Stock Searches: How to Choose the Right Track | video production

Steve Martin once said, “talking about music is like dancing about architecture” - this is something video production folks understand very well. Your music choices have a huge impact in how your content is perceived, but sometimes choosing the right track is not as easy as it seems. Luckily, Studio B is here to help!What to look for: At Studio B, we think the most important part of deciding what to look for is to understand our client and the project. Sometimes, clients will describe their ideal track in the form of a specific genre, time period, or provide adjectives such as “uplifting,” “happy,” and “catchy”. If they have examples from previous projects or have been inspired by other videos, we can utilize these as reference points to begin our search.If the client does not provide music preferences, our creative team is ready to assist! Based on previous experience, our understanding of the client/company, the product, and the concept, we offer ideas and work with the client to find the best options for their project.Where to look: When selecting a stock music site to browse, you should take content and budget into consideration. Some sites, such as Pond5 and Premiumbeat, offer tracks at lower costs and others tend to raise their prices for more curated content. At Studio B, we often utilize sites like Marmoset and Music bed, which often work with composers to provide more original content and offer the option to customize tracks.How to look: Keywords: You know what you are looking for, so it is time to choose the most appropriate keywords for your search. For example, if you are searching for 70’s party music, “funk” or “disco” and “dance” might make a good combination - you can use more than one keyword for more specific results.Teamwork: We all experience music in our own way; therefore, assembling a team to assist with the search will allow you to have a wide breadth of choices.Choosing the one: You have a rough cut and a list of tracks assembled by your team - guess what? that is all you need! Take time to watch your rough cut on a loop, playing different tracks as it runs, this is a great way to narrow down your choices. At Studio B, we send our top choices to the client for review and work together to find the one!