If you’re a filmmaker (or even a video game maker) then you will be making a trailer for your film which will require both sound effects as well as composed music that suits the theme, tone and mood of the film and trailer. Whether you are experienced in this area or it’s your very first foray into film, finding good quality music for your trailer can be a time consuming task. You want something that fits just right. So where do you find the best movie trailer music?
First, let’s look at the options for obtaining music for your trailer.
- Compose and record you own trailer music and SFX
- Have someone compose and record it for you, based on what your trailer is about
- Search the music sync licensing sites for suitable music and SFX
Now, these are all definitely viable options, so let’s break them down into a little more detail.
Make Your Own Music
If you are a composer and have the tools and software to do your own music, then this is possibly the very best way to go. You know your own movie and you know the trailer. Making your own music to fit the trailer like a glove will really make it shine. A trailer needs to be dynamic to attract the attention of potential viewers to the main even – the movie – and so the music also needs to be dynamic as well.
The music sets the tone and the mood and it is your music and sound design that is truly going to engage people’s emotions and make them want to see the film, so great music that really suits is absolutely vital to your film’s success.
Other advantages of creating your own trailer music is you will save some time and definitely some cash. Along with this your get the added satisfaction of hearing your own music in your own movie trailer. Now that’s a real buzz in itself.
Hire Someone To Do It
If you or anyone on your team are incapable of doing the music, then an option is to find a composer experienced in making music for your genre of film and get them to do the music and sound design for your trailer. This option will likely cost you some bucks and there is no guarantee you will even like the music the professional composer comes up with. They may be able to make music no problem, but will they be able to manifest the exact kind of music you are after?
That is the eternal question, and it’s an important one.
Consider the Third Option – Sync Licensing Music
This is where you browse catalogues of existing music and license a track that you like and think would suit your movie trailer. Obviously there will be a price to pay, but it will probably work out cheaper than hiring a composer and you can be assured you will like what you get. After all, you’re the one choosing the music to license. It’ll be cheaper to make the music yourself, but if that’s not an option, then sync licensing is definitely the way to go.
The internet abounds with some quality sync licensing websites that host a vast array of good music to choose from. The best part is, these websites take care of all the legal side of licensing music so all you have to do is browse, find what you want, then purchase the appropriate license for movie trailer music.
Try some of these sites on for size:
Songtradr- Musicbed
- Seek Audio
- Premium Beat
- Audio Network
- Beatpick
Many composers – including myself – specialise in creating cinematic production music in all moods and genres, so you are bound to find what you need with sync licensing. The sound quality is top notch and there are so many talented composers and artists to choose from.
From the list above I recommend you check out music licensing site – Songtradr. They have an awesome catalogue of music that would suit every movie trailer imaginable. The search functionality of the website is really accurate as well, meaning you will get very relevant results from the parameters you input, saving you a lot of time and potential frustration. I’m positive you will find music that you like on Songtradr, so check out what’s on offer by clicking on their logo below.
Yeah definitely, i used to study film at University in my younger years, and i personally always wanted to have a super cool trailer and music – i think i would sometimes put more effort into this then the actual film itself lol.
This is a great post for breaking down the three options that people have at their disposal when finding the best music – like you mention, you could make yourself (my favourite), hire someone skilled to do it, or sync licencing music is good too.
Anyway sorry for rambling, but your post brought up memories for me 🙂 thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for reading and leaving your thoughts Marley. Always great to hear from filmmakers. Music definitely is a critical component of a film and trailer, for sure.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve only used musicbed and premiumbeat up until now. Or free music, when I’m out of cash for my own projects. Although it’s a little cringe inducing to hear another video with a Kevin Macleod tune. The guy does some great stuff, but everyone uses it, so there’s no way to stand out. Premium beat had some better options for sure, but now I’ll have other places to seek my sound, thanks!
Both Musicbed and Premium Beat are 2 good options for sure, but I believe Songtradr is catching them up. They are still only fairly new.