How to add music in iMovie on a Mac
Last updated 2026-10-20
To add music in iMovie on a Mac, open your movie, select Audio & Video above the browser, choose Music, Apple TV or Sound Effects in the sidebar, and drag a clip to the background music well below the timeline. Drag it onto the timeline instead to attach it to one clip. Then set volume and fades on the waveform.
Add a song or sound to your movie
From the open movie, choose "Audio & Video" above the browser. In the sidebar, pick "Music", "Apple TV" or "Sound Effects", then browse to the clip you want. Apple's welcome page says background music comes from your music library.
- Background music. Drag the clip to the background music well, below the timeline.
- The whole clip. Drag it from the list onto the timeline.
- Part of a clip. Select a range in the waveform at the top of the browser, then drag that range onto the timeline.
Background music well or a clip attached to video
Where you drop a clip decides how it behaves. Apple says background music plays alongside your video's own sound, sound effects and voiceovers, in its own area of the timeline, so edits to other clips do not touch it. A sound clip dropped on the timeline attaches to a clip and moves with it.
To reuse a video clip's own sound as music, select the clip and choose Modify › Detach Audio, or press Option-Command-B. The sound becomes its own clip, marked with a green bar. You can attach it to another clip or move it to the background music well.
| Aspect | Background music well | Sound clip on the timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Where you drop it | In the well below the timeline | On the timeline, attached to a clip |
| When you move or cut other clips | Stays where it is | Moves with the clip it is attached to |
| Length | Tick "Trim background music" under Settings and iMovie shortens it to fit the movie | You trim it yourself |
Set the volume and add fades
Volume lives on the waveform. If you see none, click Settings at the top right of the timeline and tick "Show Waveforms". Yellow peaks mean distortion and red peaks mean clipping, so lower the volume until the waveform is green.
- Whole clip. Select the clip and drag the horizontal volume line up or down. The level shows as a percentage while you drag.
- Part of a clip. Hold R and drag across the part you want, then drag the line inside that range. iMovie adds a fade at each edge.
- Over time. Option-click the line to add a keyframe. Add at least two, since volume changes between them.
- Fades. Point at the audio until the fade handles appear, then drag one. A handle at the start makes a fade-in. A handle at the end makes a fade-out.
Keep music quiet under a voice
Select the clip you want to hear in front, click the "Volume" button and tick "Lower volume of other clips". Drag the slider to set how loud the other clips are next to the selected one. Apple's example is a voiceover: iMovie lowers the music while the voice plays.
To record that voice, put the playhead where it starts and click the "Record Voiceover" button below the viewer. The recording attaches to the clip under the playhead. In Voiceover Options, tick "Mute Project" to silence other clips while you record.
Rights and royalty-free music
Apple's music page gives one rights rule. To use a song you bought from the iTunes Store in a project, you must hold its copyright or have the copyright holder's express permission.
Media that comes with iMovie is covered by Apple's iMovie software license for Mac. It says the included media content may be used royalty free in your own video projects, but its audio only for your own personal, non-commercial use. So iMovie's bundled sounds are not cleared for a client ad or a sponsored post. For commercial work, use music you have licensed for that use.
Add music in Woven
Woven has no music library, so music is a file you import or a track you ask for in chat, which is billed to Woven credits by default. It has no automatic ducking, no volume keyframes and no voice recording, and it does not check rights on imported music. Fades, looping and silencing music under speech are chat-only, and a silenced stretch is fully silent, not quieter. When chat adds the music bed, it starts at 15% volume with a 1 second fade-in, a 2 second fade-out and looping.
Ask in chat
- Put this song under the whole video and fade it out over the last 2 seconds.
- Keep the music quiet under my voiceover.
- Silence the music from 0:08 to 0:14 while I talk.
- Generate a calm instrumental and place it under the clips.
Or do it by hand
- 1Import. Open Add, choose Audio and pick an MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC or FLAC file. It lands on the Audio track at the playhead. You can also drag a file from Finder onto the timeline.
- 2Fit. Pull either end of the clip to shorten it, or press ⌘B to cut it in two at the playhead.
- 3Set the level. Select the clip, open Volume in the toolbar and drag the slider down so a voice stays clear.
- 4Ask for the rest. Ask in chat for a fade, a loop or silence under speech. These have no hand controls.
- 5Check. Press Space to preview it. The waveform on the Audio track shows the volume, fades and silenced stretches.
Common questions
Yes. Apple says background music can come from your music library, so a song in it can go in the well. A purchased iTunes Store song needs you to hold the copyright or have the holder's express permission.
Apple's iMovie license for Mac lets you use its included media royalty free in your own video projects, but its audio only for personal, non-commercial use. A song from your library needs the copyright holder's permission.
Drag the volume line on the music's waveform down. To lower it only while someone talks, select the voice clip, click Volume and tick Lower volume of other clips.
Point at the end of the audio until the fade handle appears, then drag it to where the fade should begin.
Sources
- Add music and sound clips in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Change audio volume in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Fade audio in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Add audio effects in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Record a voiceover in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Add audio from a video clip in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Change project settings in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- iMovie User Guide for Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- iMovie Software License Agreement - Apple, checked October 19, 2026
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