This article was updated January 24, 2020.
Finding the best music for your videos can be the key to success for today’s content creators.
In July 2019, Brandwatch reported that YouTube has $1.9B monthly users with 400 hours of content uploaded to the platform every minute. These extraordinary statistics are only expected to grow, and do not include other video platforms or social media. With such a deluge of content, video creators are left with the daunting question of how to stand out in a heavily saturated marketplace. This is where your soundtrack comes in.
Video ads with music are more creative, informative, emotive, and ultimately memorable than those without. As a content creator, marketer, or entrepreneur you need to think very carefully about choosing the best music for your videos.
Embrace the power of sound and vision
Understanding the power of music in video makes it clear that your music selection is a very important component, not just an afterthought. Your soundtrack can help create emotion, establish pace, propel the narrative, and ultimately win over an audience. It’s important to start thinking about selecting the right music early on in the video creation process. Ask yourself, what’s your favorite TV show? From Big Little Lies to Breaking Bad or The Handmaid’s Tale, you’ll likely know the opening music intimately. Or your favorite movie? The themes of Hitchcock’s Psycho, Star Wars, or newer hits like Inception are integral to their importance as cultural landmarks. This is because the parts of our brain used to process music are also responsible for emotion and memory.
Choosing a great piece of music that resonates with your viewers can be a very effective way of making a positive and lasting impression. Whether you’re working on an independent short film, a wedding video or corporate content to advertise the launch of a new product, there’s something for everyone. How do you decide what music to choose with so many options available? Read our essential guide to help get you started thinking about the best ways to match music for your video…
Think about your video’s purpose
Before you start your music search, you need to consider the goal of your video. Are you looking to sell a product? Or to market your brand? If it’s not a corporate video, then is it to create entertainment value? Is it something for a short-term campaign? Or do you want it to have a longer shelf life? Maybe it’s a testimonial for use in internal communications, or to be shared on a blog. Answering these questions should help give you some early thoughts about pace, mood and some initial ideas about the music you want to use.
If you’re looking to sell something with your content — perhaps you’re an Event Marketer promoting parties or events — you’ll need uplifting or energetic music. If you’re launching a more futuristic corporate product, then you might want something less upfront and more ambient and electronic. Obviously, personal taste will influence your choice, but it makes sense to explore the wider marketplace and research similar videos online to see what works and what doesn’t. When searching for the best music for your video, you’ll need to consider each of these points.
How do you want your audience to feel?
Consider your content from the audiences’ perspective and think about what emotional reactions you’d like them to have. Ultimately, the viewer should always be at the forefront of your mind when working on your visuals and music. It’s this audience that you want to impress and engage. The music will go a long way in encouraging an audience to respond to your content; whether it be to buy a product or just investigate your brand further. But the songs you choose should work alongside your visual elements to help realize the video’s purpose and emphasize messaging.
Studies show different musical styles provoke different reactions, associations and feelings.
Classical music may convince viewers to spend money as it’s linked with luxury, affluence, and high quality. Music with a fast pace and a high pitch with major chords can make the listener feel excited, while slower music at a lower pitch can prompt feelings of melancholy. Again, think about how the music makes you respond, then consider how the sounds you want to use could influence your audience and their behavior.
Only use music that has been cleared for your video
You’ve thought about your video’s purpose and your audience. Now you need music, but before you begin the selection process, remember your track needs the correct copyright permissions in place to be used. Copyright is at the heart of the music industry and is the exclusive legal right that grants ownership over an original work. Using music without the copyright owner’s permission puts you at risk of infringement claims or potential lawsuits which could be more costly than paying properly for legal usage in the first place.
You don’t want to go to all the effort of choosing music, then marketing and promoting your video, only to realize the song has not been cleared. You’ll then have to take your video down. If your video is for private use only and will never enter the public domain, then you don’t need to worry. But otherwise, where do you start?
Whenever you hear music in a commercial, coffee shop or training video, it is often thanks to the magic of music licensing. This process grants permission for a video creator to play or use a song in exchange for royalties. If you fail to use music with the appropriate permissions, then it creates issues around lost revenue and promotional opportunities. It (literally) pays to do this properly and seek out fully-cleared music whenever possible.
Match the mood to genre
Now that you’re aware of music licensing and finding cleared music, you can start researching the mood you want to create in your audience with your video. Do you want your content to feel happy? Sad? Hopeful? Melancholic? Your music will go a long way towards defining the mood. By focusing on it, you’ll also be able to explore musical genres. Some genres could be ruled out by your video content. For example, a death metal track might not work effectively if you’re looking to advertise a florist or nursing home. At the same time, choral or classical music might not be a great fit for marketing an energy drink or fast food brand. The energy and theme of your visual content will be reflected in the audio.
Remember that the majority of audiences like consistency with their visual content.
It encourages them to interact and engage while any conflict between mood and musical genre can potentially have a negative impact. If your video features cowboys, what music or instrumentation do you think of? Slide guitar or banjos, perhaps country music? If your video has more action, then perhaps your soundtrack should be more dramatic, featuring guitar riffs and rock action. Ultimately, your music should complement the video’s visuals, not act as a distraction.
Think about tempo
A song’s tempo refers to its speed or pace and plays a big part in creating mood. The pace of the video has to fit the emotion you’re trying to convey and the overall narrative. How should your audience feel after watching? Excited and enthused? Or more thoughtful and contemplative? Something with a fast pace or tempo can be exciting, and if that fits your video’s mood, then it may be wise to choose. It’s also worth noting that songs with a steady pace are easier to amend to fit your video.
You can experiment with tempo to enhance memorability by creating contrasting dynamics in your narrative. If your visual content is a wild, action film, then dropping music completely from the audio at certain points in the narrative can have a dramatic impact. Again, it’s worth experimenting to see what works.
Vocals vs. instrumentals
Choosing between vocal and instrumental tracks can really influence the finished content of your video. If you do opt for vocals, then you need to structure your video edit so they are not competing with your visual content for attention. Lyrics often contain obvious meanings so if they are irrelevant to what’s happening on screen, the theme may become overly complicated. If you have dialogue or narration, it may make sense to avoid any tracks with vocals to prevent confusion.
At the same time, if you’re able to find a song with lyrics that apply to your video, then it can add great value to your narrative by reinforcing messaging. Whichever option you decide on, remember the soundtrack is there to enhance the visual elements, not drown it out. The best music for your video are those that manage to create an exciting synergy between the two.
Tailor music to your audience
As a content creator, you want your video to resonate with your audience and music choice can go a long way in helping you realize this. Consider age, culture, and potential tastes to ensure you are tailoring your music to your audience. Using a hard-edged rap or trap song may be best aimed at younger viewers familiar with these kinds of sounds, and could alienate an older audience. If you want a product to appeal to a certain demographic or age, you don’t want to isolate them via inappropriate genre choices.
Though you may find the most success if you stick to genres that mirror your audience, don’t be afraid to challenge stereotypes. You may be surprised by what works with viewers. Remember everyone is different and likes different sounds. Thanks to streaming, you could argue that music tastes are broader than ever. Still, some musical tastes persist. If you’re trying to reach a broad market, or many age ranges, look for music with wide appeal to give yourself the best chance of success.
Though conventions are in place, rules are also made to be broken
While I’ve covered many conventions around video creation and music use, always remember that rules are made to be broken. You can potentially create the biggest impact by going against any traditional stereotypes and, while this is a riskier strategy, it can also reap the most rewards.
Remember to do some serious research into competitors/similar videos, and don’t be afraid to experiment or try out different methods. It’s good to consider music as an integral part rather than something to bolt onto a finished video. In fact, an Australian study revealed that music could be more important than visuals in shaping perceptions of a brand, so it deserves plenty of time and attention. There’s no hard and fast rule to success but I hope that considering some of the above factors gives you a better understanding of how videos work, their impact on your audience and, above all, the importance of your soundtrack.
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