MixPod: A Cool Idea

Here's a little inspiration for the end of the week!

We are always sending clients to the sites of entertainers with no guarantee that they will come back to us to book them. One of the entertainers we use all the time -- Lori Andrews -- has found a way to streamline that process. Because she prefers to be booked through AOO rather than directly, she began using Mixpod as a way to custom create private playlists that fit our client's needs. We then send them out with our proposals.

Lori is a harpist who brings fresh energy to the instrument by melding it with elements of jazz, fusion and R & B. She's on the cutting edge with her music, and, as I said before, with this marketing concept. She was happy to share how she creates these custom mixes for other entertainers.

Creating a MixPod
By Lori Andrews

Step 1
If you have video on YouTube, it's an easy process. I just edit and create my videos in iMovie, then save them to an MP4 format. But there are lots of programs that people can use to do that. Most digital cameras today already give you MP4s and you can edit in QuickTime. Once it's up on YouTube, you can access it on MixPod after you set up a free account. Just make sure it isn't set to "private."

Step 2
MixPod allows you to make a flash player with any non-private video from YouTube. You don't have to own the videos, you can just access them. They bill it as your personal playlist on a player. I keep my YouTube private so I can upload video I may have "borrowed" from YouTube using this link.

To explain what I borrow -- my partner Bart (a bass player) and I just played the Nokia Theater last Friday for the 11-year-old singer Jackie Evancho. There were a lot of audience videos that went up on YouTube the following week. I found them and changed them in iMovie by adding fade ins and outs to make them look more professional.

I chose the MP4 format, good quality at lower MBs and they give you five to nine choices of formats to download.

Mixpod does all the work. Put in a YouTube channel you are interested in, search your favorite videos then click the "add" button until you have finished your desired playlist. When these playlists are complete, I put them up on my blogs and websites (both jazz and wedding) and send them to clients as well as agencies. You can even change the color of the pod "case" to match your branding or website look.

To keep others from using my videos, my non-public YouTube channel has mostly my own stuff on it so you can't really search using tags. I set my videos to "unlisted" (rather than public or private) and I rename the songs so people can't search that way.

The process might take a little time for you to master, but the outcome is worth it!

For more about Lori and to book her, contact AOO Events.