You’ve got your images and branding on point, and you have a place to host your podcast, but as you edit a show, you find they are lacking something, and to make your intro and transitions enjoyable, you may consider any music you want to use.
You can find over 10,000 unique pieces of music and sound effects to get your show going in the right direction but are there any things you need to consider when downloading music files?
Below we look at categories, licenses, and how you could use these files in your podcast to make them more interesting.
How Does Music For Shutterstock Work?
With all these songs and sounds available on this service, you can simply go to the drop bar on the side and choose the music or sound effects option and get typing to see what you like.
From the results page, you can refine with filters that look at genres, instruments, length, and moods which can make a song you might be thinking of easier to find, and you can choose how many shorts, loops, and stems you want if you need a particular order to your sound.
With Shutterstock, you can pay a one-time fee and select the license you require for the song you’re about to acquire, but what type do you need, and what does it cover you for? We’re glad you asked, as we will look into this next.
How Does The Licensing Work?
When you’re ready to buy your song, you will have the option to select the license you need for the music, as it’s essential to avoid any legal issues that could even see you lose revenue if you aren’t careful. See also Where to get Royalty Free music for your podcast.
A standard license will cover your song for one project worldwide in perpetuity. If you want to use the track for a radio show or in public broadcasting, you’ll need the enhanced license, so your podcast should be fine with a standard license.
You can get creative with your song in post-production, as the license will allow you to create starts, stops, and fades, but it doesn’t cover the music if you want to use it as a sample for another song that is used outside of this project.
If you’re using it for a different kind of project, you may find you are covered for a single territory, and you may have to purchase another license if you’re looking to extend, but if you keep it simple for your podcast, you should be fine.
Why Use Music In A Podcast?
You can find a lot of value for your money on Shutterstock, or you could use their monthly plan to have songs available to you each month, and if you’re still wondering why you should have music in your shows, below are a few reasons why you should use them.
Creates Brand Recognition
Whether this is a simple jingle or intro sequence, all the best podcasts have some kind of transition music to detail the significance of each part of the show instead of having a soundless podcast with awkward transitions to things like ad-reads, for instance.
Whenever people hear that music, they can link it to your brand and the things you sell, so the catchier it is, the more memorable you are to your listeners, plus it gives your shows more structure.
Makes Segments More Interesting
Like in films that use music to communicate this section’s mood or significance, your podcast can do the same, so let’s say you are a mystery podcast.
You could use this type of tone or musical production to make your audience curious about the outcome.
Of course, you don’t have to use this and use your own ideas, but when you’re listening back to your show, notice how interesting it becomes as soon as you add some music or sound effects to it, and for this, you can convey a range of emotions.
Makes More Sense If You’re A Music Podcast
Suppose you have someone perform on your show, even though you can feature and credit the artist.
If this is the case, you may have to look into additional licenses that you should look into, so royalty-free music seems more enjoyable compared to this, and you can get creative with it.
This is important if you have a standard license, as you need to combine the song you use with at least one other production element, so as long as you have some other parts to your show, you should be fine.
If you have a friend who’s a musician, you can have them arrange an instrumental intro for you so you can avoid using ones that we might think of as bland or corporate and helps listeners to hear you speak during these intervals.
Helps With Show Notes
If your show is on a schedule and needs to be planned precisely, you can use the 10-30 second transition song as a way to organize your show, so it isn’t all over the place, and you can account for transitions when you play ads in your show, for instance.
If you’re new to podcasts, the song also helps as a countdown, so you know when you have to start speaking, and much like a radio show, it can be very reliable and helps you to get into the right headspace.
Shutterstock Music Alternatives
- Epidemic Sound: Offers a broad library of high-quality tracks and sound effects. They offer a subscription model that covers the rights to use their music on your podcast.
- Music Vine: They offer a specialized music library for podcasting with a large variety of genres and moods. You can purchase individual tracks or sign up for a subscription.
- Artlist: Artlist provides a subscription service with unlimited downloads. They add new music each day and have an extensive selection.
- Pond5: This platform offers a variety of music, sound effects, and even video clips. You purchase each track individually.
- Bensound: Bensound offers both free tracks and more extensive options with a Pro License. The free tracks require attribution.
- Free Music Archive: An interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads. The music is free, but they appreciate donations.
- PremiumBeat by Shutterstock: Owned by Shutterstock but operates separately. It offers high-quality, royalty-free tracks for purchase on a per-track basis.
- AudioJungle: Part of the Envato Market, AudioJungle offers a vast selection of royalty-free music and audio tracks.
- Incompetech: Kevin MacLeod’s site where he offers lots of his compositions for free use with attribution, or a paid license for use without attribution.
- YouTube Audio Library: A free resource for people who use YouTube. It has a vast library of tracks and sound effects that are free to use.
Conclusion
You can see here that music is what it’s all about if you want an engaging show with all the elements you may expect from a popular podcast that may even try to change it up every now and then.
With all of these songs available to you and some extra 20,000 songs you can find with a premium account, what’s stopping you from using Shutterstock as your go-to place for your sound?
