Five Tips to Find Music for Your Wedding Video

You’ve just finished shooting a beautiful wedding video and your edits are being finalized. But wait — you still need to find the music to go behind each scene. Use these five insightful tips to find the perfect music that will enhance your next wedding video.

1. Songs Versus Music Beds

First and foremost, it is good practice to map out which scenes have dialogue and which scenes do not. Use songs for scenes that include high-energy moments with little to no dialogue. For instance, songs work well when the wedding party is eating or dancing at the reception. Use music beds and underscores behind scenes that include dialogue to enhance emotional impact. For example, a light nostalgic piano bed is a great choice behind a wedding vow because it amplifies the seriousness of the moment. At the end of the day you will have to decide what type of music best complements each scene.

Image by Gavin Whitner (www.musicoomph.com), used under Creative Commons.

2. Find the Musical Taste of the Bride and Groom

It is also important that you use music that fits the wedding party’s taste, especially that of the bride and groom. But how can you find this out?

During your meeting with the wedding couple, ask them about their favorite and least favorite bands, solo artists, and genres. Then show them wedding videos you’ve created that feature different musical styles. This not only gives the couple a variety of examples but it also brings awareness to the quality of your video productions. By the end of your meeting you should have figured out the following:

• Do they like classic rock or current pop music?
• Are they into indie-folk, country, or jazz?
• What about world or cinematic music?

Additionally, it is imperative that you keep your eyes and ears peeled during the reception. Listen to the music being played and see what truly gets the crowd moving and grooving. If you pay attention to the music selection at the reception then you will have a good idea of what musical styles should be included in the final wedding video.

Overall, always put the bride and groom first because they will be the ones that cherish the video forever.

3. Moods the Couple Wants to Showcase

Finding out the moods the couple wants to emphasize in their wedding video is of equal importance to that of their musical taste. For instance, a couple might like the classic rock genre but they are specifically interested in finding rock music with an uplifting mood. Or maybe they are interested in a fantasy-themed wedding that needs mystical or magical sounding music.

Once you’ve identified the mood or moods that the couple is interested in then you will have to find the music. But how do you quickly find music that has these specific moods? Some of the best places to find more information on musical styles and moods are music licensing websites. These websites handpick and categorize their music tracks by genres, sub-genres, and moods making it easy for video content creators to find the perfect music for any project.

4. Pick Music Based on the Tempo

Do you have a variety of scenes that change in speed and emotional impact? Picking music by the tempo or beats per minute (BPM) will help you find faster paced music for your emotionally uplifting scenes and slower music for romantic moments. Again, music licensing sites do a great job of organizing this so that you can easily sort their collection by tempo.

5. Music Licensing and Copyright

After you find the perfect song or music track you will need to confirm if you have the right to use it. This is important to avoid a lawsuit with the music copyright holder.

There is an easy rule to this: if you are using any song or music bed that is not Creative Commons attributed or if you haven’t secured a music license then you are most likely infringing on copyright holder.

You have three ways to avoid this: contact the copyrights holder, hire a musician to write a custom music track, or license music. Licensing music is the most affordable option ranging between $10 and $50 for the most basic license uses. When searching for licensable music consider using royalty-free music because they offer pay once, use forever licenses options. Additionally, these site also have free preview files that you can test out behind your video before purchasing the music license.

Article written by Kyle Graski.