Finding the right stock music is easy with Smartsound Cloud
When it comes to creating engaging and captivating video projects, choosing the right music is of utmost importance. We all know that the perfect sound for your project sets the stage, stirs emotions, and leaves your audience begging for more. And you’ve got to apply it in an absolutely legal way (that is, not by ripping off other artists and just putting in whatever’s popular). That means you’ve got to get your hands on some high-quality, royalty free stock music, with enough variations and abilities to modify that will have it fit seamlessly with your content.
But getting access to a library is one thing, how to use it is another. In this most epic blog post, we’ll be covering the arcane art of choosing the absolute best royalty-free music for your project.
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Understand Your Project
Before beginning your rigorous search for the right stock music, take a moment to reflect on your project. Define its purpose, message, and tone that you want to create and communicate. The music you choose reflects all these things. Don’t just throw on a track that you like, but throw on a track that builds upon the narrative of the project. Keep in mind the medium of the project as well. Whether it’s a podcast, YouTube, short, story, etc., there might be different demands. A podcast might use sounds more sparsely, but in a way that carries much more weight. A YouTube video might have a constant background music and needs something less distracting. And so on.
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Define Your Audience
This is a task you should have already undertaken in forming your product or social media. Who are you speaking to? Consider their own likes and expectations when figuring out a soundtrack. What I like to do – and indeed, most marketers – is to create a character that defines your target market. Flesh out the character as thoroughly as if they were in a novel. Even more than an author would do. What are their habits, likes, and interests? Do they workout often? Maybe they prefer upbeat music. Are they an artist? Maybe something more indy or experimental. Keep in mind all the interests of your chosen audience when choosing a soundtrack.
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Consider Licensing and Usage
It’s a big issue nowadays. Many platforms don’t have the same licenses available, so stock music you might have added on TikTok or Facebook might not be allowed on the other platforms and you’ll get a content strike. The best way to avoid this is to use third party stock music providers like Smartsound Cloud. With our music (and that of most of our competitors), you can be sure that your content is legal and covered across all platforms.
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Align With Your Episode’s Theme
The stock music you choose should ultimately align with the episode and scene’s theme. This is where it’s good to have access to variations as well. You can choose a nice mystery theme for one episode, and then use variations and sounds throughout. With Smartsound Cloud, this can be done with a literal touch of a button. Need a one-shot? That’s also easy, just drag the length down to one to five seconds and see what it comes up with.
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Consider the Emotional Impact
One of music’s biggest powers is to create and support the emotional qualities of a video or podcast. It can make people feel the sorrow of someone’s loss, or bring them in on the party. It’s all part of the required immersion of the scene – which is odd when you think about it because there isn’t a running soundtrack through our own lives. If you need something more upbeat, maybe go for a dance track or a happy acoustic track, something more sorrowful might need a classical music or ambient piece. Something suspenseful? Likewise, find a track that adds to the feeling of discord and unease.
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Pay Attention to Tempo and Energy
Music has a powerful ability to raise and lower the tempo of a scene. Whether fast, hard-hitting sounds, or soft strums on an acoustic guitar, music can really take control of the pacing and dynamics. Matching the tempo and energy of the track to the project can create a cohesive and impactful experience for your audience.
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Use customization options
Many stock music companies offer different lengths so that it fits your project as best as possible. Timing and mix are something that you really want to consider, as you don’t want the music to end or start too abruptly and you want it to sound like it was created for your project. Smartsound Cloud allows you to change the length of any track to any length you need, and it automatically changes the music to make it sound like it was custom made for you. You can also change the mix, which allows you to have even more variations at your fingertips. Use just the drums or the bass for one scene, then use guitar or percussion for another.
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Preview and Test
Before you export your project, don’t just slap on the music and let it go. You want to make sure the music fits. That’s why Smartsound Cloud allows you to stream your video on the browser, so you can be sure everything matches before you export the sound and lock it into place. Listen to how everything interacts with the visuals, pay attention to the emotional impact it creates. Does it flow seamlessly with the narrative? You can test different mixes and variations, or click on “replace track” to see if another track might work better.
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Trust Your Instincts
Though it’s important to take all this stuff into consideration, the last call is up to you and your judgment. Trust what makes your work great to begin with – your instinct. If a particular track doesn’t really feel right to you, choose another – it might make your audience feel the same way, after all. Trust yourself and choose the music that feels right to you.
By following these tips, you’ll be able to choose the right music for the right project every time. And using Smartsound Cloud makes it easier than ever before to enhance your project with the right sound, capturing the right emotions and mood and giving your audience a truly memorable experience.
