- Hey, guys, my name is Matt Johnson,
and this video is sponsored by Artlist.
Today, I want to share with you a playlist
of my 12 favorite songs
on Artlist that you can license to use
in your wedding films.
More than just showing you a playlist of 12 songs,
though, and saying here's some songs,
I'm also gonna be showing you how I would use these songs
in a wedding film, which will hopefully save you
a ton of time whenever you are searching
for music to use in your films.
There is also a link down in the video description
that is going to give you an extra two free months
with the purchase of a one-year Artlist subscription.
So, you get 14 months for the price of 12
where you can license and download unlimited music
for use in your films.
And to be clear, because I know some of you will ask,
any music you license with your Artlist membership
is valid in perpetuity,
which is a fancy licensing term for forever.
Even if you decide not to renew your membership
after those 14 months,
all the music that you license
while your Artlist subscription is active is still licensed
even if you aren't a member anymore.
These songs are valid forever.
It's awesome.
Okay, let's now jump into my 12 favorite Artlist songs
for wedding films.
Welcome to Artlist and my Artlist playlist.
I'm now going to play through not the entirety
of all these songs, don't worry,
just through parts of them,
and I'm gonna show you examples of how I would use them
in a wedding film.
So, let's start off here with "Breathe" by George McKay.
(gentle music)
This is a good example of a calmer, more building song.
So, it starts of far more ambient.
You get some guitar coming in, nothing too crazy.
This could work well if you have somebody speaking over it,
such as toasts or speeches
or a couple reading a letter or vows.
The last thing I want you to notice about the song
is that right here at the end,
the waveform gets a little bit louder,
and while this song does not have some dramatic,
super intense hit, it does have a nice moment
where the drums get significantly louder.
So, if you have, say, a moment in your film
that you want to punctuate with a more emotional moment
in the song, that's what this is gonna give you.
The song is about to get quiet,
and then it gets a little more epic.
(gentle uplifting music)
Right there, not super intense,
but you could definitely use it
for a more reserved epic moment with a couple.
Up next, we have "Don't Let Me Go" by John Isaac,
and this is another song that is not super intense.
Don't worry, we are getting to the more intense stuff.
But what I like about this song here
is it has a really nice percussive beat
while not being overpowering.
This song feels positive and upbeat,
and it would work well for the couple getting ready
if you just want some fast shots of them doing that,
or even footage of the couple going out and doing things
on the wedding day.
For example, sometimes we film the groomsmen going
to the park and throwing the Frisbee around,
or we filmed a bride and her bridesmaids going
on a hike before.
Things like that can work really well with a song like this.
There are two moments where this song is going
to get more intense, right here.
(bright music)
And a little bit later, about right here.
(bright music)
I really like these moments because they prevent the song
from feeling static.
It has some nice highs and lows.
(bright music)
Third, we have "Don't Wake Me Up" by Josh Leake.
Leak?
I think Leake.
I'm gonna call him Leake.
I may get in trouble for that,
but I think it's Leake.
Ugh, I love this song.
Starts off real quiet, real, real subtle piano,
but don't worry.
It's not gonna stay there.
(gentle piano music)
Gotta love some quiet, hopeful piano.
This would work well for a quieter moment of the wedding.
If you wanted, say, footage of the couple together,
but you also wanted audio of them reading heartfelt letters
to each other while this song is playing,
I think that that could work really well.
What's cool is that in a second here,
you're about to hear some vocals come in, as well,
that are subtle but really add to the emotional depth
of this song.
♪ Ah ahh ♪
- See, subtle, little subtle vocals.
I love it.
Right about the midway point is where this song
is going to start to build,
and this song gets so epic.
So, if you decide that you actually only want to use this
as an epic song, you could cut off the entire first half
of this track and just use the second half,
and that is still plenty of length for you to do
some really, really cool stuff in your film.
For this building moment, I'm imagining footage
of the guests coming in for the ceremony,
and then you have bridesmaids walking down the aisle,
and the groom comes out, and he's waiting up at the front
for the bride.
So, things are starting to build up
to this epic, crescendo moment
where the bride is walking down the aisle.
You get the subtle drums coming in,
building in intensity here,
and as you can see, things are gonna get quiet,
then they're gonna get loud.
(gentle piano music)
Ugh, love the quiet piano for this, so good.
(uplifting music)
♪ Ah ahh ♪
- You get the drums, you get the piano,
you get the oohs and ahs.
Oh, man, okay, imagine bride waking down,
like doves are being released.
Oh, dude, it's cool.
It's real, real cool.
It's just such a pretty song.
♪ Ahh ♪
- Keeping with the building theme from the last song,
we have "Finding Peace" by David James Terry.
Starts off real quiet at the beginning with piano and synth.
About halfway through, you start getting a little bit
of guitar coming in.
(uplifting music)
And then here at the end, you have some drums, as well.
There is never really a hit with this song.
There's no crescendo, epic moment where things break down
and go crazy.
Instead, it's just this constant build,
and builds like this can be really good
to build anticipation.
Everything's building up to this moment,
just getting more and more intense.
So, if you want to build up to a more epic moment
of the wedding day, you can definitely do that
with this song.
Let's bring up the intensity a bit now
with "Drift" by Be Still the Earth.
Be Still the Earth if one of my favorite bands on our list.
Lemme just tell you that now.
If you need some good music, listen to their stuff.
All of it so, so good.
First thing I want you to notice is that this is
a seven minute long song.
It really feels almost like three songs in one.
So, if you don't like the beginning, try the middle,
and if you don't like the middle, try the end.
I'm betting you will love some part of this lengthy song.
I love the subtle synth at the beginning.
If you wanted slow motions footage of the couple dancing
or something like that, that could look really cool
with just the subtle sound bed of the synth
with occasional guitar.
That could work really, really well.
Next part of the song, we still have some synth.
Definitely a little bit louder, but still ethereal,
so keeping with that vibe from the beginning.
At about 3:30 is when everything start to change
and really this song starts to pick up.
This is my favorite part of the song
and really, the reason that Rachel and I chose
to put this song on this playlist.
Four minutes in, you start hearing some more guitar,
some drums, and it definitely is starting
to give sort of an Angels & Airwaves vibe,
which hey, fantastic band.
If you wanna sound like a good band,
choose Angels & Airwaves, super cinematic.
Coming right up about here on the waveform
is where things start to get really crazy.
So, just like these other previous songs
where they're building up to a moment,
if you want things to build up,
this is the moment where you make things hit and go crazy.
(uplifting driving music)
There it is.
Oh, love that hit, so, so good.
This buildup right here really makes me think
about the couple's entrance.
Now introducing our wedding couple!
It's happening right here.
It's gonna be this intense moment
as the DJ's announcing them.
They come in.
(uplifting driving music)
Song hits, and then we are right into first dances.
I really love the electric guitar
that comes in here at the end, too.
That higher (squealing).
Oh, it's good, it's real, real good.
One of my favorite songs in this playlist.
Moving on, we have "I Heard It in a Dream"
by my boy, Jay Denton.
I don't actually know him or anything like that,
but Jay Denton has two songs on this playlist
because we really like him
and he has some really, really great music.
This song has a lot going on.
You get your synth, you have maybe some audio, somebody
♪ Oooh ♪
singing a little bit.
I can't hit the high notes.
This song continues with a heavy synth
until about midway through whenever some real intense drums
start to come in.
The song definitely has a darker tone,
but the audio of the person singing lends it
a bit of hope.
It makes me think of "Lord of the Rings" a little bit,
just a bit.
If you think your couple can handle it,
this song does build really nicely
and could definitely be used for a more dramatic couple,
dramatic footage of the couple together,
walking, making out, hanging out together,
doing things like that, footage of the couple dancing.
Really, this song is very versatile
if you think your couple can handle it.
The ending, too.
(dramatic ethereal music)
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh ♪
- Let's not bring up the intensity
with "Up the Stream" by SLPSTRM.
Slurp Stream?
Slurp Storm?
It's probably Slip Stream,
but I like calling it Slurp Storm.
So this is Slurp Storm.
A big piano, here we go, here we go.
(bright driving music)
This song feels positive and high energy.
Great if you have a couple where they have toasts
that are being said about them that are funny
or if they have funny letters
or if they're just a high energy, happy couple.
This could work great for footage of the two
of them getting ready.
This song could also work well for a first dance
where you wanna cut quickly from shot to shot
of the couple dancing.
I love this quieter moment here.
It keeps up the energy
without being just so intense throughout.
So, if you need to let your film take a breather
before you bring back the high energy,
this is a good time to do it.
Then, it gets back to crazy, and some vocals come in.
♪ Ah ah ahhh ahhhh ahhhhhh ♪
- Overall, really like the high energy nature of this song.
Okay, I told you that we love Jay Denton,
enough to put two of his songs on this playlist.
This is "Not Alone" by Jay Denton,
and it is the first lyrical song on this playlist.
Gonna warn you now, you may need a bit more
of a country couple to use this song.
It'd definitely guitar driven.
I'm from Texas, so I film a lot of country weddings.
So, this is a song that I would easily be able to use
in one of my wedding films.
But if you have a couple that's in the city,
maybe don't use this song,
but if you have a couple that's having a barn wedding
out in the country,
this might be the song for you.
The great news about this song
is that these lyrics are positive
and actually usable in a wedding film.
Sometimes you have songs where the lyrics
are not the most positive
or they're about death or sadness or breaking up,
and you're like, "I can't use in my video
"'cause this couple just got married."
Thankfully, this song is positive, though.
♪ Alone in this world ♪
♪ You are not alone ♪
See?
I could do this.
One of my favorite parts of this song is about to happen.
Whenever this waveform hits right about here,
things are gonna ratchet up the intensity!
♪ Hoo ♪
(uplifting music)
- Get those oohs and ahs coming in, yeah.
Ah, it's so pretty.
Okay, imagine this moment.
Things are really, really intense,
and then the song gets quiet,
and you cut to footage of the couple together,
dancing alone on the dance floor, holding each other,
and it's this super sweet, romantic moment
as Jay is singing about you are not alone.
You're together.
Oh, it's just so sweet and romantic.
And then the song's gonna hit again here,
and we go to more high energy dancing
with the couple and everybody else.
♪ Ooh ♪
(uplifting music)
- It's good.
It's good.
Love this song.
And that is why Jay Denton has two songs on this playlist
because he's just so good.
Also, just a heads up here,
there is a non-lyrical version of this song.
So, if you want to use this song just as an instrumental,
you have the option to do that, as well.
I hear you now, "Matt, I need more dancing music.
"This stuff is great.
"Not Alone" definitely had some dance vibes to it,
"but where's my electronic dance music, Matt?"
I got you covered.
This is "Perfectly Messed Up" by J.A.K.
I'm assuming it's just Jack,
but it's got periods, so I'm gonna call it J-A-K.
Don't let the subtlety of the start fool you.
This song gets a little crazy.
Hear it building, hear it building.
You want your dance song, this could definitely work
as a dance song if your couple can handle it.
Definitely more electronic vibe.
Maybe "Not Alone" for your country couples.
(bright electronic music)
and this more for your city couples.
(bright electronic music)
I really like the versatility of this song, also.
It's not just loud all the way through.
You have quieter at the start.
Then it gets louder, quieter again,
louder again, quieter, louder.
So, you can really chop up this song if you need to
to make it fit the dance vibes that you're going for.
You don't have to have it intense all the way throughout,
but you could cut out some of these quiet moments
if you did want that intensity.
(bright electronic music)
Three left, and next is "What Love Is Like This?"
by Sajan Nauriyal.
I really hope I'm pronouncing that properly.
First impressions, this is a weird, kinda Pac-Man vibe song.
You're probably thinking,
"Matt, where are you going with this?
"How would I use this in a wedding?"
Well, give it a second here for the waveform
to hit right about this moment here.
(bright ethereal electronic music)
See, nice, complex, cool electronic vibes.
This could be used for a lotta stuff.
If you have a cool couple,
you could use this for footage of the couple together,
and that could work really, really well
because it's different.
It's a cool vibe.
It's intense, but it isn't like overly electronic.
I think it's pretty, and I think it could definitely work.
Things come down here with a quieter guitar and drums.
So, if you wanted to fade out in this moment,
you could and move on to another song
if you just wanted to use this initial moment of the song.
But if you wanna keep it going,
there's another hit and more of the song sounds
like it did toward the beginning.
(bright chiming electronic music)
Saved you the best for last here.
This is now my favorite part of the song.
(uplifting music)
A guitar comes in.
Yes!
(uplifting, driving music)
This part you could easily use for high energy footage
of the couple dancing.
Real intense, I love it.
Dialing the intensity back a little bit,
we have "Illuminating Moonlight" by Cody Martin.
Starts off a little electronic vibes.
Piano coming in here, things are a little more subtle.
Feels calmer.
Could definitely work for footage
of the couple getting ready,
putting on the tie, putting on the outfit,
some nice, heartfelt words being spoken about them,
letters, et cetera.
That could definitely work for this moment.
But you're noticing over here,
"Wait a second, Matt.
"There's some louder waveform stuff.
"What happens over here?"
Let's check it out.
(driving music)
Little more intense, little more high energy,
not too intense, though.
This still could work for couple prep throughout,
which is nice, or you could use that moment there
where it hit to transition to something else.
It could be footage of the couple dancing.
That could work.
I hear you now saying, "Matt, you know what this song needs?
"More electric guitar."
And I agree with you.
(energetic driving music)
See, it's nice, it's real nice.
This part is a little too intense
to use for prep, I think.
So, right whenever that song hits,
you're probably gonna wanna transition to something else,
but this could literally be anything.
Could be the couple together.
Could be them dancing slow.
Could be them dancing fast.
You have a lot of versatility with this cong.
Last, but not least, I would like to invite you
to discover the song "Discovery" by Zac Nelson.
Man, I'm running outta jokes here at the end.
Also, gonna tell ya, might've saved the best for last.
(intense music)
Guitar buildin', here we go, here we go.
Right from the start.
(uplifting music)
All right.
Okay.
(uplifting driving music)
Just give you a little taste.
That's what Zac does, gives you a little taste at the start.
Then, he dials it back.
He's like, "That's what you want, right?
"Well, you've gotta wait for it.
"Okay, rewind it back here."
How cool would it be to use this song
for a wedding trailer,
and you actually just use the whole song?
It starts off a little calmer.
Suddenly, things get really intense.
You're like boom, boom, boom!
Look at all this cool stuff
that happened on this wedding day!
It was so awesome!
And then, it's like oh yeah,
that was some cool stuff, right?
Okay, cool, let's dial it back here.
Here's the couple.
Here's some stuff about them.
We get some audio playing.
You're learning things about them here.
Really cool.
They're getting ready for the day.
Oh, wait, hold on.
(uplifting driving music)
Oh, dang, what it this?
Is this first dance?
Oh, wow, we're right into it.
Okay, cool.
I dig it.
♪ Woo ooh woo ooh ♪
- Got a little subtle vocals there.
(uplifting driving music)
♪ Woo ooh woo ooh ♪
- Things come down here again.
Maybe we are now in the buildup to the ceremony.
Ah, the couple's about to see each other,
and they're gonna be pronounced husband, wive, just crazy.
And boom, now pronounce you husband and wife.
Ah, they're crazy!
Now we're together.
We're happy.
Everybody's cheering, freaking out.
Transition to reception.
Chill, here we go.
Establishing shots.
Couple's coming in.
(driving uplifting music)
And we have first dance.
We have parent dances.
We got them smashing cake in each other's face.
Great intensity and versatility with this song.
You have so much to use here.
If you needed just one song for a wedding trailer,
you could use this one song,
and it would hit those highs and lows.
You could have the entire wedding film in one trailer.
If you do that, email that to me.
I wanna see it, see how it looks.
Like I said, saved one of the best songs for last.
(driving music)
Just wanted to have my words end with the music, was cool.
And those are my favorite 12 Artlist songs
available for you to license for your wedding films.
But I hear you now saying, "Matt, I need more music.
"I've already licensed these songs.
"I need more ideas for music
"that I can use in my wedding films."
This is why I created a service called Matt's Music List,
which you can subscribe to for $3.99 per month
and receive a playlist every month
of my latest favorite songs from Artlist.
Just like this video, I will even tell you how I would
use them in a wedding film.
You can check out Matt's Music List at mattsmusiclist.com.
With that, thank you so much for watching.
I hope this video was helpful to you
in giving you some ideas for music to use
in your wedding films from Artlist.
Please remember you can sign up for Artlist
at the link down in the description
and get those two extra months for free.
Thank you so much for watching, and have a great day.
♪ Ahhh ahhhh ahhh ♪
(driving dramatic music)
♪ Ahhh ahhhh ♪
(driving dramatic music)