How do i put music on imovie

Music in Apple’s iMovie app can feel pretty limited. By default, it includes a set number of licenses soundtracks you can use – and anything you’ve manually added in iTunes can be imported too. But if you try to add anything from Apple Music’s streaming library, you’ll likely find it doesn’t work due to DRM copyright protection.

But, using a smart workaround that’s easy to do, it’s possible to add almost any track – from Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere else – for free.

(Please note that this workaround is best suited to personal projects. Sharing it online may result in the audio being flagged for copyright infringement.)

First, make sure you have iMovie downloaded and installed on your device. It also helps to have a project up and running. You can set up a new project by launching the app and tapping Create Project, before adding clips or images from the Photos library.

Ensure you have at least one video clip on the project timeline. This is what we’ll be setting our music to.

Create Project.

To add a piece of copyrighted music, find the track you’d like to add from any app where you can play music. For our example, we’ll use a song from the Music app. Find the track you’d like to import into iMovie and get it queued up to the point in the song you want to use – but don’t play the track yet!

Instead, you’ll need to open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button. As you’d expect, this feature lets you record everything on screen, plus any audio currently being played. If you can’t see the Screen Recording button, launch Settings, tap Control Center, and enable it under the More Controls section. Tap + to add it to your device’s Control Center.

Screen Recording.

To capture the piece of music, activate Screen Recording and play the track. Wait until the song has finished – or the section that you need – and then stop recording by tapping the red recording icon in the top-left and choosing Stop from the pop-up menu. The video will be saved to your Photos app.

Stop Recording.

Now, return to iMovie and open your project. Tap the + icon to add a new piece of media and choose Video to browse through the contents of your Photos app. Find your screen recording, tap it, and choose the … icon to reveal a selection of bonus options.

Next, simply choose Audio Only to import just the audio from this video – which, if you’ve followed the above steps, should be your chosen piece of music! You can then manipulate the track as you would any piece of audio or video in iMovie, by dragging it into position on the timeline. Lay it over the top of a video clip or two and you have instant background music!

As long as you’re using a compatible Apple device, iMovie is one of the most user-friendly editing software for content creators. But how do you add music, and where can you find the best tracks?

How to add music to iMovie: step by step

Adding music to iMovie is really simple. Whether you’re on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, all it takes is a bit of dragging and dropping!

How to add music to iMovie on Mac

• Open your iMovie project, then click ‘Audio’ in the top menu. It should be on the right-hand side of ‘My Media,’ and to the left of ‘Titles.’
• This will bring you to the ‘Music’ tab, containing all your local music files. You can scroll through and choose the track you want, or type something in the search bar if you’re like us and have a million songs!
• Double-click the track to preview it, and if it’s all good, just drag and drop it onto your project timeline! If you want the song to start in sync with a specific clip, drag it right under the start of said clip. A bar will appear when you do this, connecting the song to the clip. This means that if you move the video, the audio goes with it.
• That’s it! You just learned how to add music to iMovie on Mac. If you want to spice things up, you can also drag audio files directly from the Finder to your iMovie project.

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How to add music to iMovie on iPhone or iPad

• Open your iMovie project, then click the ‘Add Media’ button. It looks like a little plus sign. 
• Click ‘Audio,’ then ‘Add Music.’ You’ll then be able to see all the tracks you’ve purchased via Apple, and any songs you’ve synced or added manually to your device. 
• Tap a song to preview it, and if that’s the one you’re after, hit the ‘Add Audio' button. This looks like the ‘Add Media’ button, but in a circle. It can be found next to the song you're choosing.
• You’re all done! You just figured out how to add music to iMovie on iPhone and iPad. The track will automatically be added to the beginning of your project, so from there, you need to drag it to where you need it.

What music can I legally use on iMovie?

If you're posting a soundtracked video on a public platform, you need to ensure you hold the rights to the tracks. If not, you can have your video muted or taken down, and the rights owner can even pursue actions that demonetize your content!

Does iMovie have free music?

Yep! If you want to add music to iMovie on Mac, you’re free to use the limited selection of jingles and sound effects provided by Apple. You can do this by clicking the ‘Sound Effects’ tab, which you can find on the left-hand side when browsing the ‘Audio’ section.

Is music in iMovie royalty-free?

You’re allowed to use this music free of charge because Apple’s license allows it. The stock music in iMovie is available on a royalty-free basis, meaning you can feature it in your content without paying royalties to anyone. There’s a basic filter and search function, and you just pop iMovie’s catalog tracks into your project the same as you would with your own local files.

Why can’t I use a song in iMovie?

Sometimes, you won’t be able to add a song to your iMovie project – even if you bought the track and it’s on your Mac, it won’t show up on the iMovie browser. Annoying, right? This is likely because the song's rights holder has specifically protected their file from use in third-party projects. It’s a bummer, but at the end of the day, it’s their song and they get to decide who can or can’t use it!

How do you get music for iMovie?

If you want to know how snag some royalty-free music for iMovie, you shouldn't feel limited by Apple's stock tracks. You need the best. To nail the tone for your content, you need to sort through genre, theme, mood, BPM, and more.

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