Music

There are many things to consider when choosing music for your project, including making sure you are obtaining it legally. 

Choosing your music

The type of music you choose should match the content. Your professional videos shouldn’t reflect your personal taste in music. Stick to mainstream-sounding music. It’s popular for a reason. 

• Default to music in the Pop, Ambient, Cinematic, Indie and Acoustic genres. 
• Don’t use a dramatic, cinematic-orchestral score with a video about undergraduate research in the summer. 
• Use songs that are upbeat, positive and inspiring. 
• Research popular videos on YouTube that are similar to the one you are creating, and use their music as reference to the song you choose for your video. 
• Make sure the music isn't distracting, particularly if you have music playing in the background of an interview. Genres like hip hop or rock have beats or instruments that could be very distracting to the audience. 
• Don’t use music with inappropriate language, or music with overt or subtle references to inappropriate behavior.

Where to Get Your Music

Using music in your video requires more than just clicking a button. You will need to obtain approval from the artist and (most often) pay them royalties, which can be a complicated and costly process. For this reason, we recommend using other methods to obtain music for your videos. 

Royalty Free

Royalty free licensing gives you the right to use copyrighted music without the need to pay royalties every time someone watches your video. Many companies are moving toward affordable, subscription-based sites where you have an entire library with unlimited downloads. 

• Artlist
• MusicBed
• Premium Beat
• Bensound

Creative Commons

Some artists decide to share their music for free in the Creative Commons. There are different kinds of creative commons license, so pay attention to the details. You may be required to give credit, restricted from using the music in commercial projects or obligated to share your work under the same terms.

Public Domain

Music within the public domain are not protected by intellectual property laws and permission does not need to be obtained in order to use it. It is good to remember that even if the composition itself is in public domain, the recording may still be copyrighted. This is often the case with classical and jazz records.

• Example: If a public domain work by Mozart is performed and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), you would have to get permission from the LSO to use their music.