater than £2,000 / c$3,000 / c€2,600.
There are three reasons we have them:

Exposure to the best directors.

* Briefs that are not Premium Briefs simply won't be seen by most of the best directors on Radar.
* Most experienced directors are not interested in briefs with ultra-low budgets and choose to only get notifications about these higher budget briefs. Directors still need pull in favours even to make Premium Brief videos.

Big difference in quality.

* A Premium Brief budget makes a huge difference in the quality of video that becomes possible. Without Premium Briefs, budget setting becomes a race to the bottom and the likelihood of getting a noteworthy video for £500 / c$750 / €600 is very hit & miss, and more miss than hit. Then labels/artists think it's because Radar is not very excellent, rather than that a £500 / c$750 / €600 budget is not very excellent.

Less risk.

* Labels and artists are hoping to discover a new director happy to work on a low budget in order to build their reel. It's a formula that works - indeed it's one of Radar's foundations, but risk becomes greater the higher the ambition and the lower the budget.
* Directors without a track record may promise a lot for an ultra-low budget and have problems delivering. Premium Briefs attract more experienced directors who know what they can deliver and who have previous clients who can confirm they can.

If you commission a director through Radar, we help promote your video.

What we do:
1/ Announce who you commission in our social media and newsletter.
2/ Promote your video release in our social media and newsletter. We also add it to our playlists in YouTube and Vimeo.
3/ Run a free press campaign for the best commissioned videos to our specialist contacts in music video media. Coverage on these blogs and sites can fuel massive uptake in more mainstream media.
4/ Selected commissions are published as case studies on the Radar site.

All you need to do is let us know who you commission and send us a link to the video when it’s ready for release, we do the rest.

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To manage your director’s treatments, go to the My Radar tab and click Current briefs.

Next, click the title of the brief you wish to manage and click "view treatments". This page shows you everyone who has sent treatments for your brief.

This is where you can mark the directors you're interested in as "shortlisted", and the others to "unsuccessful". Once you have decided about your commission, you can mark the successful director as commissioned and the others as "unsuccessful".

Please note: when you mark a director as 'unsuccessful' they are sent an email confirming they have been unsuccessful and your address remains hidden. Marking a director as 'shortlisted' sends an email revealing your email address and asking the director to contact you. Marking a director as ‘commissioned’ sends us at Radar an email, so we know to include the news about your commission in the next newsletter.

Marking a director as 'commissioned' also causes a commissioned star to appear on the director’s profile. This is an important way to provide additional reassurance to future potential commissioners, so please make sure directors you commission are marked as ‘commissioned'.

Please note labels and artists agreed in terms and conditions to wait until Treatment Deadline before commissioning a director. Many directors give themselves until deadline day to refine and submit their treatment.

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It helps us get the word out about Radar if you would include “Commissioned using RadarMusicVideos.com” on video end credits and in press releases.
Many thanks if you do, it’s appreciated.

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You can contact directors from your own inbox as they email you or you can contact them via your briefs tab on My Radar. Contacting directors via My Radar allows you to keep your email address hidden from unsuccessful directors and also makes it easy to keep track of which directors you are shortlisting.

To send a message to applicants, just follow these steps:
* Click on My Radar page
* Select the brief you would like to view under “My briefs”.
* Tick the relevant box next to the person you’d like to send your message to and then click “send message”.
Whilst you’re able to engage with directors in this way at anytime, please hold off making your final commissioning decision until after treatment deadline. Many directors submit treatments on the last day.

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Some people are unsure why the minimum budget that can be posted on Radar is set at £500 / c$750 / c€600.
* We think it is important Radar helps labels and artists commission generate good and great music videos. We encourage labels and artists to post briefs with higher budgets, as in our experience budgets below the minimum amount don't tend to attract many talented and experienced directors.

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Almost certainly this will be because your budget is too low. You're welcome to try again - try a higher budget, Also see 'Create great briefs' in help for other tips to increase response.

If your video budget is below the minimum allowed on Radar, you need to find another place to commission your video.
Some ideas:
* ask friends or fans via Twitter, Facebook, your mailing list,
* google film student websites and headhunt directors,
* make a slideshow from stills (where you own copyright),
* make live or rehearsal room videos.
Good luck and we hope you'll use Radar when you've got more funds.

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Here’s some tips for making your briefs look great to directors on Radar:

Presentation and Desirability

* Include a way for directors to hear the track and see lyrics. Directors need these to come up with ideas - briefs without access to audio or lyrics attract fewer directors.
* Concerned about audio security? The most secure way to provide audio is to ask directors to supply their email address in the comments section on the brief. You can then send each director a watermarked Mp3. Next most secure is to link to a private Soundcloud and publish the password in the brief. Least secure but fast is to upload a low quality Mp3 to the brief. Only subscribing directors can access the details you supply in the brief. Note our app will automatically pull through your Mp3 from The Orchard, if you make it available. You can always delete it at the Radar end if you prefer.
* Provide links to your label or artist sites and social media. This kind of 'social proof' helps establish your identity and allows directors to get a feel for the artist.
* Upload an image for your brief. This displays on your brief - briefs with images attract more attention than briefs with our standard 'filler' image.
* Include info about the artist’ status and plans in your headline, eg ‘Exciting, new artist...Successful, established artist...with large fanbase...with professional PR and campaign...on established label...etc

Creative Direction

* Decide if the artist needs to feature in the video.
* If a performance video, state where the artist is going to be and when they’ll be there.
* As an alternative to direct shooting, the artist could feature via images included or animated within the video. Choose ‘location not relevant’ to encourage interest from directors worldwide, including shooting directors and animators.
* Prescriptive briefs are less interesting to directors, who generally make music videos because of the creative freedom offered.
* State ‘open to ideas’ to encourage a wider range of ideas in treatments.
* It’s always helpful to give some creative direction by including links to videos you like and think are relevant.

Budget

* Minimum promo budgets on Radar are £500, c$800, c€600. Lyric videos, ie featuring the words can be commissioned for £200, c$300, c€250.
* We recommend a production budget greater than £3000, $4800, €3700 to attract the higher levels of directors on Radar.
* Briefs with a production budget greater than £2000, $3200, €2500 are promoted as ‘Premium Briefs’ - some directors choose to only get notifications of Premium Briefs’.

Production Support

* Schedule reasonable treatment and delivery deadlines. Set treatment deadline to Sunday rather than Friday night (unless you’re planning to select a director over a weekend). Allow for two weekends before a treatment deadline and at least three weeks for delivery if possible, longer for animation.
* Be aware directors often submit treatments last minute, ie deadline day. That’s why one of the terms and conditions you've already signed agreement to is to not commission any director prior to treatment deadline.
* Describe production support you can give if any, like a free location or ability to supply extras.

Promotion Support

* Directors will be very interested in the potential promotion of their video if commissioned.
* Describe the promotion plans for the video, especially if it involves professional pluggers or PRs.
* Mention previous influential coverage or a substantial fan base.

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* Notifications about Premium Briefs are sent out on our social media. Follow @radarmusicvideo on Twitter or like RadarMusicVideos on facebook.
* Also, directors get email notifications about new briefs once a day by default when they sign up. Edit the categories you are interested in, unsubscribe or resubscribe to email notifications in My Radar.

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* To contact labels and musicians about their brief, you need to register, sign in, and post in the comments section under the brief. The label/artist is notified by email and asked to reply in comments.
If you are not a full member, you will need to upgrade-now.

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* Only the director concerned, the label/artist who posted the brief and site admins can see treatments.
* All treatments we send include the reminder to readers they are copyright to the writer.
* Directors concerned about use of their idea by another should contact the artist or labels concerned and cc admin@radarmusicvideos.com
* Please note it is not unusual for a Director to believe their idea has been used by another - some briefs generate similar treatments or it could be zeitgeist.

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* Commissioners have two contact options for every treatment: “no thanks” or “please get in touch”. Selecting either option sends the appropriate email to that director.
* We strongly encourage labels and artists to contact every director, but there is no absolute obligation to do this. If you haven't heard from a label or artist, you have not been commissioned, sorry.
We always check that email addresses for labels and artists are working.

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* If you’ve commissioned or have been commissioned we’d love to put your news in our newsletter. Drop us a line to let us know.
* Don’t forget to get in touch when the video is released so we can help you promote it.

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The budget value is set by the currency posted by the label/artist. Directors with a different local currency need to calculate the budget’s value local to them, taking into account currency conversion and that the converted value could increase or decrease by the time payments are made.

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* Become a basic member and select ‘Director / Producer’ as your profile type. A link to your profile will now show on the Director / Producer tab, alphabetically organised by first name.
* If you want to allow people to contact you via your profile, you need to upgrade to become a full member.

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Most briefs published commission a director via Radar. Many directors are onto 2nd, 3rd and further commissions through Radar.

If you're having trouble getting commissioned, these tips may help:
* There are a few briefs that don't attract many/any treatments - they're usually ones with lower budgets but no doubt the label/artist still very much want a video. Try lowering your sights for a while and pitch for lower budget briefs.
* Make sure your profile is up to date and you have links to your work.
* Submit good treatments, they needn't be long. Read "Behind The Commissioning Curtain" in the blog to see how some successful Radar directors write their treatments.
* Some directors just submit a note saying 'we'll make you a video, please get in touch'. As far as we know that approach has never been successful.

Hope that helps.

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To edit your profile, go to the My Account page. From there you can change your email settings, your password, your director profile link and you can choose the way you interact with Radar.

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To send treatments labels and musicians for their brief, you need to register, sign in, and click the ‘Send treatment’ button on the briefs page.
If you are not a full member, you will need to subscribe.
Pressing ‘Send treatment’ brings up a form pre-filled with your name, email address and director profile link. Enter your treatment in the text box provided. You can add two files, up to 500 b in total, link to a third party site or file transfer service. Press send to email to the label or musician.
The label or musician will contact you if they want to discuss your treatment or require any further information from you.
There isn’t a standard format for treatments - see 'Winning Treatments' in the blog if you’d like to check out what other directors do. Also google 'KeithSchofield' to look at winning and rejected treatments from a well-known music video director
You can access your sent treatments from the treatments tab in My Radar.
Treatments can’t be edited once sent, so be sure to send the treatment you want the label or artist to see.
Only production company accounts can send more than one treatment for a particular brief.
Treatments can be submitted up 23.59 GMT on pitch deadline day.

If you haven't signed up yet, you can register now!
If you want to see briefs and submit treatments, you can upgrade to full membership now!

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We understand you may have concerns about internet safety and that you might even question the legitimacy of Radar. Here's how Radar works, how we manage the briefs that are posted on the site and how you can protect yourself from from potential scams.

How do I know I can trust LABELS or ARTISTS on Radar?

* Every brief that appears on Radar has been checked to ensure the requirements of the brief appear achievable.
* Check the labels /artists website link they have provided - do they seem like a legitimate entity? We also recommend you Google them and check out their social media.
* We are lucky to have conscientious members that alert us to any briefs that appear suspicious and can remove them instantly if necessary.
* Radar has the facility to ban labels or artists who misuse the site, eg who renege on budget.
* We add a reminder to every treatment sent to labels and artists that the treatment is the copyright of the creator of that treatment.
* ALWAYS agree a contract with a label or artist who hires you.
* Finally, use your common sense when responding to briefs - Radar is not responsible for, and makes no warranty as to their accuracy.

How do I know I can trust DIRECTORS or PRODUCERS on Radar?

* ALWAYS get a reference from someone who has worked with your chosen director before you go ahead with the commission.
* Radar has the facility to ban directors or producers who misuse the site, eg who request additional budget to finish the video.
* You should always agree a contract with a director/producer you hire.
* Finally, use your common sense when responding to treatments - Radar is not responsible for, and makes no warranty as to their accuracy.

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We run all our promos and giveaways through our facebook page - but you must be an Radar member to win.

To keep up to date with the latest offers, visit RadarMusicVideos on Facebook.

Publicists: Radar Members LOVE free tickets. If you've got tickets or freebies to give away, contact us at admin@radarmusicvideos.com

We take professional behaviour very seriously.
* Labels/artists using this site have agreed to pay the budget stated on timely delivery of the video according to the treatment they commissioned.
* Directors/producers using this site have agreed to deliver the video described in their treatment according to the budget and delivery date stated.

If you have concerns about a director/producer or label/artist, please contact us using the link below.

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* Radar is involved up to the point at which labels/artists make a decision about who is commissioned. After that it’s up to labels/artists and directors to arrange contract, production, insurance, casting, locations, scheduling, delivery, cashflow and all other production and delivery matters between themselves.
* Use a contract. Radar doesn’t supply or advise on contracts, apart from recommending you have a written agreement covering at least key points like payment schedules, insurance and delivery dates. See the resources section too re contracts.
* To help establish profiles are truthful and the director is competent, get a reference or recommendation from someone who has worked with the director before confirming your commission.
* Any production should have production insurance.
* If the video requires actors/other participants, labels and artists should make sure they get casting approval.
* Discuss what you will do if, for whatever reason, the commissioner decides to pull the commission before final delivery. This generally involves paying the director what is known as a 'kill fee'.
* As part of terms and conditions, label and artists agree to pay the full budget advertised, commission the video as pitched and keep to the minimum schedule described in the brief. Directors similarly agree to make the video as pitched, for the budget advertised and to the schedule in the brief. Any user who doesn’t abide by these terms and conditions is liable to be banned from the site. Labels, artists or directors who wish to raise a complaint of this type, please contact us

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We're often asked for advice on the best way to present a treatment:
* See how music video directors Keith Schofield and Jesse Ewles go about it.
* You can also pick up tips from legendary music video director Dougal Wilson, in this primitive video made by us in Radar's very early days.

Always agree a contract before starting work.
The law is different in each country so the best solution is to have lawyer look over your contract before agreeing to it. Research to find ones relevant to you and your country, meanwhile these links might be useful:
DVXUser
VideoMaker

If you’re not signed to a production company and you’d like to be, you might find this panel discussion with top UK music video production companies, agents and commissioners useful.

Awards and nominations can be fantastic for building hot directors' reputations, promoting artists to new audiences and for generating an inner swell of satisfaction. Here's a guide to the best music video festivals worldwide.

Vimeo Festival

New York, America
The Vimeo festival launched in 2011 to great praise for the video content. This is already a pretty huge festival to win at. If it's the same as last year, it'll happen in October.

SXSW Film

Austin, America
The SXSW Film, started in 1994, is an essential part of the prestigious SXSW Festival, showcasing music videos, shorts and indie features.

Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts

Minnesota, America
A festival for arty, experimental music video, artists, composers and for those who like to debate about digital music and media. Loads of screenings, performances, panel discussions.

Rushes Soho Shorts

London, UK
One of the longer running and highly respected festivals, the main event is June, submissions up to April.

ProtoClip

Paris, France
The only festival dedicated to music video in France, it celebrates the best music videos in the world. Takes place in November.

PlusCameraImage

Bydgoszcz, Poland
Dedicated to celebrating the art of the cinematographer, whatever they may be cinematographing. Based in Poland and in its 21st year we think.

Oulu Music Video Festival

Oulu, Finland
International but with a distinctly Finnish bent, the unusual Oulu Music Video Festival promotes music films and videos.
It also incorporates the air guitar world championships.

OneDotZero

Touring, Worldwide
A top drawer event, OneDotZero showcase the absolute best of new digital film and animation and are on constant tour around the world.

NXNE

Toronto, Canada
NXNE film festival and conference started in 1995. As well as doing their own promotion of music videos, they host the Indie Music Video Festival (see below), probably the best way into this festival for new MV filmmakers

Musiclip Festival

Barcelona, Spain
It's about music and film and has a dedicated music video category. Last year the event was in October.

MOFFOM

Prague, Czech Republic
Music on Film - Film on Music is a large, internationally respected festival. It features 20-30 music videos in its wide ranging programme of music-y films.
Entry deadline March, submission free, has Festival Awards with prizes.

Los Angeles Music Video Festival

LA, America
Started January 2011. They keep up a blog of interesting music videos too, very sensible.

London Short Film Festival

London, UK
This year they had a pretty hefty music video section. Runs in January. it's related to Branchage in that they have some of the same programmers.

Indie Music Video Festival

Canada and America
Founded in 2002, IMVF is a large touring festival dedicated to international independent music video, leaning heavily toward unsigned/DIY bands and visiting locations across Canada, America and now Scotland.

FilmPop at PopMontreal

Montreal, Canada
Pop Montreal launched in 2002 and quickly became one of the coolest music festivals on the circuit. Film Pop became a feature the year after, presenting music videos, shorts and independent cinema. Call for submissions to be announced.

Festival du Clip

Divonne, France
Celebrating the creativity of music video, this year they're taking it to Geneva and Lausanne too. It's in June, entries in by late May.

Bug

NFT London, UK
Showcase of the best new music videos from around the world and Adam Buxton interviews hot directors every show. Sells out within days of tickets going on sale. Bi-monthly.

Branchage

Jersey, UK
Like LSFF, with whom they share curators, also has a healthy music video strand, festival is in September

BBC Music Video Festival

Norwich, UK
They cover all sorts but are particularly interested in new talent. September to October.

If you are a director and not currently a full member, upgrade to see briefs and send treatments to record labels and musicians looking for music videos.
Home | Your profile | Contact us

It's free to register on Radar and create a basic profile. It's also free to post a brief on Radar.
However, you need to upgrade to see full details of briefs and send treatments to labels and musicians. You have to register first to see full details of the price list page, but as quick guide it's:
£6.99 c$10.99 c€8.99 for 6 months.
£9.99 c$15.99 c€12.99 for 3 months.
£12.99 c$19.99 c€16.99 for 1 month.
You can also register as a company, which costs slightly more. It allows multiple treatments to be submitted for any and all briefs.
Note: Radar is not an agent and we do not charge any further fees on music videos which are successfully commissioned.

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If you have a basic (free) membership that you wish to completely remove from the site, please contact us.
If you have a renewing subscription, you can cancel your re-subscription here. Click on 'Settings' and then click the unsubscribe button. Your access to briefs will continue until your already-paid-for period runs out. Aften then if you want to see briefs again, just click on 'upgrade' in your profile pages or any of the ones dotted about the site.

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Here's our email, you'll get Caroline or Kristina.

This is our mailing address:
PO Box 68976
NW26 9EW
UK