Imagine this: three video editors working with the same clips, in the same sequence, with the same treatment, only to create three totally different videos.

We have a wedding video, a travel documentary and a short film, let’s say it’s a thriller. 

Visually, they’re all the same. But while these three videos feature the exact same clips, cut in exactly the same way, they evoke completely different emotions from an audience because of one key thing – they all feature a different music track.

1. The wedding video uses a bright, nostalgic, sweet, warm, celebratory acoustic folk track like Moonlit Campfires, pulling on our heart strings and bringing out emotions like love and gratitude.

2. The travel video features a dramatic, passionate, intense flamenco track like Matador, instantly sweeping our audience away to an exotic, Spanish-speaking island location with clear waters and sunbaked sands.

3. Finally, the thriller opts for a more ominous, building, fear-inducing, mysterious drone like Threat From Below, setting the scene for an island murder or abduction.

Even though the vision is exactly the same in all three videos, in your mind can you imagine the stark differences between them? It’s that alchemy of melody, harmony and rhythm: it’s music that affects our emotions like nothing else, entirely changing the meaning of what we see on screen.

The point of this story is to show how powerful music can be as a tool to evoke feelings in your audience. With music you have the power to change the way your viewers feel without having to actually say it, or show it.

We’re going to take you through some of the most perfectly matched music moods and genres for common video production styles – to avoid your wedding video feeling like a nail-biting thriller!

Best Music for Wedding Videos

For a wedding video you should always go for a soft, warm and lightly celebratory mood in your track selection. Think of it like a wedding speech – it needs to be genuine and sincere, but not too over the top. In most cases there will be very little dialogue in the video, and no narration, so music can be more of a feature than in some other video genres.

Top Mood Keywords: Warm, Celebration, Sweet, Uplifting, Soft, Nostalgic, Reflective, Hopeful, Optimistic, Flowing, Uplifting, Inspiring.

Top Genre Keywords: Film Score (Orchestral), Acoustic, Ambient, Solo Piano.

Top Tracks for Wedding Videos:
Moonlit Campfires by James Collins
On The Shores by Cookie Cartel
Repartee by Anne Leader

Best Music for Gaming Videos

Whether you’re into Fortnite, GTA, League of Legends or Minecraft, the background music you choose to play behind your videos on Twitch or YouTube is absolutely essential. Energy is key, as well as matching the style of your game. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect tracks for your gaming videos. 

Top Mood Keywords: Energetic, Lively, Exciting, Rousing, Epic, Anthemic, Majestic, Pulsing, Dramatic, Driving, Sport. 

Top Genre Keywords: Techno, Trance, Synthwave, Dubstep, Film Score (Electronic), Film Score (Orchestral), and maybe Chiptune if you’re into classic gaming!

Top Tracks for Gaming Videos: 
Rise of the Titans by David Bruggemann
Euphoria by Greg Carrozza
Killing Spree by Adam Grace
Run N Blast by Sebastian Avila

Best Music for Explainers & DIY Videos

“Henry needs life insurance. Jane is looking for a better price on her home loan”. You know the drill. Maybe the most popular style of music in many music libraries like Melodie. These tracks fit into myriad categories and have one core thing in common – they sit perfectly under dialogue and are able to drive gentle energy into, let’s face it, sometimes dull topics.

The voice over will always be the feature in these videos and needs to be clearly heard over your music selection, so find something with great energy that doesn’t get in the way. 

Top Mood Keywords: Feel Good, Upbeat, Cheerful, Lively, Inspiring, Confident, Positive, Fun, Feel Good.

Top Genre Keywords: Nu-Folk, Folk Pop, Downtempo, Indie Pop, Funk, Acoustic, Country Rock, R&B Pop, Easy Listening.

Top Tracks for Explainers & DIY Videos:
Bio Journey by David Godfrey
Joy by Ionut Cosmin Grigore
The House by Jared Chance Taylor
Sun On A Leash by Rory Chenoweth

Best Music for Beauty & Fashion Videos

Beauty and fashion videos are of course instant hits on YouTube. When it comes to makeup tutorials, delivering energy is key to drive the often slower paced action on screen, so whatever you choose you’ll want to make sure that the BPM or tempo is pushing.

In the world of catwalk fashion, house music reigns supreme. Make sure you keep the level of the music under the dialogue so that it doesn’t interfere, but continues to drive the vision.

Here are some top keywords to help you find the best tracks for your beauty and fashion videos.

Top Mood Keywords: Fun, Bright, Bouncy, Confident, Energetic, Lively, Exciting, Rousing, Feel Good, Happy, Shimmering, Upbeat, Cheerful.

Top Genre Keywords: House, Pop, Bubblegum, Electro Pop, Dance Pop, Trance, Dancehall.

Top Tracks for Beauty & Fashion Videos:
Deep Luxe by Kylie Couper
Dreamers by Augusto Meijer
Breaking Free by Maike Watson
Classic by Ruby Stone

Best Music for Sports Videos

Music in sports content is there primarily to drive action. There are many different codes and intensities inside the sporting genre, it’s a diverse landscape from football, to extreme sports, UFC, tennis, golf, and even darts (which you’ll be surprised to know can often draw the wildest crowds of any sport)! 

Here are the top keywords we recommend you use when searching for music to compliment the emotion and intensity of your sporting videos, as well as some top sports tracks from the Melodie library. 

Top Mood Keywords: Adrenaline, Aggressive, Driving, Energetic, Lively, Exciting, Rousing, Raw, Gritty, Intense, Hard, Punchy, Confident, Epic.

Top Genre Keywords: Classic Rock, Indie Rock, Industrial, Techno, Hip Hop, Trap, Gangsta, Big Beat, Breakbeat, Dubstep, Film Score (Orchestral)

Top Tracks for Sports Videos:
Falling Star by Nicholas Goulding
Top Down by Cookie Cartel
Razorblade by Jonathan Foster
Play Tonight by Rory Chenoweth

Best Music for Travel Videos

This can be a tricky one as the location, country or culture can often scream for genre as much as the actual mood of the video. But as a rule of thumb, be aware of the location of your video, the vibe of the scene and the energy required to drive action on screen. Bright, feel good, upbeat tracks will never serve you badly in this case.

Top Mood Keywords: Cool, Celebration, Feel Good, Happy, Bright, Funky, Exotic, Mysterious, Happy, Bright, Upbeat, Cheerful, Joyful, Optimistic.

Top Genre Keywords: World (and various subgenres within), World Elements, Folk Pop, R&B Pop, Nu-Folk, Ambient, Chill Out, Downtempo.

Top Tracks for Travel Videos:
Havana Funk by Maike Watson
Tropical Escape by Ed Colman
Love Sometimes by Cookie Cartel
Zephyr by Academy

Best Music for Yoga & Relaxation Videos

Meditation, mindfulness, relaxation and yoga videos are extremely popular on YouTube, podcasts and beyond. Let’s face it, no surprises with the speed of life these days! The key to finding the perfect track for your relaxation video is timing and space. We want tracks with a slower BPM (well under 100), spacious mix and lighter instrumentation. Often a simple drone or pad is enough to provide the backing for these types of videos.

Top Mood Keywords: Calm, Serene, Beautiful, Optimistic, Gentle, Soft, Ethereal, Emotional, Airy, Smooth, Flowing.

Top Genre Keywords: Ambient, Downtempo, Drone, Film Score (Electronic), Film Score (Orchestral).

Top Tracks for Yoga & Relaxation Videos:
Restore by Anne Leader
Sky Full Of Stars by Marcos H. Bolanos
Dolphins by Sergey Soukas
Reflections by Steeve Body

A Final Word from Pablo Picasso

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

– Pablo Picasso

Now that you have some broad guidelines around the types of music that work well in various video production genres, go ahead and push the boundaries.

We love to see unusual audio-visual combinations and contrasts, and the strangest ones are often the most memorable.

There’s no question that rules are made to be broken, now go and get creative.