A truly engaging video often includes background music.
But where do you find music?
And when you find it, how exactly do you add music to a video?
Hi, I’m Andy from TechSmith, where we help you show what you know.
In this video, you’ll learn how to add music to your video, how to choose the right kind
of music for the mood of your video, and where to find music (even for free).
The good news is that adding music to videos is pretty simple.
In fact, it’ll probably take you way more time to choose the music you want to use than
it will to actually add it to your video.
For now, I’ll assume you have the music file you want to use, but stick around and
I’ll give you some great options to find music for your videos if you need it.
I use Camtasia to create and edit videos, but most video editors will use a relatively
similar process.
First, with your project open import your media.
Once you've got your file, drag and drop it to the timeline.
You can add it to a new track or add it to an existing track depending on your needs.
If no empty track is available, Camtasia automatically creates a new track if you drag your file
to the open area above the timeline.
For this example, let’s assume that we want to have the audio run throughout the entire
video.
Since there will be narration, we’ll want to make sure the music isn’t so loud that
it makes the narration difficult to hear or understand.
When you select the audio track in the timeline, a line with shading will appear.
To adjust the volume, you can click on the line and drag it up or down to the desired
level.
The waveform in the track grows and shrinks as you adjust the volume up and down, letting
you know that the volume has been adjusted.
In the Audio Effects menu, there are additional options for adjusting audio.
For example, adding a Fade Out at the end of your video avoids having such an abrupt
ending.
Now that you know how to add music to a video, try playing around with it the next time you
create a video.
Want to get creative?
You can double click that shaded line on the track and a dot known as a keyframe appears.
Add more than one and you can change the volume from the first to the second.
That way you can raise and lower just certain sections of the audio.
Now that you know how to add music to your video, you want to make sure you pick the
right track.
There’s a difference between adding music and adding the right music.
Before you choose your music, think about what type of video you’re creating.
A video showing software or product features, well you’ll probably want something upbeat
and positive.
You want your viewers to feel good when they’re seeing your product.
The right music enhances the experience for your viewers, while the wrong music can send
the wrong message entirely.
You might think “how can finding music be a challenge?
I mean, music is everywhere.
I have a ton of music on my phone right now.
I’ll just use some of that music, right?”
Unfortunately, most of the music you own is off-limits.
That music is copyrighted and, if you use it, you’ll owe the copyright owner money
(called “royalties”) for every time someone views your video.
You might say, “but I paid for it.”
Wrong, you only paid to listen to it by yourself, but you didn’t pay to license that song
for a video.
So where do you find the music you can use legally?
Well, unless you want to compose your own music, the easiest answer lies in royalty-free
music.
There are a number of ways to find royalty-free music, but if you use Camtasia, your best
bet could be just to start with TechSmith Assets for Camtasia.
You can get a few options for free, or pay a yearly subscription to get full access to
the entire library.
It comes full of videos, images, and audio to enhance your videos.
For this instance, however, we’ll stick to focusing on music.
Once you head over to the music section, you’ll see a wide variety of tracks to choose from.
You can sort by mood and by genre.
Best of all, it lets you directly open your song in Camtasia or download it to your machine.
There are also some entirely free options out there as well, but you may have trouble
finding exactly what you’re looking for, or the music may not be as good as you prefer.
YouTube actually has a nice sound effect and free music library for you to choose from,
but again, it’s limited.
For most commercial purposes, such as product overviews, customer stories, etc., your best
bet is a premium royalty-free music site.
The music won’t be free, but it's relatively inexpensive, and you’ll have a wider range
of high-quality music to choose from.
Atomica is a popular choice (and one that I use a lot personally), but there are many
other premium royalty-free music sites out there, like PremiumBeat or TripleScoopMusic
as well.
For those of you thinking "I'll just add my favorite song no matter what this guy says
anyway," know that sites like YouTube and Facebook scan your video as it uploads for
copyrighted media and either won’t upload it, or if it does they'll add their own advertising
to it without your permission splitting the revenue with the copyright owner, or you may
get kicked off the platform entirely, or you’ll be facing a damages lawsuit from the copyright
owner if it gets found later.
This isn’t worth dealing with, trust me.
Alright, have you found success in adding music to your videos?
What’s your favorite source for legal, royalty-free music?
Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this video, give it a like and if you don’t already have Camtasia or
TechSmith Assets, there’s a link in the description below for a free trial.
Thanks for watching.