I am just wondering if any of you guys know any ways for me to improve my channel and get a more "active" subscriber base that will like and comment on the videos that are on the channel, rather than just watching them.
Interview videos will get you comments and likes. If you're up to do those, here are some suggestions:
1) Do interview videos with the artists. Ideally, in person but Skype video conferencing is fine. Don't let the interview wander though. Keep it tight and concise. Talk to the artists beforehand and run your questions past them. If they don't like a question, don't ask it. Be sure to ask if they have any question(s) they'd like you to ask them. There is no need for doing an ambush interview. They will then be able to ponder their answers and make your interview that much better. Cut out their "ummms", "ahhhhs", and "hmmms". Let them see the video before you post it and give them the right to disapprove it. If they're not happy with it, offer to do another one. You want them happy as they'll then tweet their fans that they got interviewed by you and they'll give their followers a link to your video. This will bring their fanbase to your channel. Talk to their website's webmaster to get your interview video embedded and featured on the artist's homepage.
2) Do interview videos of local radio DJs who play your type of music. Same interview rules as above. After you get the video approved by them, ask if they would plug your interview of them on their show. Talk to their website's webmaster to get your interview video embedded and featured on the show's homepage.
3) Do interview videos of music teachers and professors in your area about the type of music you're featuring on your website. Same interview rules as above. Offer to make a poster that they can put up in their classrooms and office that makes their students aware of the interview of them. Ask if they would let you put up copies of that poster around the school or college campus. If their school/college has a poster policy, the teacher/professor should be able to get your poster approved for posting.
4) Do interview videos of local club owners, DJs, and managers whose clubs play your type of music. Same interview rules as above. Offer to make up a poster that promotes their interview with you and their club and then post it around town. Offer to print off a cheap quarter-page flyer informing the reader of these video interviews that their bouncers can hand out to people as they leave their club. Have the flyer printed on yellow or light orange colored paper. Color will make them treat it better and those two colors make it easier to read. Talk to their website's webmaster to get your interview video embedded and featured on the club's homepage.
5) After you do #4, develop your relationship with that club owner more by offering to film their dance floor and use this as the visual for some of your videos. You will need to put up a poster at the door on those nights informing club goers that this is going to be done and their entering of the club is them giving you permission to film them for your videos. Be sure to have the bouncers point out the poster to those entering the club. In these videos, just use subtitles to tell what club is being filmed. Then have the flyer that the bouncers hand out tell both of the interview you did of the club owner (and/or DJs and/or managers) and when they can expect to see the video that features the footage you took that night.
6) Talk to local self-service laundromats about having your channel play over their TV monitors. Create a 200-video playlist that they need only have their computer link to and which will then play that feed to all their TV monitors. Playlists continuously loop so if every video averages 3.5 minutes, your 200-video playlist would last over 11.5 hours before it repeats itself. Be sure to point that out to the laundromat owner. Then make a poster that promotes your channel to the laundromat customers and try to get the owner to let you put it up on a wall and not the laundromat's bulletin board. Ideally, put the poster by each of the TV monitors. Print up a bunch of business cards and tack them in a row along the bottom for customers to take so they can take it with them so when they get home, they can remember to go to your YouTube homepage and subscribe. Then regularly (at least once a week) visit these laundromats and replace stolen and damaged posters as well as put up new business cards.
Good luck!
