In recent years, podcasting has garnered a dedicated audience. Ranging from entertainment to informational, historical and loads more, podcasts have found genres too, where listeners can explore their interests and engage with them. Though in all these differences, the constants have been these: content, initiation and music in podcasts.
Podcasts took off way back in 2004-05, but didn’t take to heights until after 2014. A heavy contributor to this exponential growth is the rise of atmospheric storytelling, achieved through the inclusion of music, one of which pairing matches the pace of the podcasts’ pitch. The sound effects are key players of building an effective milieu for the listener to immerse in.
How Podcasting has Evolved!
The inception of podcasts dates all the way back to the 1980s with the rise of the internet. Originally called ‘audioblogs’, the concept of recreating a radio-like experience was abuzz, and only grew to popularity when the Apple iPod came.
Through this all though, the term ‘podcast’ never existed. In 2004, VJ Adam Curry and Dave Winer pioneered the idea of being able to download radio in the now convenient iPod, and listen to it on the go and store it too. Ben Hammersley, a journalist, was the first to coin ‘podcast’ from the iPod and broadcast.
The following years saw the bloom of podcasts, with dedicated platforms launching software applications of their own. Podcasters of 2006 were even able to take off to the live stage, though the paradigmatic shift emerged only after 2014.
Atmospheric storytelling launched podcasts to life after 2014 when music became an inherent and imperative component of podcasting.
Role Of Music in Podcasts
Music, regardless of being intricately lyrical or purely instrumental, can evoke an innate feeling in the listener. By itself, it’s pretty effective, though adding the right music at the right place and gaps can make the narration of the podcast more impactful.
Podcasts that are structured as episodes usually have an intro and an outro, with similarly themed sound effects to indicate the start and stop and in-between. Specific or sudden plot points or twists in the plotline do better with an accompanying sound note or tune, and having such a score can efficiently depict the transitions between paragraphs and their moods. Sound effects of these scores, or from these scores, are also used as a filler for breaks in podcasts, or can be used as a background music to set a fading noise for the talk.
Music in podcasts also builds a brand for the podcast, thereby becoming a significant factor of identification for listeners. Even though it’s not a norm, music is and can be a meaningful addition, in all its various forms as an actual score or mere sound effects, in all gaps or passages.
How Can Royalty Free Music Be Used On Podcasts?
As many benefits as there are for using music in podcasts, it’s not an easy process at all. When deciding music, the only tracks you can choose as a creator must be the ones from the public domain. And this can be discouraging because ‘free music’ or music from open/public databases provided by most platforms could have been already used multiple times elsewhere. The distinctive, branded feeling you may be aiming for will be lost.
So can you use popular music available on streaming platforms and use it in your podcast? Well, if you have the rights, the proper licenses for it purchased, you can use it as your own; or you could pay royalty for every single time you use that sound effect in your podcast. Both of which can drown your pocket since the songs are copyright music.
There is an alternative to this: royalty free music for podcasts. Royalty free music isn’t free music; as a content creator looking for music, you can pay once, at the time of purchasing the royalty free license to make the music yours, following which you can use the track as your own.
Because of the royalty free license, you are exempt from paying any royalties to the composer of the song. It is still copyright music, one that the sound providing platform will take care of. By using royalty free music for podcasts, you are looking at a vast database of music, which you can narrow down with countless filters and still be able to find the perfect music for podcasts or sound effects.
Royalty free music for podcasts is a blissful, a very convenient way to enhance podcasts. With an audio editing tool, you can upload your files, edit the royalty free music for podcasts at the breaks or into wherever else.
Seeing how music can improve the narration of your podcast, even set a brand identity to it, or help in the flow and its transitions, it seems like a no-brainer to find a track and use it. See if the music you’re choosing fits the theme of your content and lo! You’re all set to launch your podcast now!
