How to add music to a video
Last updated 2026-10-20
To add music to a video, import a track you have the rights to, place it on an audio track under the picture, and lower its volume so speech stays clear. Trim it to the video's length and fade it in and out. Check the rights first: being able to download a song does not mean you can post it.
Pick a track you have the rights to
Start with permission, because a copyright claim is the usual way a music video goes wrong. Owning a copy of a song is not the same as being allowed to post it. Apple's iMovie guide says that to use a song you bought from the iTunes Store, you must be the copyright holder or have express permission from the holder.
On YouTube, the copyright holder decides what happens. YouTube's help page lists three outcomes of a Content ID claim: ads may run on your video, the music is blocked worldwide, or it is blocked in some countries. Those policies can change later, and YouTube says it cannot grant the rights for you.
| Source | What to check |
|---|---|
| A song you bought or streamed | Permission from the copyright holder. A purchase alone is not enough. |
| YouTube Audio Library | YouTube says tracks downloaded from it will not be claimed through Content ID. Creative Commons tracks need a credit in the description; filter for Attribution not required to skip that. |
| TikTok business account | Use the Commercial Music Library. TikTok says businesses cannot use the general music library for commercial use. |
| Music you made or commissioned | Written permission that covers video and every platform you post to. |
Place the track and set its level under speech
Put the music on its own audio track, under the picture, and trim it to end when the video ends. iMovie on Mac works the same way: it keeps background music in a well below the timeline and edits it apart from the video clips.
Set the level while speech is playing, not while the music plays alone. Music that sounds right by itself is almost always too loud under a voice. Start low, around 15 percent of full volume, which is where Woven's AI agent starts a music bed it writes, then nudge it until you never strain to catch a word.
Under speech, pick instrumental music with a steady texture, because sung words compete with yours. For a montage with no talking, the music can run much louder.
Fades, loops and making room for speech
Fade the music in over about a second and out over the last two. A hard start sounds like a mistake, and a hard stop on the final frame sounds worse. By default, Woven's AI agent uses a 1 second fade in and a 2 second fade out when it writes a music bed.
If the track is shorter than the video, loop it or pick a longer one. A loop repeats the trimmed part for as long as the item lasts, so trim to the end of a musical phrase first, or the repeat will jump.
There are two ways to leave room for speech. Lower the whole bed, or mute it for a stretch. In Woven a duck mutes the music completely between two times, fading down before and back up after. It does not lower the music by a set amount. A swell does the opposite and raises the volume between two times, which suits the gap between lines. So keep the bed low for speech and let it swell where nobody talks.
Add music in Woven
Woven has no music library. Bring a track you have the right to use, or ask Woven's AI agent in chat to generate one, which uses credits. Woven does not check rights for you. A track you add by hand arrives as an audio clip at 100% volume with no fades and no loop. Fades, looping, mutes and swells are set by asking in chat. The timeline waveform then shows the volume, fades and mutes.
Ask in chat
- Put this track under the whole video, low, with a 1 second fade in and a 2 second fade out.
- Loop the music so it covers the full video.
- Mute the music from 0:05 to 0:09 and bring it back after.
- Swell the music between 0:12 and 0:15.
Or do it by hand
- 1Bring the track in. Choose Add, then Audio (MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC or FLAC), or drag the file from Finder onto the timeline. Add puts it on the Audio track at the playhead; a drag puts it where you drop it.
- 2Trim to length. Drag the clip's right edge to the video's last frame. To cut a section out, split it with ⌘B and delete the piece.
- 3Set the level. Select the music clip, open Volume in the toolbar and drag the slider down while a spoken stretch plays. The range is 0 to 100%, and M mutes the clip.
- 4Ask for the fades. Ask in chat for the fade in, fade out, loop, mutes and swells. The editor has no hand controls for them.
- 5Check the mix. Press Space and listen across a spoken stretch and the ending. The waveform shows the volume, fades and mutes.
Common questions
Use a track whose license covers your use. YouTube's Audio Library is a royalty-free source of music and sound effects.
Add it in your editor before you upload, then export and upload the finished file. Use a track you have permission for. If you use a Creative Commons track from YouTube's Audio Library, credit the artist in the video description.
No. On YouTube a claim can monetize the video, block it worldwide, or block it in some countries, and the policy can change later.
Lower the music track's volume while you listen to a spoken stretch. In Woven, use the Volume slider on the music clip. Woven does not lower music under speech by itself.
Fade it over the last couple of seconds. In Woven, ask in chat for a fade out, because the editor has no hand control for fades.
Loop it or choose a longer track. In Woven, ask in chat to loop it. The trimmed part repeats for as long as the clip lasts.
Sources
- Add music and sound clips in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Restrictions on claimed music - YouTube Help, checked October 19, 2026
- Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library - YouTube Help, checked October 19, 2026
- Commercial Music Library - TikTok Ads Help, checked October 19, 2026
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