ChasNote

Sure, anyone can make videos and put them up on YouTube. There’s a reason to partner with expert digital video programmers like Next New Networks (an FM partner), though: You significantly improve your odds of breaking through the clutter and riding the wave of a word-of-mouth phenomenon.

In February, Verizon teamed up with NNN to sponsor $99 Music Videos (more CJ7 release Final Destination movie ), a project where indie bands get creative with $99 and a video camera to produce made-for-YouTube music videos. One of them, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard’s To Be Objectified video, has attracted more than 100,000 viewers (and 200 comments) in its first week. Not a bad start.

(Credits: Verizon and the Verizon Wireline team at Moxie Interactive; the crew at Next New Networks; and John Schneider and Sarah Ruxin at FM. And that’s not counting Jeffrey Lewis and his posse.)