Video’s popularity in the digital medium has been increasing, and every type of project — from retargeting ads to a company profile — requires renewed attention to detail. Corporate video is used as an umbrella term for several types of video, but it usually refers to videos made for internal purposes, such as attracting new hires, retaining current employees, or training, and for external purposes, such as explaining processes and workflows for B2B partnerships, making announcements, or profiling a company’s history. Each video has a variety of different goals, but they all have one in common: Be interesting.
In corporate videos, music usually takes a backseat, but it plays an important role in the struggle to be interesting. The right music creates a mood and drives home the company’s message. Here are four tips to help you pick the perfect music for your videos.
1. Establish the Mood
A corporate video is one of the first interactions a company has with customers. That’s why it’s important for the video to establish an overall feeling with the audience. Is the company a smart tech startup with a bunch of fun loving employees? Be sure to express that with an upbeat and playful track that fits the company’s personality. On the opposite end, is this a video that shows off the services a legacy financial planning firm? This might require a more prudent approach to music, with a powerful and confident track in the background.
2. Pick the Right Genre
Now that you know the overall feeling and mood of the project, you can begin to determine the right genre for the company. If you are editing the project, you may find that the company will want some input on the music choices. Rather than letting them pick the exact song, let them pick a genre of music. This will give the client some creative license, help to narrow your choices, but still give you plenty of options as far as the details of the project.
Does the video need a traditional corporate vibe – or can you use something more blues, folk, pop rock, or hip-hop? The “corporate” music genre is always a reliable source of bright and uplifting music, but don’t be afraid to experiment with a different genre if the company’s message fits. By understanding what the company wants, you can then focus on finding tracks that fit the mood and fall under the right genre.
3. Choose Vocals or Instrumental
Does your corporate video have plenty of dialogue? Then you probably won’t want to use a song that has vocals, and you can narrow your search accordingly. If the corporate video doesn’t have any dialogue, then you can certainly get away with using lyrics. Most corporate videos don’t use music with vocals, but the ones that do have to be sure to integrate the seamlessly. You don’t want vocals that detract from (or contradict) the video’s message with distracting lyrics.
If you aren’t sure if a track will work or not, download a watermarked preview to test the track in your project.
4. License Royalty Free Tracks
Most companies want to feature their corporate videos on their website, which is why it is so important to license any tracks you use. Without a license, the video may be infringing on copyrighted material – which can lead to a DMCA takedown.
With a standard license, you can be assured that the video won’t risk a takedown.
Michael Maher
