How to Add Music to a LinkedIn Video

Adding music to your LinkedIn video can transform it from a simple clip into a compelling piece of content that grabs attention and holds it. This guide breaks down exactly how to do it correctly, from understanding music rights to choosing the right tools for the job. We’ll cover the importance of music, where to source it legally, and the step-by-step process for editing your video before you upload it to LinkedIn.

Why Does Music on a LinkedIn Video Even Matter?

You might think of LinkedIn as a buttoned-up, corporate platform where music feels out of place. But that’s a dated view of how professionals connect today. Video is a dominant force on the platform, and audio is a huge part of the video experience. When used thoughtfully, music does more than just fill silence - it becomes a strategic tool.

Here’s what a good soundtrack brings to your professional videos:

• Increased Engagement and Watch Time: The right track can instantly hook a viewer who’s scrolling through their feed. It sets an emotional tone - be it motivational, thoughtful, or energetic - that encourages them to stick around longer. Videos with engaging audio simply perform better.
• Enhanced Brand Personality: Your choice of music says a lot about your brand. Are you modern and tech-focused? Classic and dependable? Creative and bold? An upbeat electronic track communicates something very different from a gentle, classical piano piece. Music is a potent way to convey your brand’s personality without saying a word.
• A Boost in Professionalism: A video with high-quality background music feels polished and well-produced. It shows you’ve invested time and effort into your content, which reflects positively on the quality of your work and your professional standards. A silent or poorly edited video, on the other hand, can feel incomplete or amateurish.
• Creates Memorability: Have you ever heard a jingle and immediately thought of a brand? The same principle applies here. Using a consistent stinger, intro, or a particular style of music across your videos can help build brand recognition, making your content instantly identifiable in a crowded feed.

The Golden Rule: Understanding Music Copyright and Licensing

Before you even think about which song to use, you need to understand the legal landscape. This is the single most important part of the process, and getting it wrong can lead to your video being taken down or even legal trouble. You cannot simply grab a popular song from Spotify, Apple Music, or your personal library and drop it into your video. Those songs are protected by copyright.

What is Royalty-Free Music?

Your solution to the copyright problem is royalty-free music. This term can be a bit confusing, but here’s what it generally means for a content creator:

You pay a one-time fee (or a subscription fee to a service) for a license to use a piece of music in your content. Once you have that license, you can use the track as many times as you like in your projects without having to pay ongoing royalties to the creator for every view or play. It’s not always free, but it's legally safe.

Think of it like buying software. You pay for the license once and can use the program according to the terms. Royalty-free music is the same idea - you’re buying a license to use the audio track.

What About Free Music?

Some music is available for free under licenses like Creative Commons. While "free" sounds great, you have to read the fine print. Common Creative Commons licenses may require you to:

• Give Attribution: You must credit the original artist in your video description.
• Be Non-Commercial: You might not be able to use the music in a video that promotes a business or product.
• Not Make Derivatives: You might not be allowed to edit or remix the track.

For professional use on LinkedIn, investing in a good royalty-free music subscription or license is almost always the safer, more straightforward option. It removes the guesswork and gives you a much wider selection of high-quality tracks to choose from.

Where to Find Legit, High-Quality Music for Your Videos

So, where do you find this magical, legally safe music? Fortunately, there are many excellent platforms dedicated to providing content creators with licensed audio. Here are some of the best:

Subscription-Based Platforms (Best Value for Frequent Creators)

• Epidemic Sound: A massive favorite among YouTubers and social media marketers. Their library is huge, searchable by mood, genre, and BPM, and the quality is exceptional. One subscription gives you unlimited downloads and covers you across all your social platforms.
• Artlist.io: Known for its highly curated library of music from indie artists. The licensing is incredibly simple - a subscription covers everything forever, even if you cancel your plan later (for the tracks you downloaded while subscribed).
• Soundstripe: Another top contender with a vast library of radio-quality music and sound effects. They offer flexible plans and integrate directly with some video editing tools like Adobe Premiere Pro.

Pay-Per-Track Platforms (Good for Occasional Videos)

• PremiumBeat (by Shutterstock): Offers a highly curated library of professional tracks. You buy a license for a specific song, with different price points for web use versus broadcast use. The quality is excellent.
• Pond5: A massive marketplace for all sorts of stock assets, including music. You can find just about anything here and buy licenses for individual tracks.

Quality Free Options (For a Tight Budget)

• YouTube Audio Library: One of the best free resources available. You can find thousands of free tracks and sound effects directly within your YouTube Studio. You can filter by tracks that require attribution and those that don't. While it’s from YouTube, the license generally allows use on other platforms, but always read the terms.
• Bensound: A popular site offering a good selection of music for free with attribution. They also offer paid licenses if you prefer not to give credit or need higher-quality files.

Step-by-Step: Adding Music to Your Video Before Uploading

This is a critical point to understand: LinkedIn does not have a built-in feature to add music to videos. Unlike Instagram Stories or TikTok, you can't upload your clip and choose a song from a library within LinkedIn. You must add the music to your video using an external editing tool first, then upload the finished video file.

Here’s how to do it using two common types of tools.

Method 1: Using a Simple Online Video Editor

Web-based editors are perfect for users who want a quick, easy, and straightforward way to add music. They don't require powerful computers or software installation. Tools like Canva, Veed.io, or InVideo are all great options.

The process is generally the same for all platforms:

1. Log In and Create a Project: Sign in to your chosen online editor and start a new video project. It's best practice to select a format that fits LinkedIn, such as square (1:1) or vertical (9:16).
2. Upload Your Video: Upload the video file you want to add music to from your computer.
3. Find the Audio Section: Look for a tab or menu item labeled "Audio," "Music," or something similar.
4. Add Your Music: You’ll typically have two choices:
   • Upload your own track: Select the royalty-free song you downloaded from a service like Epidemic Sound or Artlist.
   • Use their library: Most of these editors have their own built-in libraries of royalty-free music you can use.
5. Adjust the Timing and Volume: Drag the audio track onto your video’s timeline. Two critical adjustments are needed here:
   • Trim the audio: Your music track is likely longer than your video. Click and drag the ends of the audio clip to match the length of your video.
   • Set the volume: Look for a volume slider. If your video has speaking parts, the music should be quiet background noise. A good starting point is around 10-20% volume. If it’s a montage with no speaking, the music can be louder.
6. Export Your Masterpiece: Once you're happy, click the "Export" or "Download" button. Choose a high-quality setting (like 1080p), and your new video with music included will be saved to your computer, ready to upload to LinkedIn.

Method 2: Using Desktop Video Editing Software

For more control over the final product, desktop software is the way to go. These tools offer more advanced features like audio fading and precise volume control (known as audio keyframing).

Free options include iMovie (for Mac) and DaVinci Resolve (for Mac/Windows). Professional options include Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro.

The workflow is similar to online editors but with more precision:

1. Start a New Project: Open your software and create a new project and sequence.
2. Import Your Media: Import both your video file and your downloaded audio file into the project bin.
3. Build Your Timeline: Drag your video clip onto the main timeline. Then, drag your audio file onto an audio track below your video.
4. Mix Your Audio Levels: This is where desktop software shines. Play back the video and listen. Is the music overpowering the person speaking? Use the audio mixer panels to lower the gain of the music track until it sits comfortably in the background. A general rule for background music under dialogue is to set it between -18 and -25 decibels (dB), while spoken words should hover around -6 to -12 dB.
5. Add Fades: For a more professional touch, add a short audio fade-in at the beginning and a fade-out at the end of your music track. This avoids abrupt starts and stops. You can usually find this effect in your effects panel.
6. Export the Final File: Go to File > Export. Choose a web-friendly format like H.264 (which will create an .mp4 file) and select a preset for "High Quality 1080p." This will give you a great-looking and great-sounding video file optimized for sharing online.

Final Thoughts

Adding music to your LinkedIn videos is a powerful way to increase engagement, showcase your brand’s personality, and appear more professional. The key is to source your music legally from a royalty-free service and use an editing tool to combine the audio and video before you upload the final file to LinkedIn.

Of course, producing great content is just one part of the puzzle. The other is managing and scheduling it effectively so you can post consistently and analyze your results. At Postbase, we built our platform with a modern, video-first workflow in mind. Since social media today is all about short-form video on platforms like TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts, and LinkedIn, we made it simple to schedule your polished video content everywhere at once, without the glitches and headaches common in older tools that were built for a different social media era.