How to Choose the Best Music for Your Video Content

Has it ever occurred to you that it can make or break your video?

Good music choices become synonymous with the videos they’re paired with – think about movie soundtracks. I only need to mention Titanic and I bet I could guess the song that leaps into your head.

After all, if the link between the two elements is so strong when good selections are made, it’s important that you master this.

There are tons of websites that offer royalty-free music. Some of these will offer free downloads, some will require a subscription and for others, more specifically the higher-end options, you will need to purchase each license individually that you wish to use. But finding the site that works best for you really is only the start of this whole journey. There is so much that you need to consider in order to make the best selections for your videos.

This will vary depending on the type of video you’re putting together, for example, if you’re creating an explainer video or a product demo, you’ll want to choose something that helps to maintain the audience’s attention – nothing too invasive, just something that has a steady presence in the background to keep things ticking along.

Or perhaps you’re creating a video that is more narrative-driven? In this case, the music will be almost like an extra character, helping to add subtext and advance the plot.

And if you’re working on a promo video or an advert, you’ll need a track that evokes emotion as this is a strong driving force in getting people to take action.

Once you know what you want your music to do, you can start to find the track that you’re going to use in your video. Now, it’s worth noting that certain genres lend themselves to some objectives better than they do others. For example, corporate tracks offer a more engaging vibe, and act as an invitation to your audience to listen and learn, whereas hip-hop numbers are showier. They’re edgy and they’re fast and their main objective is to grab attention.

When you begin the search for music, you will quickly find that is a jungle out there, so having an idea of what genres are best suited to what you want to achieve will help you narrow your options down quicker, AND give you a better chance of finding something that really works.

If you’ve got an idea of the kind of thing you want to use then you can try to find something similar. Maybe you were inspired by another video you saw? Or perhaps there’s just a song you can ‘hear’ when you imagine the video playing out in your head? When it comes to stuff produced by well-known artists, licenses are extremely expensive, BUT you could use something that sounds similar if you are in love with the idea of a particular sound. Some sites that provide royalty-free music will allow you to upload a sample track so that they can offer alternatives based on that.

Alongside all of this, you may also find it helpful to consider the genres that your audience listens to as well. What demographic fits your target market, and what sort of music does a similar demographic listen to? Odds are there will be an overlap between this and the vibe you want to create with the music, narrowing down the options even further and bringing you closer to finding that ideal track.