Should You Use Music With or Without Lyrics for Videos? Our Top 10 Tracks of Each, and How to Use Them
Jourdan Aldredge
Sep 19, 2024
In the cross-mingling worlds of music and video, there’s a debate almost as old as time itself. Well, at least since the internet was invented and the rise of digital video came about. The debate is between using music with or without lyrics in your videos.
(For the record, there’s no debate against using any music in your videos, as using music in your videos is pretty much a slam-dunk argument at this point.)
However, the reasons for using music with or without lyrics are indeed divisive and diverse. In some instances, it absolutely makes sense to use less distracting music without lyrics. In other cases, it’s better to use engaging music with clear and impactful lyrics.
Let’s explore the pros and cons of both arguments and help you decide whether you should use music with or without lyrics in your videos.
When you should use music with lyrics for videos
Let’s start with all the reasons you SHOULD use music with lyrics for videos. These reasons vary a bit depending on what type of content you’re planning to make. Still, these reasons should cover most types of YouTube channels, other social video platforms, or other forms of narrative content creation.
- Music for intros and outros and title sequences
- If you’d like to establish a theme song for your channel or content
- To go over montages or segments that have no dialogue or audio
- If you create a type of content that has no dialogue or audio
- As a way to help tell a story with relevant lyrics
Of course, there are always going to be other reasons for you to consider using music with lyrics in your videos. The big takeaway here should simply be that lyrics work best when they’re accompanied by action and visuals that could benefit from having something capture your viewer’s attention.
Royalty free music with lyrics
To help you get started with using music with lyrics in your videos, we have some hand-picked selections to share with you. Now, these songs range across different genres and styles, but here are some royalty free music with lyrics options worth checking out.
Description: A medium-energy rock song best described as happy and hopeful. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
BPM: 170
Key: D Major
Description: A low-energy rock song best described as reflective and fun. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
BPM: 140
Key: A Major
Description: A high-energy rock song best described as fun and happy. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
BPM: 112
Key: E Major
Description: A medium-energy, hip-hop song best described as chill and fun. Bass and synth bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 150
Key: C Major
Description: A medium-energy soundtrack / cinematic song best described as reflective and suspenseful. Strings and synth are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 120
Key: F Major
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as chill and fun. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 106
Key: A Minor
Description: A medium-energy pop song best described as reflective and romantic. Piano and synth are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 140
Key: C Major
Description: A high-energy, electronic song best described as inspiring and happy. Percussion and claps / snaps/ stomps are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 120
Key: E Minor
Description: A high-energy, hip-hop song best described as angry and inspiring. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 130
Key: F Minor
Description: A high-energy, hip-hop song best described as angry and fun. Bass and synth bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 104
Key: D Minor
If you’d like to explore more options you can always check out our full royalty free music library here.
Tips for using music with lyrics
Once you’ve explored some music with lyrics options, here are some tips to keep in mind as you search for music and add these tracks to your content.
- Don’t let music with lyrics cover a subject or character talking
- Don’t let music with lyrics distract from any possible text on the screen
- Keep sections of music with lyrics short (unless you’re shooting a music video)
- Be sure to review all of the lyrics in your music to make sure the lyrics line up with what your content is about
- If possible, try to find music with lyrics that match what your video covers
Feel free to experiment and explore your different music options here, though. There are no right or wrong ways to use music with lyrics in your videos, but you’ll probably discover some rules that you’d like to follow.
When you should use music without lyrics for videos
Moving on to the other end of the lyrical spectrum here, let’s explore some reasons why you might not want to use music with lyrics for videos.. Similar to what we explained above, music without lyrics works best with video content with lots of dialogue and talking.
Here are some basic reasons to consider using musing without lyrics.
- Music for intros or outros
- Soundtrack music for narrative or documentary films
- Music to play behind your live streams (like Twitch streams)
- Music to give your more stuffy corporate or commercial videos extra energy
- Music for longer form content to bridge the gap between sections
As stated above, though, these are just a few reasons. As you might discover when you start working with your content, there are hundreds of other reasons for and against using music with lyrics in your videos.
Royalty free music without lyrics
Let’s also give you some royalty free music without lyrics to check out and consider possibly adding to your content. These tracks range across moods, styles, and genres, giving you an idea of the diversity of music in our Soundstripe library.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 140
Key: E Major
Description: A medium-energy, classical song best described as hopeful and inspiring. Strings and violin are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 105
Key: Bb/A# Major
Description: A low-energy, funk song best described as chill and fun. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 96
Key: Ab/G# Minor
Description: A low-energy, acoustic song best described as inspiring and hopeful. Guitar and acoustic guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 150
Key: F Major
Description: A medium-energy, corporate song best described as fun and happy. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 100
Key: F Minor
Description: A medium-energy, hip-hop song best described as chill and angry. Bass and synth bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 95
Key: A Minor
Description: A medium-energy rock song best described as hopeful and inspiring. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
BPM: 128
Key: Db/C# Major
Description: A medium-energy rock song best described as fun and happy. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
BPM: 152
Key: A Major
Description: A medium-energy, funk song best described as quirky and fun. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 87
Key: A Minor
Description: A high-energy rock song best described as fun and happy. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 125
Key: B Major
If you’d like to explore more options you can always check out our full royalty free music library here.
Tips for using music without lyrics
Finally, to help you on your content creation journey, here are some basic tips for working with music without lyrics in your various videos and forms of content.
- Experiment with the levels of your music. You don’t want background music to be too loud to overpower but also not too soft to not be heard.
- Consider ramping in background music so it’s loud when first introduced but becomes quieter to help it move to the background.
- Consider using multiple tracks for your videos to mix things up and keep the content moving.
- Just because music might not have lyrics doesn’t mean it has to be boring, so consider upbeat and emotive cinematic music options.
Again, the trick here is to have fun and experiment with these different types of music. Adding music to your videos can be a great way to make your content more engaging and just better. So have fun with it and see what types of royalty free music, with or without lyrics, work for you.