The ultimate tone setter, choosing the right music will underscore your entire advertising campaign – reinforcing the tone of your brand, captivating the audience and ensuring memorability. 

Why Does an Advert Need Music?

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. 

It’s a quote from 1931, but Aldous Huxley still has it right. Music will always take your advert to the next level. As we’ve explored in our Squideo Submarine series, music has a strong connection with memory and advertisers leverage this for one of five outcomes.

1. Evoke Emotion

This is the big one. Through music, you can influence an audience to feel the way you want them to. Looking for something energetic to get people onboard? Something understated to accompany serious footage? Make sure it matches your brand to avoid audience confusion. Don’t use a song about heartbreak to sell air freshener, and don’t use a song about the great outdoors to sell cinema tickets. 

2. Inc. Identity

Creating a strong brand comes down to some key choices. The company name and logo. The slogan and tagline. The colour scheme and font style. And the music used in your media. Nothing brings a company’s identity together like a well selected piece of music that encapsulates a brand. 

3. Transform Tales

Music can underpin the narrative of your advert, strengthening the story. Whether you use music to invoke a sense of adventure, compel an emotional response, or create a light-hearted atmosphere, music cues the audience to the most important part of the advert – whether they were watching or not. Nothing is more attention grabbing than a climactic swell of music. 

4. Convert Customers

We’re all familiar with the call-to-action (CTA), but instead of using a voiceover or onscreen text consider delivering with music. We’ll explore jingles later on in the Advert Alchemy series, but consider how a song choice can influence a customer. In Coca Cola’s Hilltop advert (better known as Buy the World a Coke) the song reinforces the message: do something kind; buy your friend a Coke. 

5. Advance Action

In 2015, Always launched a successful advertising campaign called #LikeAGirl. Targeting negative gender-related stereotypes about women and girls, #LikeAGirl is recognised as the second-most viral advertisement campaign worldwide. The advert is accompanied by a simple, understated score that slowly increases in volume as the advert moves away from stereotypes to focus on its uplifting message. The music supports the tonal shift without detracting from it. 

What Type of Music to Use

There are two main music options to choose between: existing music and original music. Are you going to use music your audience is familiar with? Or create music to set your advert apart from the competition?

Last Night of The Proms

If you’re looking to save money, it’s a good idea to choose music that is in the public domain. A lot of classical and opera pieces fall under this category which has made them a favourite of television shows, films and adverts, helping these pieces stay at the forefront of the public consciousness despite their age.

Alton Towers used the Peer Gynt Suite: In the Hall of the Mountain King. Cornetto popularised ‘O Sole Mio for British audiences so well that people abroad have been bewildered by outbreaks of Just One Cornetto amongst travelling Brits who hear the tune. 

Top of the Pops

Lots of adverts have used popular songs, and some can even take credit for popularising tracks. Unlike songs in the public domain however, these might come with a heftier price tag. It could be worth the cost, however. 

One of the most notable examples of successful soundtracking can be found in Cadbury’s iconic 2007 Gorilla advert. Cadbury’s use of Phil Collins In The Air Tonight put the song back on the charts 25 years after its release, but it did more than repopularise one song. The visuals were popular enough to spawn spoofs in shows like The Mighty Boosh and Children in Need. 

In 2016, it was voted Britain’s favourite advert. Not bad considering it has no Cadbury’s chocolate in it and no clear "message."

Name That Tune

Classical music and opera pieces may be easier to access, but there are other instrumentals to consider for your advert music. 

The theme song from Chariots of Fire has been used repeatedly, for example, including in advertisements for The Olympic Games and Nike. When looking for the perfect music, consider some of the most impactful music from modern media. Think of film scores, television themes, or modern classical pieces that have perhaps not permeated the public consciousness yet. 

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

For some companies, it’s not enough to soundtrack their advert with a hit song. They have to commission something just for them. The song We’ve Only Just Begun, for instance, was commissioned by an advert agency in 1969; when it was later covered by The Carpenter’s (after seeing the advert), the song became a top hit. 

Perhaps one of advertising’s best-known music hits – I Want to Teach the World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) – was developed by McCann Erickson for Coca Cola to run in its Hilltop advert. It became so iconic, the advert is still considered one of the greatest of all time and has become intrinsically linked to Coca Cola’s brand. 

My Kind of Music

An original soundtrack is usually the hallmark of television and film, but occasionally an advert produces a piece of music so popular it becomes independent of the original piece. Take for example Chris Gunning’s theme for the Martini Bianco adverts. 

Their advert series – The Right One – ran internationally during the 1970s. The music, reminiscent of a James Bond theme, was especially fitting for the brand. Martini, the vermouth producer, is thought to be the namesake of 007’s favourite cocktail. 

Where Can You Get Music?

At Squideo, we’ve used a mixture of original songs and readily produced soundtracks. For the latter, we use platforms like AudioJungle and Envato Elements for royalty-free music. 

Looking for the perfect music on your own? Check out the following options.

1. On Social Media. For advertisements run on social media, there is an option to embed music directly from streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music which gives you a good variety of songs without incurring any fees. 
2. From Record Labels. Looking for something recognisable for an advert you want to share more widely than social media? Record labels offer advertisers music that’s under their ownership for royalty payments. The more your advert is shown and seen, the more you pay. 
3. The Public Domain. Numerous websites host copies of public domain music, free to download and share without the risk of infringing copyright laws. Some of our favourites are Musopen, Open Music Archive and Digital History. 
4. Directly From Artists. Interested in commissioning something original? If you don’t know any artists personally or through your business network, consider looking at freelance websites like Fiverr and Freelancer. Ensure the artist grants you the copyright at the end of the process. 
5. Music Sites. Like Envato Elements, music from these sites is paid for either individually or on a subscriber plan. Once the track has been downloaded, you can use it as many times as you want. 

Alternatively, if finding the perfect piece of music sounds like too much work, get in touch with Squideo. All of our videos include music. Have a look through our video examples to listen to some of our favourites!

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Get in touch with the Squideo team today to find out how we can improve your advertising strategy with video production, motion graphics, social media management and much more!