Music can make or break a video. Yet, it’s all too often an afterthought in our videos. With the right selection, however, music can add to the video in a way that little else can.
Animoto offers thousands of licensed music tracks to match any mood or genre. In this article, we’ll cover how to choose the right music for your videos, as well as how to avoid some common pitfalls.
There are four key aspects to consider when choosing music and editing it to fit your video. If you’re making several videos, try not to use the same tracks in each one. Not only will it seem repetitive, but it may detract from the unique message you’re trying to convey in each.
The mood or energy of a song will set the tone of your video. It comes from several things, including the tempo (speed), genre, instrumentation, sound density, and lyrics, but most importantly it’s how it feels. Generally speaking, upbeat music works best for business videos; everything from professional services to coffee shops goes with cheery music.
1. Don’t choose music with a dark or moody energy level unless you’re confident that your audience will relate to your song choice. And avoid music with overly prominent features that distract from your message, like a fast, heavy beat or jarring instrument solo.
Picking an appropriate musical genre for your video is more about avoiding bad choices than anything else. Consider your target audience, as well as the nature of your business.
2. Don’t choose a genre that’s too distinctive unless the mood and feeling that it evokes are an ideal fit for your brand. The key here is that you don’t want the music to be what the viewer remembers most about your video.
Lyrics have the potential to add a dramatic element to the storytelling aspect of your video. If you want to use a song with lyrics, consider one that has universally appealing lyrics — something that’s not so specific that it takes away from your message.
3. Try music without lyrics if you’re using a voice-over or webcam recording as it can detract from the message and overpower the audio of your video. Whatever song you choose, you’ll want to ensure that it complements the flow of your video, fading in and out at the right times. If you’re a professional user, you can add multiple songs to ebb and flow with the energy of your video.
4. Don’t feel the need to start your song at its beginning. If it starts with an out of place feature (speaking before music or a slow buildup), don’t feel bad about skipping to the best part of the song for your purposes. Also, avoid ending the music abruptly unless it’s the effect you’re going for. The most ideal scenario is to time your video to end at a natural part of the song, but you can usually fade the music out at any point.
One important reminder. You’ll want to steer clear of copyrighted music. Make sure to only use music you have the rights to use. Fortunately with Animoto Professional and Professional Plus plans you can access 3,000+ licensed music tracks.
Music is personal, but choosing the right song for your business video can either strengthen your message or distract from it.
After you’ve chosen the right song for your video, head over to our Facebook group, The Animoto Social Video Marketing Community for feedback and support from fellow group members.
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