How to build a profitable podcast.
Tune In to Success: Master the Art of Selecting Podcast Background Music!
Let's welcome our guest writer Brandi Hawkins
Find out how to choose the right backing soundtrack for your podcast with these tips!
While conversation reigns supreme, top-quality podcast background music is essential, as it hooks listeners and keeps them coming back for more. The right music can set the tone and create the perfect atmosphere for each episode, but choosing it can be tricky and expensive.
If you want to learn how to select the perfect background music for your podcast without blowing your budget, this guide can help. Here’s everything you need to know about picking background music that suits your podcast and engages your audience.
Background music in podcasts isn’t there simply to fill gaps in the conversation. While it certainly does fulfil that function, there’s a whole lot more to it.
The right music will enhance the listening experience for your listeners by setting the show’s overall tone and underscoring the changing moods in each episode. Playing the right music in the background can also make your episodes more memorable.
According to a University of Zurich study on music, memory, and emotion, we use the parts of our brain that are responsible for emotion and memory to process music. If the music you play elicits a strong emotional response from your listeners, there’s a better chance that it will both evoke memories within them and increase the chances of them remembering that episode.
With this in mind, it’s important to have a clear idea of the emotion you want to evoke in your listeners when choosing background music for your podcast.
When it comes to choosing the best background music for your podcasts, you need to consider your target audience, theme, and tone. There also are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind:
● Neutral Genres: Choose songs or pieces of music that are neutral and will soothe your listeners while still setting the right tone. Usually, the best podcast background music is instrumental and doesn’t feature loud, disturbing beats or instruments. Try sticking to popular background music genres, such as ambient, chill, and Lo-fi.
● Not Distracting: Choose background music that complements your spoken content rather than distracting from it. You should never compete against the music playing in the background for your listeners’ attention.
● Setting The Mood: Think about the mood you want to create in your podcast episode when choosing the background music. Choose introspective, softer music if the topic is more contemplative or serious, and cheerful, upbeat music if the episode is inspiring or uplifting.
Listening to several different podcasts on bCast with the same theme as yours and paying attention to the background music they use can give you a good idea of the relationship between music, emotion, mood, and tone.
The easiest way to use background music in your podcasts is to have a single piece of music playing continuously. However, this is far from the best option, as it’s likely to annoy or bore you and your listeners after a few minutes.
A much better option is to choose different pieces of background music according to the structure of your podcast.
Most podcasts’ structure is similar to that of radio broadcasts, movies, and the three-act plays that inspired them. These three acts include:
● Act One/Introduction: The first act introduces the topic or story of the episode. This section usually begins with pre-recorded theme music and a summary describing the podcast. The point is to make the audience immediately aware of the topic and its impact.
● Act Two/Middle Section/Main Content: The second act is where you get to the main content of your podcast episode, discussing the main facts and finer details. Evidence, interviews, and research usually are included in this section. The background music used should highlight various moments or themes in the content, providing an atmospheric soundtrack.
● Act Three/Conclusion/Outro: The third act is where you bring the episode to a conclusion or consensus, even if that means leaving loose ends untied or not being able to wrap up the topic tidily.
The three acts of the typical podcast are usually separated (or linked) by sponsorship mentions, advertising, or transitions such as musical cues to mark a pivot in the storyline or to enhance the audience’s emotional response.
As you’ve seen so far, choosing the perfect background music for your podcast requires careful thought.
In addition to asking yourself questions such as “What is this episode’s trajectory” or “What is this episode or section’s purpose” to help you make your choices, you should also follow these helpful guidelines:
1. Be Consistent With Your Intro/Theme Music
Use the same intro or theme music consistently for your podcast. Using the same theme music at the beginning of every episode will lead to your listeners associating it with your podcast. In this way, the theme music becomes part of the identity of your podcast.
There are many options to choose from, such as an instrumental piece or a song with vocals. You can ask a composer or musician to write a theme for you, or you can write your own. You can even keep the introduction as simple as spoken word over a royalty-free instrumental piece.
2. Use Instrumental Music
Use instrumental music whenever possible as a background track in your podcast. The only exception to this should be the introduction. If you choose background music with vocals, your listeners might find it difficult to follow or understand you. The effect would be like listening to a room full of people talking at the same time.
You don’t need to worry about that happening when you use instrumental music. You can play it in the background during spoken dialogue, interviews, and voice-overs. Ambient, versatile drum loops are another good choice for non-invasive podcast background music. Base your choice of genre and mood on your requirements and edit the tracks where you think they fit best.
3. Consider The Episode’s Mood
Pay careful attention to the mood of the podcast episode when choosing background music. Use upbeat, happy tracks to create the perfect mood for comedy or sinister strings and foreboding orchestral music for themes such as true crime or horror.
What if your podcast episode doesn’t have a specific direction? The best choice in that scenario is to limit your choices to music that conveys happy, hopeful, and inspirational moods.
4. Less Is More
Remember that the focus of your podcast is your voice when choosing background music. Don’t let the music overpower what you’re saying. If you distract listeners from the topic with busy mixes and invasive music, you will negatively impact your podcast’s impact, listenership, and quality.
It’s best to use background music that amplifies the conversation softly, and that is low-key. Whatever you choose, make sure it keeps the attention on you.
4. Use Music With Continuous Ascents And Crescendos
Use and edit songs to fit your podcast exactly the way you want them to if you have legal permission to do so. With some clever editing, cutting, and splicing, you can structure your background music to heighten dramatic effect, building up to a climax. In most cases, the edits result in music that starts at a low level, engaging listeners and keeping them interested.
Experiment with music edits and continuous ascents and crescendos and see what effect they have on your listeners.
The next big question in the quest for the perfect podcast background music is where to find it. There are several options you can consider, including:
● Royalty-Free Music: Royalty-free music is one of the podcaster’s best tools. It’s designed for various creative projects, and there’s no need for you to pay ongoing royalties or obtain individual licenses for songs. Royalty-free music is a great choice if you want to use the same piece of music across multiple episodes. Ensure you source royalty-free music from reputable sources, understand the terms and conditions, and comply with usage or attribution requirements.
● Licensed Music: You can use copyrighted songs and music in your podcast episodes as long as you obtain the necessary licenses. If you feature any copyrighted music in your content without permission from the songs’ rights holders, you could be at risk of copyright infringement and lawsuits.
● Hire A Composer Or Musician: Think about hiring a composer or musician to compose custom background music for your podcast. This option offers you much more freedom and versatility, as the composer can align the composition with your podcast’s mood and theme. Although this option can be expensive, you will receive a fully branded, copyright-safe song. Look for freelance composers and musicians on online platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr.
● Compose Your Own Background Music: If you have the skills, consider mixing your own music. You can write and record a theme song, compose backing tracks for various themes, or create instrumental music that suits your podcast’s genre. Doing this gives you full control over the music and best of all, there’s absolutely no need to worry about copyright or licensing issues.
And that’s a wrap!
Now you know why choosing the right background music for your podcast is key to creating a successful episode and a memorable show that draws your audience in. You also know what kind of music to choose, where to find it, and how to incorporate it for the best effect.
If you consider all your options and use these tips, you’ll choose background music that elevates your podcast and creates a connection with your listeners.
