When do I use music in my videos?

I’m looking through the performance of videos from people who primarily “talk” and have interesting things to say.

People like myself.

Or Riley Brown. Or Justin Fineberg. Others like them.

People watch our videos because we share interesting advice, facts, knowledge, stories, and experiences.

Not because we dance or show beautiful scenes like houses and landscapes.

What I’ve noticed

People like us who talk – I’m the only one who uses music in most of my videos.

I do it just because I like music, but not because there’s a deliberate strategy.

But I spend a lot of time choosing music, so I need a deliberate strategy to save time.

When it’s appropriate to choose music

I think I should choose music when I want to convey an emotion.

Or I can see what music TikTok recommends, and if the recommendation adds an emotion I didn’t realize I wanted, I can use that, too. Often, TikTok will recommend a piece of music where the drop times perfectly with my drop—that seems to work well.

Here’s an example where the drop in TikTok’s recommended music timed perfectly with my drop. This video got 2.5 million views on TikTok and 2 million on Instagram.

However, many of my simply recorded (on my phone, with little editing) videos with no music do very well.

I think no music puts emphasis on what’s being said.

Bad music takes the emphasis off.

Good music can add emphasis and attention.

Here’s a video where TikTok surprised me by making my video seem magical and whimsical. You can imagine that without music, it would not seem this way. The video did way better than expected (I made it in 5 minutes), especially on Instagram.

Music is great for stories. Definitely stories.

This is my best-performing video ever. It’s a story. The music in it is so good.

Music works to add drama and anticipation.

It works to make things funny.

But for pure advice and hot takes, there are only a few choices of music that work for that.

So my note to myself is

Before looking at TikTok’s music recommendations, ask what you want the vibe to be.

If you can come up with an answer, look for a piece of music that supports that.

If you can’t, look at the music recommendations and see if anything adds emphasis.

If nothing in particular gives an extra flair, don’t use music.