How to build a profitable podcast.
Looking for the best music for your podcast? This post will certainly assist you...
Let's welcome our guest writer Tevai Fearnley!
A podcast is about the art of sound. Humans have always been visually orientated, and images and video remain one of the most captivating forms of content created due to this. Without the accompanying visuals to lean on as a cheat sheet, you need to be able to evocatively bring to life a soundscape that resonates with the listener, draws them in, and keeps them listening throughout the broadcast. A fabulous storyline and a great voice go huge distances, but they aren’t quite enough by themselves. Just as the old radio dramas used to, it’s up to you to find the perfect podcast music and SFX to get them hooked and keep them on the edge of their seat until you’re done. Luckily for you, we have the tips and tricks you need right at hand, so keep reading! Adding music to any kind of audio drama is more of an artificial construct than SFX, but a very important one for captivating storytelling. If you're looking to dynamically incorporate original music into your podcast, create music with AI tools can be incredibly impactful and efficient.
Poor sound quality will ruin an otherwise fantastic production. And it’s an easier trap to fall into than you may realize. Echoing audio that makes you sound like you’re hosting your podcast in a bathroom, blips or odd little audio burrs that seem insignificant if you pull up the soundwave, but can immediately jar the listener out of your broadcast, and unequal volume that needs your listener to fiddle with the sound dial constantly or have their eardrums shredded. No topic, no matter how interesting, and no amount of engaging storytelling can work around poor voice quality. Many excellent podcasts have died because they couldn’t get the sound production right.
But, hopefully, you’ve ironed those kinks out of your own already. Now it’s time to look beyond being merely good, and embrace greatness.
Audio enhancements like music and sound effects matter immensely to creating a fantastic audio experience that goes beyond the voice alone. We need only look to the cinemas and video games for proof of that. A fantastic score has been the savior of many a film or game that would have faded to insignificance without it. Without its heart-pumping metal soundtrack, Doom is little but a dull point-and-shoot game. Shorn of that iconic theme, Jaws is a hackneyed story with a mechanical fish that could have earned it a spot on Rotten Tomatoes Top 10 corniest Sharknado clones.
Any entertainment property is made using three types of sound:
Using each smartly produces a realistic, balanced feel that engages the audience. Much of that hinges on synchronicity, too. If a sound effect is wrong for the action, or the music sets the wrong mood for the tone of what’s being said, the whole piece is less believable (and less enthralling).
To add another layer of nuance, we have two types of sound effects to use.
Synchronous sound effects are those that act as the action words in a comic book- the thwack of a good slap or the kapow of the hero launching the villain into the sunset. They help punctuate important parts of the voice story and can be a critical way to create drama and impact, but overused, they quickly get cheesy and annoying. They need a delicate balance to come over just right.
Asynchronous sound effects are subtler, often used in the background to set mood and tone. Think of the soft clip-clopping of horses’ hooves outside the window in a Victorian story, the cluck of chickens at a farmhouse, or the soft hum of traffic in a modern New York apartment. They’re not the first thing you think of when imagining sound support for your podcast because they don’t correlate directly with anything being said, but they’re what will take a recorded story and bring it to life in the listener’s imagination. And there’s more scope for using them in podcasts than you might imagine.
How many of us have retreated to our playlists when we’re hurt, angry, struggling, and even plain old happy? The perfect song at the perfect moment is a great way to help express our emotions. Music quite literally helps shape our human experiences, whether it’s making the tedium of an elevator fly past faster or helping us to cry our heart out when we need to.
Adding music to any kind of audio drama is more of an artificial construct than SFX, but a very important one for captivating storytelling. No dreamy harp-and-piano score starts playing for a real-life couple falling in love, but when you’re telling a story about them, it helps the audience feel the same complicated emotions they do.
Well used, music sets the tone and impacts the listener’s feelings. Take the music out of your favorite films, and you’re sure to find they feel flat and dull, no matter how great the dialogue, action, and visuals are. It’s not an impact we realize, but it affects us on a subconscious level and we miss it when it isn’t there. And in podcasting, you don’t have the visuals to lean on at all!
As entertainment so often does, music scores also help impact our emotions. Upbeat, cheerful melodies speak of positive interaction and happiness. Somber, slower tunes and minor medlies speak of serious or sad moments. When you select your music to match the mood properly, you help create a vibe that listeners can resonate with. This helps guide them on how to feel, and how to relate to what’s happening within your podcast.
It also helps add a layer of professional credibility to your show. A deeper audience connection, especially one that feels familiar, helps draw them in and keep their attention. It fills in any ‘dead space’ you have. It can even be how they identify you from others in your genre, creating your own brand identity for the show! Advertising jingles work for a reason.
Both these sound categories may seem very simple, but they’re what will help move your show from good to great, making a more meaningful podcast and a better listener experience.
Before we get onto the dos of podcast music and sound effects, however, let’s take a quick peek at the don’ts. You don’t want to spend hours choosing just the right audio for your podcast, only to have something else ruin it all!
First of all, you need the very best audio quality possible for your music and SFX. Use only high-quality sound libraries, and make sure the overall clip quality aligns with your podcast’s own. This is why a solid recording studio, even in a home set-up, matters so much.
Watch out for sounds being captured that you don’t want, too. Your breathing is a major oops! So is external noise from your household, neighbors, or the wider environment. Computer fans, as well as static interference between your microphone and the PC, can create audio chaos. So can subtle background noises you may tune out, especially HVACs and air conditioners.
If you want your podcast to shine, it’s important to make sure you have full audio control. Only what you want in it, and nothing you don’t.
Hopefully, you now have a much better idea of how to pick the perfect music and SFX for any podcast, no matter your topic or audience. The right music, as well as the right balance of SFX, will look different from podcast to podcast. But, to summarize, they should:
As always, having a solid plan of action and a great storyboard will help you plan the best moments for your audio effects.
Now you know what you want, why you want it, and where you’re putting it, it’s time to find those amazing clips!
For most podcasters, this means turning to a sound library. These are of varying quality, and many people have jumped on the stock audio bandwagon, so always check their quality. You don’t want to pay for something you can’t use. Some free stock libraries are just as good as paid ones but may have more limited offerings. Check the licenses the clips are offered under, so you know you’re ok to use them.
If you’re game to try it, you can always create them yourself in the studio. And you can use something like the DistroKid app for musicians to upload and sell your music for some extra cash. This could get distracting for you, however.
If you’ve got a bit of cash to spare, and want something very specific or unique, you can also turn to musicians and artists directly and commission something. This is probably only worth it for a brand-related tune, but who knows- with enough imagination, the sky is your limit!
And there you have it! Hopefully, you’re now feeling a ton more confident about creating podcast audio effects that enrapture and entertain. You know what types of music and SFX you can use, and how to select the perfect ones for your podcast. You also know what not to do if you want clear, precise audio that speaks to your audience. Now it’s time to get creating!
