How to Use Songs on TikTok

Music isn’t just background noise on TikTok, it’s the engine that powers trends, drives engagement, and gives your videos a heartbeat. This guide breaks down exactly how to use songs on TikTok, from finding the perfect trending audio to staying compliant as a business. We'll cover step-by-step instructions for adding sounds, smart strategies for discovering what’s popular, and a creator's-eye view on making audio work for you.

Why the Right Song is a Game-Changer on TikTok

On platforms like Instagram or Facebook, the visual comes first. On TikTok, audio is often an equal, if not more important, partner. The TikTok algorithm pays close attention to the sounds users engage with. When a song starts trending, the algorithm actively pushes more content using that sound to users who have previously enjoyed videos with it. Tapping into a trending sound is one of the most effective ways to get your content in front of a new, wider audience. More than just a soundtrack, a sound often provides the entire context for a video, acting as the punchline, the narrative guide, or the foundation of a dance or challenge. Choosing the right one is like a cheat code for relevance.

Understanding TikTok's Sound Library: Commercial vs. General

Before you add any sound, it's incredibly important to know which music library you have access to. TikTok categorizes accounts and their corresponding sound access into two main types to handle music licensing correctly.

The General Music Library (For Personal Accounts)

If you have a personal creator account, you have access to the full, massive library of sounds on TikTok. This includes millions of popular songs from major artists, viral clips from movies and TV shows, and original audio from other creators. It’s a content playground - you can use virtually anything you hear on the platform. The catch? You can’t use this content for any commercial, advertising, or promotional purposes. A personal account is designed for organic, non-commercial expression.

The Commercial Music Library (For Business Accounts)

Once you switch to a Business Account, your sound library will look very different. The vast catalog of pop songs disappears, replaced by the Commercial Music Library. This is a collection of over a million royalty-free tracks that have been pre-cleared for brands to use in their marketing content without running into copyright issues. While you might not find the latest chart-topper from Taylor Swift, you'll find plenty of high-quality, genre-diverse music that is safe for promotional videos. Using commercial sounds keeps your brand legally protected and avoids having your audio muted or your video taken down.

The takeaway: If you're a brand, YouTuber, or business of any kind using TikTok to promote products or services, you MUST use a Business Account and stick to the Commercial Music Library.

How to Add a Song to Your TikTok: Step-by-Step

There are two primary ways to add audio to your videos: choosing a sound before you record or adding it after.

Adding a Sound Before You Record

This method is best when the sound itself is the inspiration for your video, like for a lip-sync or a dance trend.

1. Open TikTok and tap the main "+" create button at the bottom of the screen.
2. At the very top of the camera screen, you'll see a button that says "Add sound." Tap it.
3. This opens the Sound Library. You can browse playlists like "Trending," "New Music," or search for a specific song or artist.
4. Once you find a sound you like, tap it to preview it. Tap the red checkmark to select it.
5. You are now back on the camera screen with the song loaded. You can see the song title at the top. You can now record your video segments, and the music will play as you record, helping you sync your actions to the audio.

Adding or Changing a Sound After You Record

Use this method if your video's visuals can stand on their own and you want to find the perfect track to complement them afterward.

1. Record your video clips using the "+" create button. Once you're finished filming, tap the red checkmark to move to the editing screen.
2. In the top right corner of the editing screen, you will again see the "Add sound" button. Tap it.
3. Select a sound from the library just as you would in the previous method. TikTok will automatically layer this new sound over your video's original audio.
4. From here, tap "Volume" on the right-hand panel. You'll see two sliders: "Original sound" and "Added sound." You can drag these to adjust the balance. For example, if you're doing a voiceover or speaking, you can lower the volume of the added music to make it background audio. If you want the music to be dominant, you can mute the original sound completely.

Strategies for Finding the Perfect Trending Song

Knowing how to add a song is easy. Knowing which song to add is the real art. Here are some of the most effective ways to find sounds that are about to pop.

1. Use Your "For You" Page Intentionally

Your For You Page (FYP) isn't just for entertainment, it's your primary trend research tool. As you scroll, pay attention to the audio.

• Spot Repetition: Do you hear the same song clip or audio snippet three or four times in a ten-minute scrolling session? That's a strong signal the sound is trending.
• Look at the "Arrow" Icon: On the bottom right of a video, tap the spinning circle icon that represents the sound. If you see thousands of videos using that sound and the top ones have high view counts, it's a good bet. Look for an upward-pointing arrow next to the sound title on this screen, this is TikTok's official designation for a trending sound.
• Save Your Favorites: When you hear a sound you might want to use later, tap the sound icon and then tap "Add to Favorites." This saves it for easy access when you're ready to create.

2. Check the TikTok Creative Center

TikTok doesn't keep its trend data a secret. The TikTok Creative Center is a free resource specifically built for creators and marketers. Navigate to the "Trend Intelligence" section, and you'll find charts of breakout songs, new popular artists, and filters showing which sounds are popular in your specific country or industry. It's a goldmine of data-backed insights.

3. Find the Source of the Sound

Often, a sound takes off because of a specific video or creator. When you find a trending sound, go to its sound page and scroll through the top videos. Understand the context of the trend. Is it a dance? A funny personal story? A "before and after" reveal? Using a sound in the way it was popularized makes your video more relatable and easier for the algorithm to classify.

4. Niche Down Your Audio

Not everything has to be a Top 40 hit. Sometimes, the most powerful sounds are ones hyper-relevant to your specific community. This could be a quote from a popular movie in your niche, a piece playthrough from a video game, or a soundbite from an industry leader. These niche sounds signal to your target audience that you are "one of them" and can help you build a much more engaged following than if you only jump on massive, generic trends.

Best Practices for Making Sounds Work Even Better

• Jump on Trends Early: The lifespan of a TikTok trend is fast. The biggest growth comes when you adopt a sound while it's still on the rise, not when it has become over-saturated.
• Don't Be Afraid of Original Audio: If you have something unique to say, record it! Your own voice can become an original sound. If it's funny, insightful, or relatable, other people might start using it, giving you automatic credit in every new video made with your sound.
• Credit Where It's Due: If you're doing a dance or a trend that was started by a specific creator, it's good form to tag them in your caption. It fosters a positive community and recognizes creative work.
• Pay Attention to the Start: Many TikTok sounds are precisely timed clips. When selecting a sound, you can use the scissor "Trim" tool to choose exactly which part of the song you want to use. Make sure your clip starts at the right moment, especially for trends built around a specific song lyric or beat drop.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to use songs on TikTok is about blending technical know-how with creative instinct. It's about recognizing that sounds are a language on the platform and using them to connect, entertain, and grow. By understanding the tools, paying attention to what's trending, and always keeping your brand's voice and legal obligations in mind, you can turn audio into one of your most powerful assets.

Once you’ve perfected your sound strategy, keeping your content schedule organized across multiple platforms can become the next big challenge. With so much focus on creating engaging short-form videos for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, things can quickly get chaotic. This is exactly where we've found our own tool, Postbase, to be indispensable. We designed it with a clean, visual calendar specifically because we needed to see our entire video strategy - from TikToks to client content - in one simple view. Being able to plan, schedule, and see gaps in our content plan without fighting a clunky interface lets us focus on the creative work instead of the busy work.