Finding the right music can be the difference between engaging your viewer and turning them off. There are a number of different free and paid music sites, but I’m going to show you just four options to make your search a little easier.
We’re going to look at two free and two paid music options and then talk about some things to keep in mind when choosing music for your video.
I’ll run through some of the current licensing conditions for these sites but make sure you do your own research and read the full terms and conditions for any music you download before you use it in your videos.
So to start with, our free music options:
1. Youtube’s audio library
If you are solely making videos for a YouTube channel there are some great music tracks and sound effects here.
It’s important to know these tracks can only be used on YouTube, they can’t be used externally on other social media like Facebook or Instagram. There are also a lot of creators using music from this library so it isn’t a very personalised option.
Some music in the YouTube audio library requires you to give credit to the artist if you use their music in your video. These tracks will have an attribution required icon listed in the ‘License Type’ column.
2. Tune tank
Tune tank allows you to search for music in categories, genres and moods. There are some really cool tracks on this website but there isn’t a very large amount of music to choose from compared to what you will find on a paid music platform.
When you download a track from Tune Tank under the free option you’ll need to give the artist attribution by copying a line of supplied text to use in the video description or caption.
Tune tank also has a Pro Subscription option for $79.50 a year which allows you to access premium tracks and sound effects and no longer have to give credit to the artists for the music you download.
If you’re planning on creating a lot of videos and wanting a lot of different music and sound effects, a paid music option may be more beneficial. You can have access to larger music libraries, and it’s far less likely you’ll run into any copyright claims.
3. Storyblocks Audio
The site that I currently use for all my audio and sound effects is Storyblocks Audio. To find the right track you can choose the mood, genre, instrument, and continue to filter it down with the tempo, optional vocals, and music duration or you can put in exact keywords of what you’re looking for.
Story blocks also offer stock footage, images and After Effects templates along with music and sound effects.
You can get their unlimited all-access package for $49 a month, or just get the audio package for $20 a month. They also have annual payment plans available that are slightly cheaper.
4. Epidemic Sound
Another popular site for great stock music is Epidermic Sound.
They have very descriptive filters to help narrow down your search and there are thousands of tracks to choose from across the platform.
There is also a great feature to “find similar” if you’ve found a piece of music you like and want more in that style.
You can even break down the track and make it more personalised by using the Music Stems feature. This means you can take individual pieces from the track, so if you just want a killer bass or a drumbeat underneath your video you can cut and mix to your heart’s content.
Epidermic sound offers a free 30-day trial so you can see if it’s right for you before you jump onto a subscription. There are three tears of subscriptions based on what kind of content you’re creating and for what purpose.
Choosing the right music
What is the mood of your video? What do you want your viewer to feel?
Think about watching your favourite TV show, and the suspense is building because something really intense is about to happen!
But what if there was no music?
It’s actually just two characters standing in a scene having a conversation totally unaware that someone is about to jump out from behind the door… With the suspenseful music, we as the audience know something is about to happen because of the way it made us feel like we should be on the edge of our seats.
The wrong music could potentially make what’s meant to be a really serious scene become comical because the feeling that we get from the music and the action on screen is incongruent.
For videos like the one above that are primarily informational, you probably want something mellow and low underneath the volume of your voice so that it’s not too distracting but it just helps to keep the flow of the video moving.
You may not even notice the background music in a lot of videos you watch online because it’s designed to be a very subtle driver.
If you’re not sure what music you should use for your video go and watch some videos other people in your industry are creating and pay really close attention to what background music they’re using and what you like or dislike about it.
Sometimes I download a handful of tracks that I think might be the right fit and try each of them in the video to see which one feels right.
The right music can help you move mountains, or have your video come crumbling down.
Read on for 8 video editing mistakes that may be costing you time and views.
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