There’s no rule that mandates podcasters to use music in a podcast, and lots of successful podcasts still don’t use any music. But, there’s no doubt that getting a theme song for your podcast will give it an extra layer of professionalism and identity.
Much like a movie score invokes certain feelings, podcast music help to set the tone for the show. The music also helps to keep listeners engaged and can help to differentiate a segment from the other. But to get started, you need to do more than finding a platform that offers music for podcasts; you must also be precise in choosing the right music.
Podcasts have three types of music they play during the course of the podcast show, and they are the Intro, Segment Change, and the Outro.
Let’s help you know how to choose the right music for your podcast:
Intro Music
This music plays at the start of the podcast show, and it starts to die down the moment the podcaster begins to talk. Intro music has been identified as one of the top tips to making an outstanding Podcast intro because it helps to set a distinct mood for your audience. Thus, you should choose a piece of music that perfectly sets the mood you want your audience to be at the start of the show. The music should also match the theme of your podcast show—this is extremely important.
Outro Music
This is the music that plays at the tail end of the podcast show. It’s mostly played over the last few seconds or over the end credits. The best type of track for the Outro is one that the end of the music is the climax of the song.
Your outro music should be one that’ll make your audience to start missing your program the moment it ends. Find music that’s easy to remember, such that the memory of your show will linger in the minds of your podcast listeners till the next episode starts.
Segment Change Music
If your podcasts have segments, then you can incorporate music that signifies your movement from a segment to another. Albeit music is a very effective way to mark a transition, but you have to carefully select the music you use for this as the wrong music can negatively alter the mood of your audience.
If you’re anchoring a show with numerous parts within a show, then segment change music can help to create that unifying distinction you need.
Segment change music will cover any lapse that may occur if you’re cutting numerous parts of a podcast that were recorded at separate intervals together. It covers any noticeable dissimilarity in audio and video quality between joined parts.
How to speed up the process of choosing music
- Tempo: A music tempo can be a music descriptor that you can use to identify the perfect music for your podcast faster. Quite often, the tempo of a song will be listed as part of the song description.
The normal heartbeat of an average man is between 70-80 beats per minute. As such, music with the same number of beats per minute will make your show sound smooth. You can opt for a much faster beat if you want your podcast to be more energetic, while a slower beat will give you a soulful program.
- Categories: Every piece of music falls into a category; some of them include ragtime, Asian, tense, classical, industrial cinematic, nostalgic, urban, creepy, New Orleans jazz, gritty, or funk & blues. Listen to the common music categories and try to familiarize yourself with how each genre sounds.
In Summary
Podcasts can be a highly rewarding endeavor as 32% of Americans listen to one podcast once a month, but achieving success through it is no easy task. And choosing the right music can be the factor that makes your podcast a success or not. After reading this article, I hope you’ve learned how to choose the right music for your podcast.
