How to Put Music Into Video: The Steps in Three Tools
To put music into video, open the clip in an editor with a separate audio track, drop the song underneath, then lower the music to about a quarter of full volume wherever someone speaks. That last step is the one people skip.
| Tool | Best when | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| iMovie | The clip is already on your iPhone | Apple Music tracks will not load |
| Clipchamp | You are on a laptop with nothing installed | 1080p on the free plan |
| CapCut | You want a track that is trending | Delete the ending clip before you export |
Which tool should you open to put music into video?
The one already on the device holding the clip.
Pew Research puts smartphone ownership at 91% of US adults, so the footage and the song tend to start life on the same phone. Moving everything to a computer first costs an hour and improves nothing.
Any video maker with music built in will do this job, and each one lets you insert music on a track of its own, sitting under the picture instead of replacing the sound already there.
What all three have in common
- A timeline with at least one audio track beneath the video
- A volume control per clip rather than one for the whole project
- A cleared library of their own, so you can start without hunting for a song
You add the music to the video after the picture is cut, never before. Trim a clip later and the song slides out of step with the thing it was cut to.
How do you put music into video on an iPhone?
In iMovie, because the Photos app has no audio track to put a song on.
Photos will trim, rotate and filter a video. Apple puts the soundtrack job in iMovie instead, and it is a no-cost download.
- Open iMovie, tap Start New Project, choose Movie, select your clip and tap Create Movie.
- Tap the Add Media button, then tap Audio.
- Tap Soundtracks for iMovie's own tracks, or My Music for songs synced from a computer.
- Tap the track you want, then tap the Add Audio button that appears.
- Drag the ends of the green audio bar to line the song up with the picture.
- Tap Done, then the share button, then Save Video.
Why your favorite song refuses to load
Because Apple Music is rented, not owned.
Apple's own guide states that songs protected by digital rights management cannot be used in iMovie, and a downloaded Apple Music track carries that protection. The song appears in the list with a cloud icon and refuses to drop in.
Apple also asks that you hold the copyright, or permission from whoever does, for anything bought from the iTunes Store. A purchase buys listening, not publishing.
How do you put background music on video in a browser?
Clipchamp runs in the browser and keeps the whole job on one screen.
- Start a new video, then use the import media button, or drag your files into My media.
- Drag the clip down to the timeline.
- Click the content library tab, then the audio category.
- Drag a track to the timeline, or click the + button on it.
- Click the audio clip, open the audio tab in the property panel, and drag the volume slider down.
- Click export and pick a quality. Microsoft documents 480p, 720p, 1080p and 4K as the options.
Compared to iMovie, Clipchamp does not care which device the clip came from, which matters when four people sent you four different things.
CapCut follows the same shape on a phone: Audio, then a track, then the volume control on the audio clip. Scroll to the end of the timeline and delete the branded ending clip before you export.
How loud should the music sit under a voice?
Lower than feels right while you are setting it.
Music is mastered to sound good on its own. A phone recording of a person in a kitchen is not, so the song wins unless you hold it down.
| Underneath | Music level |
|---|---|
| Someone talking | About a quarter |
| Photos, nobody speaking | About three quarters |
| A title card | Full, then down as the first voice starts |
Set the level clip by clip. Each one was recorded in a different room at a different distance, so a single project-wide setting is wrong somewhere.
Fade the song in and out over about two seconds. Unlike a hard stop, a fade reads as a decision rather than a mistake.
More on levels in putting music over a video online, and on structure in building a video montage.
Where should the song itself come from?
From a library that already cleared it for you.
Each editor ships with tracks licensed for use inside that editor, which settles the question before it is asked. The YouTube Audio Library is the other obvious shelf, and some of its tracks ask for a credit.
Commercial releases are the trap. They sound right because you have heard them a thousand times, and they are the reason an upload gets claimed.
Both sides of that trade are in royalty free music for videos and slideshow makers with music.
What if the clips came from a dozen different people?
The Tribute video editor is a browser-based group video editor: contributors record clips on their phones and Tribute assembles them on a timeline with the music balanced under the voices.
It is ours, and it is the last thing on this page.
- 39 licensed tracks across 11 genres, cleared for use inside the editor
- Your own audio too: a YouTube link, or an MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC upload
- 25% under speech and 75% under photos by default, changeable per clip
- Crossfade songs blends one track into the next when the video outlasts one song
Best for: A song that keeps drowning out whoever is speaking in the clip.
Why it works: The level under each voice is set before you arrive, so the job is adjusting rather than mixing.
Can the music already be there when you open the video?
Everything above assumes an empty audio track and a decision to make.
There is one situation where neither exists.
The case: several people recording for one person
A grandmother turning eighty. A colleague leaving after fifteen years. A memorial where the people who should speak are in four time zones.
Nobody is shooting anything. Each person records a message on their own phone, and the work in front of you is assembly.
Which makes the search that brought you here, how to put music into video, a problem you no longer have.
Why the music question never arrives
Because the song is under the voices before the editor opens.
Clips land on the timeline in the order they arrived, with a licensed track running at 25% wherever anyone speaks. The Tribute video editor treats that as the starting state rather than the goal.
What you do not have to do
On a Concierge Tribute, the audio work is not yours.
- Not the ordering. Tribute's editors build the video out of what people sent.
- Not the hiss on the clip recorded in a kitchen. Eve, the assistant on Concierge and Concierge + Video Book, cleans up bad audio across every clip.
- Not the dead air. Ask Eve for the silences cut and they go, on the whole timeline at once.
When this is the wrong answer: you shot the video yourself, or one specific commercial song is the whole point. Then you are back in iMovie or Clipchamp with the steps above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Photos app on iPhone add a song to a video?
No. Photos edits the picture and the existing sound, and it has no second audio track. Apple puts music in iMovie, which is a no-cost download.
Why will Apple Music tracks not import?
They carry digital rights management, and Apple states those songs cannot be used in iMovie. Use a track you own outright or one from a cleared library.
How do I put music behind video without the voices disappearing?
Set the music to about a quarter of full volume under speech, and do it clip by clip. Raise it again over any stretch where nobody is talking.
What if the song is shorter than the video?
Most editors loop a background track to fill the gap, and a crossfade between two copies hides the join. Fading out and back in also works.
Can I put videos together with music in one pass?
Yes. Lay the clips end to end first, then drop one track under the whole row so the song carries across the joins.
Is there a way to put pictures and videos together with music?
Every tool here mixes stills and clips on one timeline. Give photos about four seconds each and let the music decide how many fit.
Does lowering the music hurt the export?
No. Volume is baked in at export, so what you hear in the preview is what the file contains.
👉 Have the music set under every voice for you if several people are recording for one person, and the audio track is never yours to open.
