3 Simple Tips for Choosing the Right Music for Your Video
Think of your favorite TV show. Chances are, you can sing the theme song, or at least hum its melody. And if you’ve got young kids, I’m willing to bet you know all the words to every song of every Disney movie of the last decade. (Been there, done that. Thank goodness my daughter is grown!) So when it comes to making your own video, the role that music plays can’t be overstated. But if you find yourself a little overwhelmed with the seemingly endless amount of choices in our music library, take heart and read these 3 simple tips for choosing the right music for your video.
Tip #1: Pick the right genre
Choosing an appropriate genre of music will immediately help set the tone of your video. What’s the nature of your video? Is it a baby announcement? If so, you can safely eliminate genres like electronica or house. That said, those genres might actually work well for a totally different kind of video — like a recap of your raging Halloween party.
Luckily, you can easily filter by genre in the Animoto music library. In the image below, we’ve done a search for “Acoustic” tracks. You can also search for Children’s, Classical, Country, Electronica, Family Fun, Folk, Gospel & Christian, Halloween, Hip Hop, Holiday, House, Indie Rock, Instrumental, Jazz, Latin, New Age, Oldies, Pop, R&B, Rock, Romantic, and Singer/Songwriter. Check off all the genres you’d like to see and exclude the ones you don’t.
Tip #2: Match the energy of your photos and video clips
Similar to the previous tip, it’s important to match the energy of your images. That means if you’re putting together a recap of your wine tasting trip with the girls, a slow, romantic ballad isn’t likely to capture the raucous fun everyone had. Songs with an upbeat tempo can inject even more energy into your photos, so play around with a few and see which one works best. Of course, if you’re making a more thoughtful video — say, for a memorial — a slower, instrumental without lyrics might work well.
To see this concept in action, check out the following video I made of a ski trip I went on set to some music that’s completely the wrong energy, and music that sets the proper mood. As you can see, your soundtrack can make a _huge _difference.
Tip #3: Mix it up
There’s no rule that says you need to use one song for the whole duration of your video — check out our blog post on 3 steps to using multiple songs to find out more. If you’re highlighting different activities — say, all the cool things your family did on summer vacation — using distinct songs would be a great way to convey the energy of each set of photos. And if you find some favorite songs along the way, don’t forget to favorite them by clicking the heart icon next to the title — that way, you can easily find them the next time you make a video. For more tips, check out our blog post on navigating our music library.
So the next time you’re stuck trying to figure out what song to use, remind yourself of these quick tips. Just remember: there’s no one right song. Experiment and see what works for you.