Music plays a very important role in helping our brains remember things. Consider famous TV shows and advertisements that you remember because someone sang the words to the theme music or jingle or simply hummed the tune. Therefore, the worst thing you can do is underestimate its importance when you are creating your own videos.
The real challenge comes when you try to decide which music is best for your video. There are various sites out there offering different forms of music, including those specifically listing huge and comprehensive catalogs and libraries of free music for videos.
To give you a little bit of help, if this is the predicament you find yourself in, we have put together three foolproof tips for choosing the best music for your videos to help make them unforgettable and engaging for your viewers, whatever their purpose is.
Choose an Appropriate Genre
One of the quickest ways to help establish a tone for a video is by deciding on the right genre of music you are going to use. You need to think about what the video is about and use a little common sense. For instance, if it is a video announcing a new line of baby products, blast beat-driven death metal is hardly an appropriate soundtrack. Neither is breezy indie-pop when you are trying to promote a serious health campaign.
You need to also think of your audience and what is likely to appeal to them. A great way to find inspiration is by watching other people’s videos who are saying or doing the same thing as you, or similar.
Match the Pace and Energy of Your Video Footage and Stills
Following on nicely from the above, it’s not just the sound of the music that you need to think carefully of, but also the speed and tempo. If you are editing together a high-octane showcase of recent daredevil stunts or extreme sports activities you’ve participated in, then a slow ballad is not going to provide the right energy for the video.
Likewise, you would hardly want to use a fast-paced rocker as the soundtrack of a time-lapsed video of a garden changing through the seasons.
Don’t Be Afraid to Mix Things Up a Little
Don’t try and find that one song that will help stitch everything in your video together, especially if it is a long-form affair covering a selection of different activities over a certain period. While it is effective to use one piece of music that has a lot of changes, finding one that is the right length and changes in the right way can be nigh on impossible.
Instead, don’t be afraid to use a few different songs. It makes sense if there is a thematic connection, whether it is the same genre or something else that ties them all together. If you still follow the first two tips, everything will slot into place perfectly.
The most important tip above and beyond these three is to enjoy it. It will only be a boring experience if you let it become one. The music is the icing on the cake and if you have put the hard work in and produced a video you are proud of; give it the soundtrack it deserves.