Background music plays a crucial role in setting the tone for your video project. A video’s background music elevates storytelling, guides your viewers’ emotions, builds tension, and plays an important role in pacing. A well selected piece of background music for videos will create atmosphere and reinforce the message being communicated through dialogue or voiceover tracks. This guide will help you find the best royalty-free tracks to use as background music for your videos.
Where can I find free background music for videos?
Music tracks whose copyright is in the Public Domain or under a Creative Commons license are two avenues for finding free background music for videos.
Public domain background music for video
A piece of music under public domain refers to anything that’s publishing rights have expired and are no longer protected by copyright law. In the United States, it takes about 96 years for an original copyright to expire, which means that these songs will generally be very old recordings.
The original versions of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Singin’ in the Rain” are two well-known songs that are in the public domain. Public domain tracks can be found online through sites like Archive.org.
| Pros: | Cons: |
| Free to use in projects | Not always the best quality recordings |
| No rules or limitations on usage | Finding the good stuff can require digging |
Creative Commons background music for video
Music with a Creative Commons license allows other creators a free-use license, while the composer still retains their original copyright. When using background music with a Creative Commons license, make sure that you check the fine print — some composers include restrictions on commercial use or list specific ways in which they need to be credited.
The Free Music Archive is a great tool for finding background music for video with a Creative Commons license.
| Pros: | Cons: |
| Newer tracks and diverse genres fall under Creative Commons licenses | Can come with usage restrictions |
| Free to use | Finding the good stuff can require digging |
Why royalty-free music is ideal for video creators
A royalty-free music subscription is a third option for finding great background music for your online videos or social media reels. While royalty-free tracks aren’t free, subscribing to a service like Artlist means you don’t have to pay music licensing fees directly to the creator of the track that you’re using as background music for video.
A subscription to a royalty-free music service like Artlist is ideal for busy video creatives for a few reasons:
Simplifies the process
Eliminate the need to negotiate with individual composers, artists, or labels.
Cost effective
Pricing for royalty-free background music for video is included in your Artlist subscription. No hidden fees or need to pay royalties to the composer down the line.
Built-in legal protections
Downloading tracks and using them in your projects from Artlist’s catalog of royalty-free music protects you legally. Having an active Artlist subscription will also prevent your YouTube videos and videos on other platforms from being flagged for copyright infringement.
Choosing the right background music for your videos
Background music should reinforce the message of your video and move the story forward. Here are some things to consider when picking video background music for your project.
Project’s purpose and end goal
Establishing the purpose of your video, will help you decide exactly what should be used for background music. The music you choose should be the same as the emotional tone of your footage.
Different instruments inspire different feelings, so keep this in mind too. Strings and keys can evoke a dreamy vibe, while bass and percussion bring an energetic, inspirational momentum to the music. Ultimately, the purpose of your video project should match the mood of the background music.
Target audience
Your target audience will guide what tracks you use as video background music. An educational video for teaching kids would work well with something playful and lighthearted. If you’re working on a short horror or sci-fi film, selecting a track that’s a little dark and unsettling might be the move.
Pacing and tempo
Background music is a great tool for setting the pace of your video project. Fast-paced music works well with high-energy content, while gentler, acoustic music is a better fit for videos with slower, cinematic editing.
Musical genre
Just like different instruments give rise to unique sets of emotions, the genre of music you choose for background music for video can have a big influence on the overall message. But there are no hard rules about the best type of music that should be used as background music for your videos. Specific styles and genres of music can work well with many different types of videos. Ambient music can be a great choice for building tension and adding suspense, but the exact same genre can also be used to create a calming vibe. Artlist’s curated playlists of royalty-free music allow video creators to experience the moods that each genre evokes.
Best types of background music for different video styles
Not sure where to start? Here are some examples from the Artlist catalog that would work well as background music options for different styles of videos.
Vlogs
Popular vloggers know that keeping engagement high is all about sharing authentic moments from their lives with their viewers. Background music on a vlog plays an important role in keeping the pacing interesting. The best background music for a vlog is really dependent on the vlogger’s personality, but we recommend keeping it upbeat.
Brooklyn Dream
“Brooklyn Dream” by ZISO combines a calming hip-hop beat with a dreamy vocal sample. We think it’s the perfect piece of background music for a vlog spotlighting the lifestyle of a creative living in an urban area.
There are plenty of independent musicians and composers out there eager to get their music in videos. The good thing about hiring a composer is that you will get someone who has an ear for music scoring and often in different genres and styles. And of course, it will be a great opportunity to enter into a creative collaboration.
Against All Odds
“Against All Odds” by Tiko Tiko has a cinematic build and an uplifting vibe. This track would work nicely as background music for vlogs focused on the outdoors, an adventure lifestyle, or anything set in a remote location.
Check out Artlist’s curated vlog playlist to explore more options in the catalog.
Tutorials
Tutorials primary focus is to educate viewers about how to learn a new skill. Background music for a tutorial video should be inspiring and simple — avoid background music that might distract users from the lesson that the video is teaching. Pop songs can be great choices for tutorial background music. Here’s some tracks that we like.
Apple Grove
“Apple Grove” has a simple, driving beat, and the mood is very happy. This uplifting track works well as background music for a tutorial. It’s pleasant to listen to and is poppy enough that it could help viewers better retain the info in the tutorial.
Fireflies – instrumental version
This instrumental track has a carefree and hopeful energy. The mixture of pianos, acoustic drums, and melodic electric guitar make this track ideal for tutorials intended for a more corporate audience.
Corporate videos
Corporate videos also generally work well with inspiring and uplifting background music. If you are working on an in-house communication team creating videos, Artlist’s collection of Corporate soundtracks is a useful tool for finding universal tracks that can work as background music for important announcements from your company’s leadership.
Here Are Some Fresh Vibes
“Here Are Some Fresh Vibes” is a versatile track that would work nicely in a variety of corporate communication videos. It has a hopeful vibe and an energizing melody. It’s also a little bit fun, while still being appropriate for an office setting.
Fragments of Sunlight
“Fragments of Sunlight” takes a more cinematic approach to corporate video background music. This acoustic, folky track is still very uplifting, but the sonic build within the song adds a little bit of drama. We could imagine a song like this being used as background music to share individual stories of employees who have had to overcome some sort of obstacle in the workplace.
Social reels
Social media reels allow you to experiment with a wide range of music genres. Like vlogs, the best type of background music will be dictated by the reel’s content. Because reels are shorter pieces of content, look for tracks that grab attention fast and keep it — genres like hip-hop, rock, pop, and electronic are all fun choices for social reels.
Sharp Knives
“Sharp Knives” by Damon Power is a short hip hop track with an intense beat that mixes in a playful female voice stating: “Look at these things very carefully,” “I mean very carefully,” and “Now look what I’m doing with it.” At only thirty seconds, this track was born to be the background music for a social reel.
Hello Sunshine
“Hello Sunshine” is more of a low-key R&B track with a retro vibe and a repeating vocal track of “Hello Sunshine, bad guys have more fun”. It’s still playful, but it has a chill mood.
What You’re Gonna Do
“What You’re Gonna Do” is an electronic pop song that’s just begging to be used in a recap reel. We could see this one working well to promote a summertime party, a fashion event, or an outdoor festival.
Branded videos
If you are working with a brand on any video content, your background music is going to play an important role in the story. The style of music that works best as background music for the video will largely depend on the brand’s guidelines. Some brands will need to skew towards more corporate music, while brands with a younger audience might be more open towards playful, experimental music.
If the client hasn’t considered exactly what genre of music they want as background music, asking questions about the mood and message of the final video product can help you find something that’s a good fit. Browse through Artlist’s curated collections to get started in the search. The “Songs that Sell” collection features royalty-free tracks that have already been used by major brands.
Duda
This funky track from Ian Post has a slightly sexy vibe that combines jazz and electronic to create a fresh sound. This could be great background music for a branded video for a brand that is willing to be a little provocative to get people talking. Alcohol brands, fast food companies, and consumer tech companies could all benefit from a slightly unexpected music choice like this one.
Need a Lover
“Need a Lover” has an early 2000s garage-rock feel to it and would work well for an up-and-coming brand looking to connect with millennial consumers.
Ballerina
“Ballerina” falls into more corporate territory with its ambient and peaceful pianos. This calming track would be perfect as background music for a branded video for a product or service that’s meant to simplify, and thus improve the user’s life.
How to add background music to a video
Once you’ve found the perfect piece of background music for your video, it’s time to add it to your project.
Here are the steps to help you:
Log in to your Artlist account.
Use Artlist’s search function to browse through royalty-free tracks or check out one of the curated music collections.
Star tracks to favorite them while you browse.
Download your starred tracks. Artlist offers unlimited downloads, which makes it easy to try out a few different options for your video before you commit.
Load the downloaded track into your editing software timeline.
Adjust the sound levels so it blends nicely with the rest of your project. Need technical tips for editing a song to fit your video project? Check out this step-by-step guide for more details.
Why creators should choose Artlist for background music
Artlist’s AI-powered search engine and curated royalty-free playlists take the headache out of finding the perfect song to use as background music for your videos — which means you can focus more on getting your videos seen.
The Artlist plan gives users unlimited downloads and global licensing, meaning you can publish online and monetize your content in different markets, without fear of your video being removed. The curated music collections and excellent search tools make it easy to quickly find high-quality tracks that fit the vibe of your video project.
Ultimately, Artlist’s royalty-free music collection simplifies the process of finding the perfect piece of background music for video and will keep you and your audience inspired to keep creating.
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