Making sure that you choose the right background music for your commercial is a really important job. The music will be key in setting the tone for your video and marketing campaign and so it's crucial to get this right. Having professional sounding and appropriate music supports your brand and marketing message and so you should definitely take the time to consider what kind of background music will be best.
I’m a freelance music composer (see about me) and have worked on a wide range of projects, including creating the background music to commercials, marketing videos, trailer videos and more. I believe that when you have the right music in the right context, it can be extremely powerful.
Here are some tips for choosing great background music for your marketing videos:
1. Know your goals
This is about understanding what the goals are for the commercial, the video, the company, brand and marketing campaign as a whole, and then from that, determining what the goals are for the music.
If you know what you’re really trying to achieve from the video, you can make sure that the music supports this.
2. Think about the mood you want to create
Music is very emotional and it is what will set the tone for your video. Think hard about how you want people to feel as they watch your commercial and choose music that will help achieve this.
If you want people to feel calm, choose music that supports this. If you want people to feel excited and hyped up about your product, for example, then make sure the music is energetic and gets across that feeling of excitement that you’re hoping for.
3. Choose music that is subtle
The music in your commercial is there to support the content and the overall message and brand. Make sure that it is indeed supportive i.e. that it's in the background and that it doesn’t overwhelm or distract the viewer away from the visuals or the key messages. It’s easy to get carried away and end up with music that can overpower the content and end up at the forefront of the whole thing. This isn’t what you want.
You also don’t want music that is repetitive or boring and so it’ll be a balancing act to make sure that your music is interesting and entertaining yet isn’t a distraction.
4. Seek music that is steady throughout
That means, go with music that maintains the same kind of feel throughout the video. Unless your video has lots of significant changes in mood, go with music that holds the same kind of feel throughout so not to confuse your listeners or viewers.
Music that changes pace, key, instrumentation frequently can be very hard to follow and can feel quite jerky. In most cases, you’ll want people to follow your content quite closely and for that to be an easy thing to do. Ensure that the music enables that by keeping it steady with no sudden changes that might upset the flow of the video.
Those are my top tips on how to choose great music for your commercial. I hope that you’ve found these useful and that as you create your marketing video, you’ll take the time to think carefully about the best ways of putting it all together and how the music can support this.
Looking for royalty free production music to use now? Why not explore my music catalogue. Alternatively, feel free to reach out to me for custom music for your project.
About the author: Ninichi is a freelance composer for games, film & media. She creates custom music for commercials, marketing videos, games and more.
Follow her @ninichimusic or contact her to commission her for your project.
