Stock music you need for UI, social media, and games
In recent years, multimedia content has firmly established itself online, fueled by the development of high-speed Internet technologies as well as the growing availability of tools for creating and editing video
If integrating video into your communications sounds like an overwhelming investment, start leveraging your products with music and audio that are often underestimated by marketers. What's more, stock music and sound effects can make such enhancements truly cost-effective.
In an earlier article — Choosing Music for Ads, YouTube Videos, and Podcasts — Depositphotos shared tips on how one can easily find stock audio content that will work perfectly for these products. This article continues the series and explains three more use cases concerning stock audio files.
Royalty-free music and stock audio file use cases
1. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and other social media
Stock audio files you may need: Short music tracks for content background and recognizable sounds to focus user attention on certain things
Great examples of audio integration: Tiffany & Co. on Instagram and San Diego Zoo on TikTok
Popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat have a variety of content formats, but they all support video content with audio tracks.
Before choosing audio for your content, check out the guidelines for the quality, format, and length of audio and video on your chosen social network. For example, Instagram has the following restrictions: up to 60 seconds for News Feed posts, up to 15 seconds for Stories, and up to 60 minutes for lives. So when you’re looking for music for Instagram videos, search for clips that are compatible in length.
Take into account that social media users have a very short attention span (see Facebook insights of 2020). Therefore, the sounds of your video should be catchy and engaging from the first second. However, since most modern social media are visually based, make sure your sound choices for platform-specific posts are in line with your video or GIF.
2. Websites and apps
Stock audio files you may need: UI sounds for notifications and interactions, music backgrounds for use inside your digital product to create the impression you want
Great examples of audio integration: GOOD Meat (presenting cruelty-free business and products) and Gucci Gift Giving (shopping experience)
Until a few years ago, the only forms of audio integration to Internet product design seemed to be sites that auto-played brash audio files that we’d quickly close in a panic. Fortunately, since then we have made a huge technological leap forward. In particular, voice control products and apps have emerged that instantly inform us about something important when we’re not looking at the screens of our laptops and smartphones.
In addition, designers have come to the conclusion that sounds can make interfaces more user-friendly. Thus, UI sounds for notifications and interactions have become a must-have for almost any product operating online. And what about the auto-playing tracks on website pages? They have been rehabilitated and become gamification and entertainment tools.
3. Games
What you need: Sounds that imitate real-life interactions (jumps, strikes, claps), background music that keeps the player inside the game
Great examples of audio integration: Among Us, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, and Machinarium (a quality standard for indie games)
It is difficult to imagine a soundless computer game. The sounds of the earliest digital games such as Super Mario and Pac-Man are now popular culture memes and game sound design icons. In 2021, there are several prestigious awards for the best soundtrack for a computer game (see The Game Awards: Best Audio Design), and some original soundtracks are even becoming more famous than the games themselves (like those for Ico and Super Metroid).
The sound effects and background music in your game – whether it's a simple game application or a full-fledged game for a next-generation gaming console – make significant contributions. They introduce and accompany the player in the game, hold his attention, and help him quickly acclimate to what is happening around him. Examples of audio compositions that are commonly used in a game include sound effects that react to the environment, accompany player activities, provide background music and sounds, and announce interactions and notifications.
Summing up
Music and sound effects can make a big difference. In products such as games, digital assistants, voice-activated apps, and websites, audio files are navigation and control elements. When it comes to social media content, podcasts, YouTube videos, and creating a welcoming atmosphere at your event, sound effects can raise conversions.
Royalty-free music and stock audio are good solutions for a business that wants to integrate effective audio without a significant investment, and aren’t ready to hire a production team to create audio tracks from scratch. All you need to get the most out of a stock music library is to have an idea about what types of audio tracks you need; three main factors to think about are style, duration, and mood.
Discover trends that will dominate communication in 2021 to find more ideas on how to strengthen your marketing campaigns this year.