How to Add Music to a Snapchat video - Plus 10 Royalty Free Tracks to Upgrade Your Snaps

As the world of content creation continues to evolve, so do the social platforms that make up the backbone of this new era of short-form video content. And while apps like TikTok and YouTube Shorts might be the most popular spaces for brands and aspiring content creators these days, there are still more growth opportunities than you might think on “older” apps like Snapchat.

Originally launched as a person-to-person photo sharing app back in 2011, Snapchat has quietly become a major player in this short-form content creation space. The app still retains its social person-to-person functionalities, but it can also be a great space to explore other content opportunities.

If you aren’t super familiar with Snapchat, though, it can be tricky to get started with its video content-sharing features. In particular, adding music to your Snapchat videos might seem like a confusing computation.

To help you with your Snapchat content creation journey, let’s explore how to add music to a Snapchat video and review the basics of how audio and music copyrights work on the platform. 

How does music in Snapchat work?

When originally created by founders Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown and launched back in 2011, Snapchat was really only designed for one purpose. As a person-to-person photo sharing platform, the app’s main calling card was the disappearing aspect to its communication format.

In this new era of viral short-form vertical-format style videos, which can help brands and creators grow huge followings and audiences, the concept of creating disappearing photos or videos to share with a small number of friends seems counterproductive.

Yet, as Snapchat has grown as a company and a social platform, the app has integrated more sophisticated content formats and now allows creators many of the same features found on other popular social platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

How to add music to a Snapchat

Yet, despite Snapchat’s great history of simple peer-to-peer communication and ease-of-use that attracted a young and influential audience to begin with, there are some aspects of the modern Snapchat experience that can be a bit confusing to both new and even returning users.

Chiefly, adding music to your Snapchat videos might seem a bit tricky to figure out. If you’re curious, though, here’s how to add music to a Snapchat video. These steps cover the four different ways in which music and audio can be added to a Snapchat video, so make sure you’re following the steps for the approach that is right for you.

To add a track to your Snap:

1. Tap the Sounds icon
2. Choose a track from the list of Featured Sounds
3. Choose where you want the song to start using the scrubber 
4. Click the checkmark to preview the sound and sticker on your Snap
   
   

To create a sound to add to your Snap:

1. Tap the Sounds icon
2. Tap 'Create Sound'
3. Tap the microphone button to record for up to 60 seconds, then tap it again to stop the recording
4. Enter a name for the sound
5. You can choose to make the sound public and trim the audio to the length you want
6. Tap 'Save Sound'
   
   

To use a Sound from a Snap:

1. Tap on the Sound pill in the Snap
2. Take a Snap using the Sound
   
   

To use a Sound from a Spotlight Snap…

1. Tap on the Sound at the bottom of the Spotlight Snap 
2. Tap 'Use Sound' on the Sound Topic page and create your own Snap
   
   

These steps cover the four different ways in which music and audio can be added to a Snapchat video, so make sure you’re following the steps for the approach that is right for you. Still have questions about “How do you add music to Snapchat”? Find more info on music and audio features on Snapchat’s website here.

Where to find music for Snapchat

Ultimately, adding music and audio to your Snapchat videos isn’t too hard if you follow the steps above. However, what might actually be trickier for many brands and creators who aren’t super familiar with music licensing and royalty free music libraries is simply finding the right music for your Snapchat videos. 

Luckily, you’re on the right website, as Soundstripe has you covered with royalty free music that is 100% safe to use on Snapchat or other social media platforms.

If you aren’t super familiar with what royalty free music is and how it works, here are some great reads on what royalty free music means and how music rights and royalties work. The TLDR is simply that all music has copyrights associated with it. If you’d like to use music you didn’t create for commercial purposes, you’ll need to properly license said music for your content. 

The 10 best royalty free music tracks for Snapchat

To put you onto the right track, we’ve done some of the hard work for you by scouring our own Soundstripe music library to find you some high-quality, royalty free music tracks for your Snapchat videos.

These songs are great options to help provide the perfect soundtrack to your Snapchat videos. So, if you’re curious to get started, check out these hand-picked tracks below—or read our full article on the best royalty free music for Snapchat videos for the complete list.

1. Glow Pop by Matt Wigton

• Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun. Synth and guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 159
• Key: Db/C# Major
• Listen and license here

2. Melancholy by Lunareh

• Description: A low-energy electronic song best described as chill. Guitar and acoustic guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 115
• Key: A Minor
• Listen and license here

3. Never Enough by PALA

• Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as hopeful and happy. Synth and drums are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 108
• Key: G Major
• Listen and license here

4. Dreaming Of You by Joachim

• Description: A low-energy pop song best described as inspiring and hopeful. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
• BPM: 80
• Key: D Major
• Listen and license here

5. Lift Off by GEMM

• Description: A low-energy electronic song best described as chill and inspiring. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 85
• Key: C Major
• Listen and license here

Of course, these are just a few royalty free music tracks from our Soundstripe library. With over 10,000 songs and plenty of additional styles, tones, and genres to explore, anyone is welcome and encouraged to listen to our full catalog of royalty free music on our Soundstripe app.

Tips for adding music to Snapchats

To wrap things up, let’s go over some tips and tricks that can be helpful not only for adding music to your Snapchat videos but also for creating content and adding music to your videos on any social platform.

• Consider downloading preview tracks to use as placeholders in your edits before deciding if a track is right for your projects.
• Be sure to check out our library of royalty free sound effects to give your videos extra impact.
• Try out Soundstripe’s AI Song Editor to instantly edit your audio track to match the length of your content and campaigns.

Despite its evolution over the years, Snapchat is still very much about personal connections and direct communications between brands, creators, and followers. So, try to stay true to yourselves and have fun with the content that you’re creating.