Choosing Royalty Free Music for Tutorials
Putting together the soundtrack for your next tutorial video? Here’s how you can keep your music engaging without overpowering your work.
Cover image via Rawpixel.com.
Image via Freedomz.
As royalty-free music specialists, we love it when a video’s soundtrack really shines. When music takes over to really sell what’s on-screen? Those moments are magic. But we also understand that music in video exists to serve a story, not the other way around. That’s particularly true when it comes to music for tutorials and other training videos.
Because your tutorials and how-to videos are teaching tools, it’s important that you keep your audience’s focus on the information on the screen. Often, to be as effective as possible, that means elements like music should stay in the background rather than take center stage.
Yet on the flip side, music still plays an important role in tutorial videos. It can keep your viewers hooked, provide tone continuity, and improve pacing. The right track can also keep any info-heavy subject from getting too dry. In other words, your soundtrack needs to maintain a delicate balance: engaging but not obtrusive. High-quality and professional but not overpowering.
Instrumental, non-vocal tracks work best — whether that’s acoustic or electronic. You’re not going to need tracks with overly catchy hooks or themes — just subtle cues that match the style and tone of your work.
Here’s an example of great music in a tutorial project. It comes from our friends at RocketStock, and it’s about creating a digital photo gallery using After Effects. The PremiumBeat track “A Girl From Osaka” by Aulx Studio plays subtly in the background. It doesn’t overpower, and it doesn’t take attention away from the subject matter at hand.
The PremiumBeat library is full of music that’s perfect for tutorial videos. To give you a hand, our music team has selected a few favorites. The playlist below features instrumentals that engage but don’t distract. Each track is royalty-free too, so with one affordable license, you can use your chosen tracks online, in as many tutorial videos as you want.
Looking for more playlists? Check these out:
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A Girl From Osaka
By Aulx Studio
- Gentle and flowing, featuring dreamy piano and a downtempo groove that creates a chill mood.
- Buy track
- Steady Momentum
- Flowing and warm, featuring rhythmic marimba and pizzicato strings that create an intriguing mood.
- Buy track
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Island Pleasures
By Cymatix
- Warm and bouncy, featuring synthesizers, electric guitar and vocal samples that create a positive and festive mood.
- Buy track
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Peaks
By Sirus Music
- Soft and bouncy, featuring mallets, synthesizers, bass and drums that create a dreamy, optimistic mood.
- Buy track
- The Hustler
- Heavy and bold, featuring gritty synthesizer, 808 bass and beats that create a tough, aggressive mood.
- Buy track
- Intermediary
- Warm and floating, featuring pulsing synth textures, electric guitar and a light groove that creates a confident mood.
- Buy track
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No Brainer
By Wolves
- Bright and building, with an Electro-Pop feel, featuring warm synth textures that create carefree mood.
- Buy track
- Crusher
- Bright and groovy, featuring Funk bass and electric guitar that creates a confident mood.
- Buy track
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Back to Back
By Yan Perchuk
- Warm and encouraging, featuring flowing piano, breezy guitars and pulsing drums that create a hopeful, optimistic mood.
- Buy track
- Like the Movies
- Warm and feel-good, featuring piano, synthesizers, vocal samples and drums that create a positive, enthusiastic mood.
- Buy track
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Inner Urge
By Chill Study
- Warm and laid-back, featuring smooth vocal chops, deep bass and floating synth textures that create a chic, hip mood.
- Buy track
- Cosmic Technology
- Pulsing and atmospheric, featuring floating piano, synthesizers and electronic beats that create an hopeful, optimistic mood.
- Buy track
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Shanghai Sunset
By Chill Study
- Warm and mellow, featuring a Chill Out groove and soothing keyboard textures with Asian elements that create a relaxing mood.
- Buy track
