Editorial Note: This entry was the result of a conversation on twitter with @davemark and a few others who wanted to know more about getting quality music for use in marketing videos for apps. —CMH
A promo video goes a long way in showing people why they should buy your app over the competition. At the core of every well-produced promo video is the inclusion of high-quality music. Successful feature films rely on their background music, or music beds to bring the viewer to a desired emotional state. Your app promo video is no different. Adding music to your video creates an emotional bond between your app and your audience, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. The key to not racking up outrageous expenses is royalty free. That doesn’t mean it won’t cost you money to get it, but it does mean you don’t have to keep paying every time someone watches your video.
A few things to think about when choosing your music:
Here are five sites that have really great royalty free music — some of which have no cost at all, other than a “music by” credit.
The Free Music Archive is my go-to for royalty free music. They have quite a variety of styles, and artists. One artist in particular, Kevin MacLeod is so prolific, I am not quite sure when he sleeps. I’ve used a lot of his work in the past, and will do so again in the future. Just as the title says, all of their music is free of charge. Don’t forget to read the licensing agreements to see if a credit is required.
Pond5 has seemingly endless resources of music, sound effects, as well as stock footage, and motion graphics. While they do have a cost-free section, most of their material does cost a nominal fee ($2-$100 USD). You can however, fully preview the music before you buy it. The only downside to using Pond5 is that you’ll hear the Pond5 lady in your head for eternity. Don’t be put off, she’s only in the previews, not the paid versions.
Premium Beat is one of the largest players in the royalty free music scene. Their library is very high quality, with prices to match. Music starts at around $40. I like them because they offer not only full-length music, but small loops of those songs in lengths of 15, 30, and 60 seconds. On top of their loop feature, Premium Beat also offers variants of most songs. These have the same base rhythm, but add interest by adding and subtracting instruments and additional rhythms to combat loop fatigue.
Audio Jungle and I go way back. Their collection is eclectic, and interesting, but fairly no-frills. They are also fairly inexpensive with songs averaging around $14-20. I rather like their search capability, as you can search by a variety of metadata, including price, tempo, and if it can be looped. I do think though, their competitors have passed them in recent years. That said, I used one of their loops in a project two months ago, so they still have value.
One giant caveat before I go on with this. I am affiliated with, but not employed by, THAT Studio. They did not sponsor or otherwise compensate me for this post. I’m mentioning their product here because I’ve used it, and found value in it.
THAT Studio has recently ramped up their production tools, and one of their latest is their Atmospheres Bundle. If you happen to use Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014, or Adobe After Effects CC 2014 you can install their panel for free, and preview all of the music options in your composition. This makes testing out music options a breeze. Unlike the other options above, you don’t pay per song, you pay for the bundle at $199 for just the music, or $249 for everything they offer. The music is unique in that it doesn’t have that ‘royalty free music sound’ that plagues so many other choices. It also offers a good mix of genres and tempi. If you don’t want to install the panel, they have an intro video linked on their site.