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Find Your Rhythm: Soundtracking Your Business Video

Aug 27 2012

Ladies and gentlemen...Dan Mills! Dan Mills everyone! He’ll be here all week (except not really, he already left).

At Wistia, we are really fortunate to have friends like Dan Mills. Dan is a musician out of Brooklyn, New York and has been one of my closest friends for years. If you follow our videos (both the tame and the zany), chances are good that you’ve heard a Mills track or two. Think the Wistia front page video, 2011 Recap, Pricing Page Videos, or, of course, the Free Plan Rap.

Having a live band pay a visit to Wistia HQ was pretty rad. Wistia folks doing Wistia folk stuff while Dan Mills and his band played melodica-based renditions of Super Mario Brothers and the Elvis theme (among others). Hilarious! But for me as a video producer, it was SUPER CRAZY to hear live music being played as I filmed Jeff in front of the iconic "Wistia gradient backdrop." To say "it was an experience" would be a gross understatement.

Music is an incredibly integral part of our video strategy at Wistia, and you’ll be hard-pressed to watch a video from us that doesn’t have some form of music behind it.

That's because music is a key part of how a video is perceived:

  • It drives the pace of the video.
  • It can hide audio blips and tough edits.
  • It’s an easy way to help direct the mindset of your audience as they watch your video.

Nowadays, we use Dan for as many videos as possible for several reasons. Custom music allows us to get creative with timing and play off specific moments in the video. We love to support up-and-coming artists. And perhaps most importantly, Dan’s style allows us to keep the feel of Wistia videos consistent yet unique throughout our entire video strategy.

So just find a sweet power-pop song that sounds like Coldplay’s “Paradise” and call it a day, right? Well... pump the brakes for a hot second. Choosing the right music starts with knowing what kind of emotion you want to communicate to your audience. Is it warm and fuzzy? Try a “Juno” inspired indie song. Is it excitement? Try a dubstep modern electro-pop track! When you find a song you like, play it along with your rough cut to see how they fit together.

So where can you go from here?

How can everyone find sweet music for their video?  Here are some tips.

Check out music licensing sites

We didn’t always have Dan in the mix. In the earlier days of Wistia videos, we were using pay-for-license sites like TuneFruit.com, AudioMicro.com, AudioNetwork.com, or the Vimeo music store. Sites like these let you pay for a single-use license of a song. Pricing is based on the scale of your production ranging from student/non-profit to national broadcast.

If you have a Mac, check out the Apple loops in Garageband or Soundtrack Pro.

Find an up-and-coming band.

Draw up your own licensing agreement with a smaller band or producer. Ask for instrumental versions of their music! If they’re still up-and-coming, the chances are good that they recorded independently and have access to multi-track recordings.

How do you choose music for your videos? Where do you find music that you can use? We'd love to hear how others deal with adding that musical spark to their video content!

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Chris L. (5 Posts)

I have fun making videos. And I ski too.


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This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Making Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://jeffvincent.posterous.com/ Jeff Vincent

    I think Chris is being too modest in this post, so I have to chime in.

    When we shoot a Wistia video, it goes from concept, to script, to production.

    During concepting, we also choose the emotion we want to convey in the video – is it for first-time Wistia users, who might need a little friendly welcoming? Is it for a new feature we are excited about? Who will be watching?

    During scripting, we are carefully choosing words and phrases that will keep that emotion consistent. Then, we shoot the video, doing our best to remain true to the script and concept of the video.

    Finally, after shooting is complete, Chris and Dan start scheming on what the video’s music will sound like. The difference between one track and another can be night-and-day – even with no other editing changes, the entire mood can be affected. I remember we cut several versions of the old homepage video together with different tracks (this was pre-Dan involvement) and the difference in the feel of the results was staggering!

    Chris and Dan might revision the music 4, 5 times – Chris suggesting edits, and Dan re-recording the audio THAT DAY. Their work ethic is pretty incredible, and it makes the final product that much better.

    Having a real relationship with your ‘audio guy’ isn’t possible in most situations – we know how lucky we are. Our goal was to help our readers understand how important audio is in the end video, and give them some resources to get started!

    –jeff

  • http://twitter.com/MaxSchnur Max Schnur

    Truthfully, I was a little annoyed when I had to go see Bruce Springsteen at Fenway instead of sticking around for the shooting of this video. That was a good day to be at Wistia. Major props to the music makers!

  • Alyce

    Can you imagine how I felt confined to my bed dying of illness?

  • http://www.dnavertical.com/ DNA Vertical, Inc.

    This is so true…Great post. Can you imagine a movie without a soundtrack?

  • monica lee

    Awesome, loved this video and this post!! I can never decide how loud to make the background music.

  • Mallefitzo

    Hey Guys,
    I really do love your videos. I’d love to see a making of style video/tutorial that is a bit more technical. E.g. What lighting do you use? Which camera? Position of the lights, microphone etc…

    I get a glimpse of your setup at the end the videos but it’s hardly enough to figure out the details.

    Thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/joshtheorange joshtheorange

    Definitely a case where MySpace music can come in handy (i never thought i’d say that). I’ve perused it for indie artists around the world, and reached out to the ones i’ve found interesting or fitting for a particular project. Most have responded quickly and have been really into contributing their music for a reasonable fee. And what’s been super neet is that I’ve been able to connect with artists all over the planet. I tell ya guys, this internet thing is gonna be huge.
    Thanks again for a super great post!

  • Stephan Becker

    Thanks for this post – I have always found it difficult to find good resources for soundtrack. Cheers! Stephan

  • Alyce

    Something like this is coming up sometime in the next few months, keep your eyes peeled!

  • http://brendanschwartz.com/ Brendan Schwartz

    That’s a really good tip. There’s so much great music out there and with a little hard work you can find something really unique and authentic. Any interest in writing / getting interviewed about some of your finds? I think everyone here would be interested in hearing more about how the process works and the success you’ve had with it.

  • http://brendanschwartz.com/ Brendan Schwartz

    One good thing that came out of that is me learning about #FOMO. Thanks Alyce! ;)

  • http://twitter.com/forestlinden Forest Linden

    Another beautiful Wistia video that makes me smile in the morning! It also made me pine for a few things: 1) The Dan Mills band playing in my studio for the next shoot, 2) fake grass in said video studio, 3) taking a vacation in Somerville so I can be a temporary employee at Wistia for a couple weeks…kind of like taking a vacation at a dude ranch, but without the cows.

  • Francois Arbour

    Great article Chris!

    I thought I would add our own library to the list: http://www.premiumbeat.com

    Check us out and let us know what you think!

  • Alyce

    Thanks for sharing! Looks like an awesome resource.

  • http://jeffvincent.posterous.com/ Jeff Vincent

    we can arrange to have cows here…I heard @jringenberg is all about raw milk…

  • http://twitter.com/joshtheorange joshtheorange

    Sure, I could spin a yarn or two for the greater good…

  • http://jeffvincent.posterous.com/ Jeff Vincent

    If you can’t wait to hear more Dan, you are in luck! He has a fresh new single out – today! Go and pick up “Keep Me Till the Morning” on iTunes!

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/keep-me-till-morning-single/id555782938?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

  • http://www.facebook.com/henrietta.koffi Henrietta Koffi

    Okay, went to listen. i’m sold. This really doesn’t sound like the other stuff you find out there , and well priced too. Thanks for the hookup!

  • Francois Arbour

    Thanks Henrietta!

    We hand-pick every single song on the site. Most librairies out there all share the same tracks on a non-exclusive basis. We decided to go with a more curated exclusive library concept.

    Glad you like!

  • http://brendanschwartz.com/ Brendan Schwartz

    Nice! Just sent you an email. Excited to hear all about this!

  • http://brendanschwartz.com/ Brendan Schwartz

    Need this on Rdio, bad.

  • Paul Dandurand

    Thanks Chris. I was wondering where are the good sources for music and thanks for sharing.

  • http://jeffvincent.posterous.com/ Jeff Vincent

    Thanks so much for sharing this Francois!

  • Geoff B.

    I like the My Space idea. Another resource that we think is a cut above the usual stock library fare: http://www.fliktrax.com. And the fellas at FT are helpful too when needed.

  • http://taylorbrooks.org/ Taylor Brooks

    I fracking love Wistia.

  • http://twitter.com/StoryboardFilms Storyboard Films

    http://audiojungle.net/ is another great option for music.

  • http://twitter.com/joncrim Jon Crim

    Hey Alyce, would you mind sharing (for now :) ) what type of camera was used to shoot this particular video? Thanks!

  • http://robbiemitchell.com Robbie Mitchell

    Adam steals the show every time.

  • http://jeffvincent.posterous.com/ Jeff Vincent

    Hey Jon, Chris used his Canon 5D Mark ii