Using Music and Sound Effects
Why Use Music?
Great question! Remember, podcasting is a completely auditory medium, so you want to make your audio as interesting and engaging as possible to listeners. One awesome way of doing that is through music. Music does three main things:
1) Sets and maintains the theme of your podcast by invoking specific feelings
2) Prepares your listener for what’s to come
3) Engages your listener
Using music is also a great way to collaborate with other artists and promote their work!
When to Use Music?
There are three main sections of a podcast where music tends to be used: the intro, the outro, and during segment changes. Let’s take a look at each of those in more depth:
Intro Music
Intro music comes at the beginning of your piece and often fades out when the show gets going. This first section is very important because it sets the mood for what’s to come. It helps listeners figure out what kind of podcast they’re going to be listening to. Think of your intro music like the hook to a written essay. You want it to be something memorable and engaging so that people want to continue listening.
Outro Music
Outro music comes at the end of your podcast and it often plays under your end credits or the last few seconds of your piece. For this section, you might want to choose music that gives your readers a sense of closure. Or maybe you’re producing a podcast series and want to leave your listener on a cliffhanger for the next episode. That’s okay too! Before you pick any music, you should think about what feeling you want to leave your listener with and what kind of emotions particular sounds evoke. Just like intro music is your first impression, outro music is what will stay with your listener after they finish your piece.
Segment Change Music
When we say “segment,” think about a podcast like This American Life. In each episode, Ira Glass introduces a few “acts” related to an overriding theme. Each story relating to that theme is its own segment. Some podcasts might also be about one topic but have a brief pause in the middle to highlight a change in focus. Others might just take a break to allow their listeners a chance to take in all of the information so far. That being said, not all podcasts have segment changes and you don’t need to incorporate one if it doesn’t seem useful. However, if you do want to include segment changes of some kind, you might want to consider using music during these transitions. Music helps signify that you’ve finished one part and are about to move onto another (we would also recommend foreshadowing this shift in the introductory part of your script so that your listeners aren’t confused when the transition takes place). Music is also helpful if you’re putting together segments that were recorded separately because it can hide any difference in audio quality.
With all that being said, we definitely advise using music and sound effects sparingly. It’s easy to get carried away trying to fill up our piece with sound, but this can make it hard to actually focus on the story being told. Music adds a lot when used well, but it can easily get distracting if you overdo it.
Copyright Considerations
But before you start looking for music, wait a sec. You can’t just use any music that’s out there. Certain songs are copyrighted and are not available for public usage. For one, using copyrighted songs can make it harder to distribute your podcast on popular platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. It’s also bad form. You want to make sure you’re giving artists credit when they ask for it and respecting other peoples’ creative work. Here are some common myths about copyright laws:
The ‘10 second rule’
This is basically the idea that you can use any copyrighted music if you just use less than 10 seconds of it. This isn’t true. If you don’t have legal access to the material, you can’t use any of it.
It’s okay as long as I give credit
This also isn’t true. Even if you give attribution to the original artist, the copyright law still exists.
I’m not making any money off of my podcast
Music copyright laws are no different for not-for-profit podcast than they are for shows trying to make money.
I’ve already bought the music commercially
Again, not a valid excuse. Even if you bought Lizzo’s newest song on iTunes, you only paid for the right to play it for your own entertainment. You need an additional license to stick it in a podcast episode.
I accidentally recorded the music in the background of my audio
This one is a little less clear cut. If you’re interviewing someone at a cafe and there happens to be a soft snippet of song playing in the background, that’s probably okay to include. However, if you’re repeatedly playing that recording as theme music without the artist’s permission, that’s most likely copyright infringement.
Copyright Terms to Know
Now that you’ve got an idea of some common myths, let’s talk terms. Most music you find online will designate what ways it can be used. Here are some common terms you might see:
Fair Use
This is a vague term, but it generally is the principle that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. What exactly that means in the real world can be complicated and vary from case to case. Overall, it’s better to stay away from copyrighted material, but if you feel like you have a strong case to prove fair use, that’s something to consider when sourcing music.
Royalty Free Music
This means that you buy the license for a piece of podcast music. This entitles you to use it whenever you want for the duration of the license.
Creative Commons Music
Creative Commons is an open licensing standard that aims to empower people to share their work under clear and transparent terms. If you see something with a Creative Commons license, it should let you know what you’re allowed to do with it (free to use, not-for-profit, give attribution, etc). However, there are several different types of Creative Commons licenses, so we would encourage you to look into these before you source music because not all of them allow you to use music freely and without permission.
Public Domain
Music in the public domain is normally available for free use without permission. These are songs that were originally created by someone who died around 70+ years ago. However, be careful here. If a contemporary artist does a cover of a song in the public domain, their version isn’t free for public use.
Podsafe
This is a designation that is often given to tracks that are legally permissible to play on a podcast, usually because a band is not signed to a major label or the recording was made under a Creative Commons license. Essentially, this is a designation that encompasses many royalty-free songs as well as tracks in the Creative Commons and public domain. On podsafe websites, artists submit songs for use and podcasters can sign up to use that music in their own shows.
Ultimately, the key takeaway here is not to use copyrighted music and to pay careful attention to the requirements designated by other licenses. When in doubt, you might want to create your own music or team up with someone else who’s musically-inclined to produce something for your piece.
* A brief note on sound effects
So far, we haven’t talked a ton about sound effects, but that’s because they work in a very similar way to music. They’re often used to highlight specific moments in an audio piece, especially to give life to actions or events that have recognizable sounds associated with them (footsteps for walking, car horn honking for traffic, thunder cracking for a rainstorm, etc). Using sound effects can create the illusion that an auditory environment is more “real.”
In terms of copyright, similar rules apply, although it’s normally easier to find free sounds to use. If you’re trying to grab the sound of a radio buzzing off of Youtube, you have to check to make sure the creator has designated that it’s okay for you to do so. If they say it’s not for public use, find something else. That being said, sound effects are often best when you collect them yourself! You can use voice memos or a more advanced recorder to capture the world around you and use what you collect in your final piece.
Sourcing Sound!
Now the fun part! Once you’ve got a good idea of licensing and what’s available for use, you can start to experiment with different sounds and find something that works for you. We have a couple of suggestions for places to start:
If you want free music/sound effects:
Sound of Picture: An artist named Podington Bear who makes music especially for podcasts. Music is free to download and use under creative commons, but also available for licensing
Blue Dot Sessions: Studio with creative commons downloads
Pixabay: Copyright-free stock music by a community of creators
YouTube Audio Library: Huge selection of royalty-free music
Incompetech: Wide-array of tracks created by solo artist, Kevin MacLeod. Standard license is free and gives you access to mp3 tracks
The Free Music Archive: Expansive, free music library for podcasters
909 Music on Soundcloud: Modern, cutting edge, podsafe songs
CCMixter: A community music remixing site
If you’re willing to pay:
Music Bed: Curated roster of label-quality musicians and composers available for subscription
Machinima Sound: Royalty-free music
Bensound: Royalty free music
Neo Sounds: Royalty free music for creative projects. Different licenses available depending on scope of project
Instant Music Now: Royalty free music for digital download or shipment as physical media. Requires registration
Sound effects:
Freesounds: A collaborative database of Creative Commons Licensed sounds. Does require registration but is free
BBC Archive: over 16,000 "foley" or sound effects available!
ZapSplat: 57,000 free professional sounds effects/music. Does require registration but is free
Yellowstone Archive: Sounds from Yellowstone National Park, such as bird calls, geyser sounds, etc.
With all this information, you should feel confident in finding music to use legally and experimenting with it to bring your audio piece to life!