- Music for me can make or break your video.
Having good music that fits the vibe
will make your footage connect with an audience.
(upbeat music)
In this video, I'm gonna take you through,
not only where I get my music
but I'm also gonna take you through strategy
and some things you really need to know
when it comes to using music in your videos.
(upbeat music)
So the music company that I use
for all my music is Epidemic Sound.
Now I'm not just gonna be talking about Epidemic Sound
in this video, I actually have five different things
that I wanna go through to talk about just music licensing
in general and how to get better music for your videos.
So the first thing I'm gonna go through
is why music is so important
then we're gonna get into the copyright issues
that you're going to face
when you are creating content here on YouTube
and next we're gonna go into strategies on how to use music
in your videos and make it really impactful.
Then we're gonna go into some options
for free and paid music.
And then my last bit that we're gonna talk about
is how you can actually make money from the music
that you choose in your videos.
Now before we get into section one of this video,
I just wanna mention that I am running a giveaway right now
and the winners all get a subscription to Epidemic Sound
because I think this music service is awesome
and it's a great tool for creators.
So I'll put links down below in the description
to the giveaway page,
the video that explains everything that's going on.
So if you wanna win a subscription to Epidemic Sound,
make sure you enter into the giveaway.
(mellow music)
So why is music so important for your videos?
Music is a big driving force to deliver like a feeling,
give you an emotion, really set the tone.
If you use proper music then someone gets a sense
of what your footage is trying to convey
and you don't have to do everything in visuals.
Music is kind of like the undertone
that really gives your audience a window
into kind of your thought behind how you want them to feel.
Ultimately, that's gonna help your audience connect
more with you.
Now with that, music is also gonna help define your brand.
So on YouTube, on this platform,
when you're creating videos,
you need to have that kind of business sense in your mind,
you need to always be thinking brand like, yes,
we wanna be creative
and we wanna make the coolest videos possible
but at the same time,
you also have to be thinking of the overall brand.
So the music that you choose from video to video
will help define who you are as a creator
and that's why I choose music like this for my channel.
(upbeat music)
Rather than something more like this.
(high pitch music)
Now there's no right music for YouTube,
you just have to pick what works for your brand
and then being consistent with that
is gonna help define you and your channel.
Now the last reason that music is so important is that,
it also keeps your viewer engaged.
On YouTube, you want people to stay through
as much of your video as possible.
So I'd really appreciate it if you guys stuck around
until the end of this video.
And when someone watches through the entirety of your video
that gives you a ton of watch time,
it also tells YouTube the right signals
it tells YouTube algorithm
that thing that we're all trying to figure out how to,
work in, it tells the algorithm that,
"Hey, this viewer likes this person's content
"and watches more of it.
"So I'm gonna start serving up more of this person's content
"to that viewer."
So if you guys watch the entirety of this video,
next time you log into YouTube on your homepage,
you're gonna see more videos from me.
So music is one of those tools that will help you
get more audience retention because it keeps
your viewers engaged.
(upbeat music)
Part two, legal issues.
Now let's talk about the legal side of using music
in your videos.
So you don't wanna get caught in a situation where
your video gets demonetized because you're using music
from a popular artist.
You really do have to think about the legal side of
what happens when you use someone's track
that you don't have the rights to.
So there's three things that could happen
if you use some popular song that you just like
and you didn't get the rights.
Number one is you get demonetized.
So that means that any money that you made on that video
is not gonna go to you, it's gonna go to that artist.
Now if you're just demonetized,
your video will still be public,
however, there is the potential that
if you use a popular song,
it's gonna limit who can actually see it on YouTube.
And so depending on which track you use
if it's from a popular artist
and you don't have the rights to it,
you might not have the full reach potential of your video,
you might be limited in different regions around the world.
And the third thing that could happen is
you get a copyright strike.
So what that means on YouTube is that when you get a strike,
if you get three of them, you're out.
Three strikes you're out.
So strikes on YouTube are a very bad thing
and you wanna avoid them at all costs
and there's no way to tell if a popular song
is gonna be either demonetized or give you a strike.
So the best thing that you can do
when it comes to the legal side of using music
in your videos, is use royalty free music
or use music that you have rights to.
(serene piano music)
Part three, strategies for using music in your videos.
So let's talk about a few things you can do with your music
to really make it work for your videos.
Now one thing that you'll notice is that,
I don't blanket my videos with music anymore.
So I used to do that back in the day,
I don't know, a couple of years ago
when I first started doing tutorials,
I would just put music underneath all of it
and I started listening to my audience,
like started listening to you guys
and I saw in the comments,
a lot of people said it was distracting.
So for me, I found that for you guys,
you don't necessarily like music throughout
because on this style of content
if you're trying to learn something
or you're trying to engage with the content
that I'm talking about,
you don't necessarily wanna be hearing music
in the background.
And I know for me, when I'm watching videos like this,
I have my own music playing in the background as well.
So depending on what type of viewers you have,
you might not wanna put just music throughout
the entirety of your video,
you might wanna let it go up and down,
have some pacing and use it for specific moments
that make sense in the edit.
So a couple of specific moments to look at are transitions
and also your intros and also your outros.
But moments where there is some sort of transition,
you're moving from one thing to another,
that's a great opportunity to throw in some music,
to set the mood, to really get someone
more engaged with your content.
And you can see, when I'm doing this style of video,
I've been putting my music
during these transitional moments.
Now also the intro,
I've found that doing b-roll sequences
at the beginning of my videos
seems to resonate with my audience.
And I've been able to see some good audience retention
from this kind of technique.
And what I do is I put a series of b-roll shots together
and I put some music underneath that footage
to really put my audience in the right mindset
for the style of content that I'm shooting.
Now I do reviews, tutorials, education, this and that
but I still have a brand identity that I'm trying to create.
My music is a big part of that.
Now just because I'm not using music
under these talking bits,
doesn't mean that underscore music won't work for you.
I would highly suggest with anything on YouTube,
you wanna test things.
If you think that putting music underneath
your dialog tracks makes sense and it works for the style
of content that you're creating,
then yes, go for it, that's a great way
to keep your viewer engaged
because having that little bit of music underneath
could be the factor of keeping someone watching longer.
So with anything, like I said, you just wanna test
and try things for your audience.
And if something's not working, you do have all of your data
in your back end.
You have things like audience retention
that you can always look at and see what is causing people
to leave your video.
So one of the strategies I have when it comes to music is
you wanna find music and listen to it
before you actually go out and start shooting,
you can also bring it with you and it'll give you a sense
of what you're shooting and if it fits the style of content
that you're trying to capture.
Now when I'm going through a library on Epidemic Sound
what I look for is music
that has like a similar quality to it
and I'll start making folders out of that
and I'll be like, this is the kind of music I think of
when I'm hiking or this kind of music works better
in a city environment.
Just to start giving myself some sort of structure somewhere
to start looking and then when I'm in the edit,
I can go through and swap out the tracks
and play around with them
because they're very created the folders of music
that's similar and that I think would work well
for the style content that I'm shooting.
(upbeat music)
Section four, where to get music.
So when it comes to your music selection,
there are some paid and free options.
I'm sure you've heard about a lot of them.
I have to keep the one strap on
'cause that's where my microphone is.
So for paid, like I said at the beginning of this video,
I've been using Epidemic Sound for a long time.
I've switched between music companies over the years,
I started with Epidemic Sound
and then I've tried out all the others
and I'm back using Epidemic Sound.
I've used Soundstripe, I've used Musicbed,
I've used Artlist.
Now all of them are good for different reasons
and you really have to find the music platform
that works best for you.
For me, I like the music at Epidemic Sound
and that's obviously the main reason why you sign up
for a paid services.
You're gonna really like
or not like the music in that service,
that's one of the biggest factors.
But the reason that you are going to use a paid service
is because when you put your videos on YouTube
and you have one of these paid services
where you're getting music from,
you're never gonna have licensing issues on your tracks.
Whenever you sign up for Epidemic Sound,
all the music that you use from their platform
on your videos, will forever be able to be monetized
on your channel.
You don't wanna get into a legal issue two years
down the road because you used Joe Schmoe's music
from the service that was quote unquote "free"
and then they decided to change the rules
later down the road.
So when you use a paid service,
you basically have the right to use that music
in all your videos while you're subscribed as a member.
And if you decide to leave that service,
you don't have to go back and take out that music.
Anything you used while you were a subscriber,
you can use for ever, you just can't put it on new videos
if you're not a current subscriber.
Does that make sense?
So one thing that's really cool about Epidemic Sound
is you can try them out 30 days for free.
So I'll put a link down below in the description
to where you can check them out.
The price of Epidemic Sound is $15 a month
or it's one 144 a year.
So it's really not that expensive if you like their music
and you wanna use them on all your videos moving forward.
(footstep clanging)
Now YouTube does offer a free audio library.
This is a great place to start
and you're not gonna have any legal issues
when it comes to this music.
They also have a sound effect library
that you can pull from.
However, it is limited in the music is not the best
so when you're ready to make the jump,
you go to Epidemic Sound, you get better quality music,
they also have an awesome sound effect library
and if you also do client work,
you can buy an additional subscription
which allows you to use it for all of your client work
and you don't have to pay per track
and that's one reason why I really like
these music subscription services.
(upbeat music)
Part five, making money from the music on your channel.
Now like I was saying earlier, YouTube is a business.
So you always wanna look for those opportunities
where you can bring in more income
to support your channel and be able to keep creating videos.
So when it comes to the music on your channel,
you can actually be making money from
your recommendations, affiliate marketing,
that's a big way to make money on this platform.
All of these music subscription services
do have affiliate programs.
Now it's not something that you might get accepted to
right away, but once your following is growing,
you've been using them for awhile,
you can try to get into their affiliate program
and then every time that someone's interested
in the music that you use on your videos,
well, you have an affiliate link that you can give them
and you can earn a small commission.
And for me, one of the comments I get all the time is,
what was that track or what music did you use?
Because there's a lot of creators who find a feeling,
they find that emotion when they're watching the video
and they're like, wait, that's kind of what I'm going for,
what is that music?
And then they wanna use that style music in their videos,
there's nothing wrong with that.
And there's also just really good artists
on these platforms so you might find some good music
that you just wanna jam out to.
Music is one of those things
that you just don't wanna gloss over on your videos,
it's something that's really going to help define
you as a creator and it's also gonna help set up
the overall tone and feeling for your videos.
So next checkup this video right here,
it goes into what is cinematic
and 12 tips on how to get more cinematic looking footage
that then you combine with music
and you can do some really cool stuff,
that's really gonna make your video stand out.
I'll see over there.