Did you know that music is so powerful that it can impact your mood, make you happier, and reduce your anxiety? Music has the ability to make a tremendous impact, evoking powerful emotional responses.
Grocery stores, cafes, and retail stores have carefully curated soundtracks for a reason. While music choice is important in a lot of scenarios, in a few instances is it more crucial than picking the music for your movie trailer.
The Role That Music Plays in Movies
Music is an incredibly powerful force. Humans are practically hard-wired to respond to music.
If you don’t believe that, take your trailer footage and play a variety of different songs from different genres on top of it. Notice how changing the song can give the movie a completely different vibe every time?
There are several different functions that music serves in movies.
For one, it helps to create a rhythm to individual scenes and throughout the movie. It also helps shape the emotional responses that the audience has to the film. On top of that, it can act as commentary on the action.
Music can also serve as a useful cinematic tool, as it can indicate a change in scenery, tone, or action before the storyline has actually gotten there.
The Structure of Great Movie Trailer Music
The music you choose for your trailer should be representative of the vibe of the movie overall. You’re giving audiences a snapshot of what they can look forward to. If the trailer gives an idea about the movie that the movie doesn’t live up to, it can mean you draw the wrong audiences or that audiences are disappointed.
While there’s lots of great music out there, not all music is cut out to be movie trailer songs. You want your song to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, imitating the arc of the storyline. If you don’t have these elements in your movie trailer song, the trailer can seem awkward, incomplete, and confusing.
The music you choose for your movie trailer will have to do with the structure of the trailer itself. Maybe you want the music to be front and center and you’re showing a handful of powerful scenes without any dialogue. On the contrary, maybe you want the music to be secondary to a dialogue-heavy trailer.
Don’t Make the Mistake of Making a Music Choice Based on Personal Preference
There’s a difference between your personal favorite song and the right song for your movie trailer. It’s fine to note down songs you like to keep in mind for your movie trailer music, but you don’t want to get set on the wrong song based on personal preference.
You have to remember that the people who are watching your trailer haven’t seen the movie yet. They have no idea what’s in it, and the trailer is their key to getting a taste. This means that the music should give them a sense of the film, rather than a sense of your personal musical tastes.
Use Songs That Fit With the Tone of the Film
Is your film a coming of age story that is sentimental and nostalgic? Or is it a horror film based in your hometown?
Depending on what your movie’s about, one tactic you can use is to pick movie trailer music that accentuates the visual tone of the movie. This can include the beat, the melody, and the lyrics. If your song does have lyrics, make sure to pay attention to whether or not they contribute to your trailer or add a level of confusion.
Or Use Songs That Contrast the Visual Imagery
On the other hand, the aural tone of the song doesn’t always have to match the visual tone of the movie. In fact, adding some contrast here can help to indicate the existence of chaos in a calm scene or the presence of serenity in a chaotic scene.
Are you looking for background music for video content you’re posting on your site? That’s a different game altogether. Check out our handy guide here.
Extra Tips For Making a Great Movie Trailer
The fact of the matter is that the music you use to accompany your trailer can make or break your film. Since the trailer is the advertisement for your movie, the wrong music can give people the wrong idea and turn them off to it.
With music that doesn’t seem to fit, seems clunky, or otherwise just seems “off,” it comes off as unprofessional and maybe even a bit cringy. That’s the last thing you want when you’re finally ready to start showing the trailer for the movie you’ve worked so hard on.
As an exercise, watch a bunch of movie trailers online. Take careful note of how they’re using music to create an entire world within their trailer. Pay attention to which trailers you feel are more successful than others and what it is you feel is making those trailers successful.
When you’re making your movie trailer, you’re paying attention to every frame with extreme precision. You have to remember, though, that your potential audience is just watching some other trailer. They’re going to be way more impacted by the overall vibe of the trailer than some particularly impressive edit you made.
Find the Perfect Movie Trailer Music For Your Trailer Today
Music is what will tie your trailer together, making scenes from all throughout the movie fit together cohesively. Don’t pick the music as an afterthought: it’s one of the most important parts of your movie trailer.
Looking for music for your next movie trailer? Check out our premium music library today!