Daily Archives: March 11, 2008

Is your Podcast Alive with the Sound of Music?

by Jina Bacarr

Jingles. Theme music. iTunes. Music is to podcasting what a pair of high heels is to that little black dress. It sets the mood. Slip on a pair of stilettos, you get sexy. Pull on a pair of cowboy boots, you get country. And that’s exactly what I wanted for the background music for my “Jina does Dallas RWA” video blog series. I chose “Honey Rose” from B&H Gold Music to “sweeten” my video podcasts about the RWA Dallas conference, including the video podcast included in this month’s blog with bestselling author, Lisa Jackson.

Sounds easy, right? Download your fave country tune…and then what? How do you add music to your audio and video podcasts? Let’s take a look at the Dos and Don’ts of Podcast Music:

DO have an idea of your theme, tempo, and rhythm before you go looking for music. Most music sites allow you to search by genre, instrument, tempo, etc. Listen to previews on several sites [links included at the end of this blog] and bookmark the links of the music you like so you can find them again.

DO use only Royalty Free podcast safe music. Wikipedia does a good job of explaining what Royalty Free music is. Prices vary for use of the music. You can buy individual music tracks for a median price of $10-30 or CDs with several tracks for $79-$199 average.

DO buy editing software to help you edit the music, then learn how to use it in your movie-making program. Muvee is a great program for editing video podcasts, adding photos and music. It allows you to drop in a piece of music and it adjusts the length of the piece to fit your video and/or photos.

DON’T let the music overpower your video or voiceover. Adjust the volume accordingly if you edit the music yourself.

DON”T use any music you’ve downloaded or taken off a CD without checking with the artist/band/recording company for permission. Use only Podsafe music.

DON’T be afraid to experiment with unusual music for your podcast to create an eclectic piece.

Ready to meet New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Jackson? She was one of the afternoon speakers at our March 8th meeting. I had the opportunity to interview her at the RWA Conference in Dallas. Here is LISA JACKSON

Best,
Jina

Royalty Free music sites:

B&H Gold Music

Partners in Rhyme with sound effects

Incompetech.com

Stock music store

Stockmusic.net

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and my new erotic spy thriller, Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs. Check out my MySpace page and meet Breezy Malone, the heroine in Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs.

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