Music is so powerful that many people feel it be a doorway to our soul. Not only that, but music also makes us go through a roller-coaster ride of powerful emotions at the drop of a hat. In no time, it can make us feel happy, nostalgic, lonely, sad, scared, tense, romantic, and well you got the picture already.
Music has an inherent potential for visualisation even if there’s no video in front to see. Hence, it’s no wonder that music is so critical to the overall bang of a video. The point of this article is to give you the brass tacks you want to pick the exact piece of music for your video’s success. These fundamentals still apply – be it YouTube, documentary or full-length film, a Fortune 500 advertising spot, and so on.
Tune into the Right Music for your Video
A recent Nielsen study looked at the impact of more than 600 television advertisements. In these commercials, it is found that more than 500 included music. The research pointed out that an ad with some musical form showed better performance across four key metrics such as creativity, empathy, emotive power, and information power than those that didn’t.
In your video, background music plays a somewhat underrated role. This small reflection is a great way to set up pacing, drive your video ahead, and generate emotion around your message. However, it’s pretty tricky to pick the right track for your video. Of course, you need not be music professional to know what works. Here are some pointers that are useful to pick the right song for your video project.
Help evoke a specific emotion
How do you want your viewers to feel when they see your video? Should they be eager about the new product launch of yours? Or they on the brink of laughing from your honest in-office culture clip? All of these feelings can be evoked with different styles of music.
Here’s an expert tip: A great way to shop for songs is to divide your screen up. Try some music out in one window and play your video without music in another. You’ll soon witness a match made in heaven.
Song form vs. video form
While you might pick a pop song that is stylistically and emotionally the right fit for your video, the transitions probably won’t jive with your video’s narrative structure. Most pop songs you listen on the radio have a standard structure. In this regard, it is better to loop specific sections of the song. It will better fit the flow of your video.
Please bear in mind that copy-pasting music of renowned artists and even upcoming artists may entail more than just a download button click.
Avoid corny digital instruments
Are you on a hunt for an organic-sounding song that has acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitar, piano, or indie rock drums? Then make sure to find a track that has the real thing. Even if some high-end samples sound amazing, digital versions of acoustic instruments often make a recording of your video feel corny and dated.
Keep background music in the background
In many instances, the most winning background music is that which is so inconspicuous. However, if someone’s talking on screen, don’t allow the music to obstruct.
Volume is another issue that you cannot overlook. It is no good if the volume is very high. It will let the music dominate the spoken narrative of your video. On the other hand, if background music is too low, it can ironically draw attention to itself by making the viewer strain to hear it. Ultimately, the goal of background music is to assist your video subtly and not end up being a distraction.
At Namesake Productions, we believe that great videos are not created by chance; they are created by passion. We firmly believe a video to be a significant investment we make in the building of a brand.