Find Music for Your Videos: Filmmaker vs AI Tips & Tricks
There’s a lot of talk about choosing music for your videos and films. We all know the power music has in shaping a story - what we don’t know is how to find it. Discover how EXACTLY to find the perfect music for your videos - we give you the filmmakers perspective of understanding pacing and enhancing emotions but also give a quick tutorial on how to use AI to help this process.
My favourite part of searching for the perfect song is the “That’s it” moment. Anyone who spends hours searching for music for their videos knows the feeling. I actually have a Musicbed jumper that has the phrase “When you hear it you know it” sprawled across the back - and it could not be more true. So here’s a look into my process that I’ve honed in over the past 8 years of being an Editor and Filmmaker.
Yes this is the jumper.
When we choose music for a project, it starts with understanding the story’s tone. Are we crafting a heartfelt moment, building tension, or driving excitement? Do we need the music to carry the story, or do we need something that doesn’t distract the visuals?
One tip is to think about the pacing and rhythm of your edit. A slower scene might need music with long, sustained notes, while faster cuts call for something more upbeat and dynamic. Start by searching for genres, this can be incredibly useful for finding the vibe but don’t rely on it. You never know, you might hear something unexpected that would elevate the scene.
If I’m looking for something “cinematic” I tend to first search “Cinematic” & “Ambient” at the same time. The duo search can provide music with a feeling, an undertone that feels more real and has more character than just the music with no undertones or sfx. This is how I find my favourite songs for our Travel Vlogs. This is another tip - know your favourite search combinations.
I love searching for “Snaps” with “Rock” and “Agressive” - this gives incredible options for energetic, rallying and upbeat songs. It’s great for building tension, urgency & determination. Combining this with the snaps gives a more modern and playful edge to the rebellious rock which is perfect for Socials and engaging audiences. We use this a lot in our commercial content productions.
Another trick for finding the perfect music for your videos, which I haven’t actually used but I literally just thought of it while writing this sentence - you could use ChatGPT to type in your storyline and ask it to give you genres, moods, tones, instruments etc. which you can then use in your search. Here’s an example I just tried:
This was my prompt. I guess it helps to be as detailed as possible.
This was Chat GPTs first response (before telling it to not use bullet points so it would look nicely formatted for this post).
I didn’t actually try these filters on Musicbed so please, if you would like to try it, let me know if you find the perfect song for my imaginary scene.
We’ve been using Musicbed since 2019 for our own social content, but we recently upgraded to the small business subscription so now we can use the epic library for our video clients. What sets Musicbed apart from other licensing platforms is the exclusivity. Only the best is allowed, every song gives a feeling, tone, meaning. It’s not a stock music website - you’re crafting your perfect track from real artists with search terms.
Here’s our Musicbed affiliate link: fm.pxf.io/triostories - this is not an ad, we are very open about using multiple music licensing websites, but when we need something with a little more depth, it’s the place we go.
Sal
Filmmaker/Editor