Music is pretty much everywhere, it’s on the radio, on TV, on the internet, in shops, restaurants and sometimes even on the street. But what people often forget to notice is that it’s commonly used in video too, and the reason why people don’t realise this, is because it’s used to subtly blend in and keep the video flowing.
Background music has many uses in video and it has actually been proven to change listeners’ moods. This helps put viewers in the right mindset when they’re watching a video e.g. Instruments like guitars, ukuleles, pianos, brass instruments etc. are often used to convey happiness and positivity. Whereas percussion, low cellos and basses create a slower-paced, low frequency sound. This actually helps when getting a message across, because it allows the audience to understand the tone of the video.
Music is a powerful emotive tool used by marketers. From researching your demographics, you’re likely to find out what kind of music they’re interested in. If for example, your target audience is into rock music, it would make sense to use a fast-paced track with electric guitar, drums and bass. This way you’re using music that speaks to your audience.
Choosing the right music for your video can be hard, but thankfully there are services out there that can help you choose. I would personally recommend Marmoset, a music site that creates a match for you depending on what words best describe your video.
You could also experiment with different tracks and work out which one fits best. If you’re torn between two tracks, you can always AB test them and then go with whichever one is the most popular.
When applying background music, it’s important to make sure it stays in the background. If it is too loud, it makes it hard to hear what the voice-over is saying, whereas if it’s too quiet, the music is almost non-existent.
Another thing to consider is timing your music with the events in the video and the voice-over. The music should follow the ark and journey of the video and should never contend with the voice-over or message.
There might be a bit of editing involved. It doesn’t need to be anything too technical, just increasing / decreasing the tempo and possibly looping certain parts of the song to make it fit perfectly.
Here are some music libraries that you could consider using:
https://www.marmosetmusic.com/
http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/video
I hope you found this blog useful; make sure to let us know what you think in the comments, or if you have any questions about the use of music in video.