Some people think music is a waste of time. Under any circumstances. Do you?
I don’t quite get that reasoning. Imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars without their musical scores.
But an online video is not a movie, right?
Well, maybe it’s that a movie isn’t much of a video!
The truth is, music is an incredibly important factor in video attraction.
And kind of fun to even think about…
15 replies to "Does Music Make a Difference in Your Videos?"
Hey man. I would like to use more music and imagery in my videos, but I’m always hesitant about IP issues. What can be used for free and how to minimize the cost when I have to pay for use. have you already covered these?
Hey, Pete! It’s always nice to be able to experiment before committing to a piece of music. That’s why I like Audioblocks so much. It’s an annual subscription (quite reasonable) that lets you download tracks to your heart’s content. Free is OK, but hard to find the really good tracks.
There is a lot of legitimatley free music out there. Just google but do check that it you are getting it from the origional writer. There are a lot of sites that have “free” music that they have just collected from other places withut any permissions.
On the other side there are a lot of very good places that do music at low cost. Some on subscription eg Audioblocks others on a one time payment. I use AKm Music who charge a one off fee for multiple use. They write specifically for TV and film use. They wil do a track in multiple versions such as intos, outros, sitngs, beds etc rather than a single track. They are also designed to be edited. They have quite a few track that shilst are their own are not diss-similar to some well known themes. As well as music for historical dramas, and track that sound memorable for the decaded s of the 20’s to the 80s
The good news is that if you use their music and you get any attempted copyright hits on YouTube they sort it out for you!! 🙂
Great addition, Chris! The idea of having music from other decades is a real winner. Another good site for cutting edge music is Epidemic Sound. They also have stems you can download to edit your own custom tracks.
I would add that AudioBlocks also does a fantastic job of going to bat for you when YouTube lays a copyright hit on your video. Often they can clear it in just a few minutes. They even have that free service as a prominent menu item on their site.
Thanks for another great video Steve. Your selection of music and influences is both eclectic and evocative (tell me Celine, why the long face….). Music really does tap into something about ourselves that is difficult to explain but it is certainly a powerful way of reinforcing a message presented on video. I can still recite advert jingles from way back in my childhood, so the Mad Men clearly understood the power of music to sell products. Finding the right music for a video is difficult and time consuming though. I guess if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Right you are, Jeremy, though after a while you begin to develop a feel for it. I would always start with what moves you first. Everyone says to think about your audience first, but this is one of those invisible elements that’s so close to your heart that to try anything else with your own message would simply come off as false.
So while it may seem off-putting to begin, the truth is, you’re so much close than you think!
Very nicely orchestrated, Mr. Washer. Oh, how many times I’ve seen the look on that teenage girls’ face, just before the knit hat pull-down move! Bravo!! jp
And here I thought it was just me. 🙂
Good Morning, Steve:
Bravo! I love the connection your remind us of between music and ideas. Thank you, yet again, for another well-done and helpful video. The gentle offer of assistance you provide the viewer at the end of the video is also a very sensitive and well-produced way of offering your services to viewers without being at all off-putting. Your sincere interest in helping others become Visible Authorities in their own fields of expertise is attractive—more than that, it’s compelling. Thank you for yet another example of how we can each become a Visible Authority!
Thank you for the kind words, Jay!
Always happy to help…we’re all bozos on this bus. 🙂
Thanks for this and your continuing series. THey’ve been very helpful.
Generally I leave a “thumbs up” on YouTube for these videos to give your brand a boost, but this time I decided to actually comment on your website – because YouTube wasm’t updated yet. Much appreciated, my friend.
8 seconds. That’s why this video is not on YouTube today. And likely won’t be. A copyright claim was made for a piece of video I was using as an example of emotion in music. And I really liked that piece of music.
Thank you for your support!
Loving it! Thanks
Hi Steven,
Thank you for this yet again very helpful video!
Especially the hint that choosing the music should be with oneself in mind rather than the audience was an eye/ear opener.
I googled ‘Audioblocks’ and it appears to now be called ‘Storyblocks’ – I wonder if this is the same link that you suggested because it also contains videos and photos.
With kind regards
Gudrun
I think you can get a separate subscription to Audio blocks, even though it is part of Story Blocks. Well worth it.