Simple Steps For Adding Music to Your YouTube Videos

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Add background music, royalty-free songs, and sound effects directly to YouTube videos with YouTube Studio

Co-authored by Timothy Linetsky and Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: July 27, 2024 Fact Checked

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This wikiHow article teaches you how to add a music track to a YouTube video. Although it's no longer possible to swap the audio track in the mobile app, you can still get the job done in your computer's web browser. Since YouTube's terms don't allow you to use copyright-protected music, you can select from a large database of royalty-free tracks in the YouTube Studio editor.

Quick Steps

Go to YouTube Studio in your web browser.
Click the video's thumbnail.
Click the plus sign next to the music note.
Click Save.

Steps

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1
Upload your video to YouTube. If you have already uploaded the video you want to add music to, skip this step.^{[1]
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- This feature is only available if your video is less than 6 hours long and has fewer than 100,000 views. The only exception to the 100,000 views restriction is if you're a part of the YouTube Partner Program.^{[2]
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Go to https://studio.youtube.com/. Sign into your YouTube account if needed.
- You can use any web browser on your desktop to get to this site; however, the mobile app will not let you add music to videos.
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You'll see this option in the menu on the left side of the window.
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Click the thumbnail image of the video you want to edit. This opens the video's details page.
- If you just uploaded the video and it's not finished processing, you won't see a thumbnail yet. Wait until the video is finished processing and the thumbnail appears before you click.
It's on the left menu toward the center.^{[3]
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Each element (video, audio, end screen, blur, etc.) has its own row next to the video preview. The audio row has a music note icon—click the + next to this icon to expand a list of free audio tracks.
Each track has its own Play button (a sideways triangle), so scroll through the list and check out the options. To search for something specific, click the Search or filter library bar above the songs, select a category, and then enter your search terms.
Hover the mouse cursor over the track to make the Add link visible, then click it to add it to the audio row (the music note row).^{[4]
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Edit the audio track as needed. The audio row now features more buttons – one to adjust the mix level and a three-dot menu icon for more options.^{[5]
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- Drag the sound waves behind the blue bar with the inserted audio to any location in the video.
- If you want to keep the original audio and play the inserted audio in the background, click the icon of settings sliders and lower the mix level.
It's the blue button at the top-right corner of the page. This saves your audio changes to the video file and publishes them on YouTube.

Community Q&A

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Question

How do I add multiple songs to YouTube videos?

Community Answer

After completing this process, save as new video. Then repeat the process. The first track will be embedded, and you can add more as long as you do them one at a time like this.

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Question

What if the video is longer than the song? How does one add more music?

Community Answer

If the duration of the music you chose is less than the length of your video, you can drag additional tracks to the "Drag audio here" box. If the track is longer, however, YouTube will trim it to match your video.

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Question

Is it possible to add background music to a video that already has audio in it?

Community Answer

Yes. You can just alter the saturation. You can take it all the way to the left and make it so the audio already you add to the recording is louder than the background music.

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wikiHow Video: How To Add Music To Your YouTube Video - Full Guide

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YouTube's list of music you can use is copyright-free, meaning you can use it on any video without fear of a copyright strike or having your video taken down.^{[6]
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While you can't add music to YouTube videos using the iPhone, iPad, or Android mobile app, you can still use a desktop web browser.

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Do not add commercial music to your video using video editing software before uploading it to YouTube. Your video will have its audio muted, and YouTube may even remove the video.

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