How To Choose Background Music For Presentation

Music For Presentations

Using background music in presentations helps to add emotional or entertainment component to your talk. The choice of music depends largely on the topic of your presentation.

In this post we will look at some common types of presentations and discuss what background music works best for each case.

Keep reading and make sure to listen to the examples.

Mik TunePocket Composer

Hi, I’m Mik, one of TunePocket music composers. Presentations should not be boring! Adding music to educational or business talks and presentations can help to keep your audience focused, motivated, and, most importantly entertained!

I went though our growing catalog of professional royalty free music and picked some great examples.

important note about performance royalties

It may be tempting to use your favorite song as background music in your presentation.

Before you do that, please note that:

1. Using any copyrighted material requires explicit permission from the rights owner. Especially if you plan to use it commercially.

2. Playing commercial music in public may require a special public performance license. Learn more about using music for business.

If you like any music below you can easily license it and use it in your presentation.

The music below was created by composers who are not affiliated with a PRO (Performance Rights Organization) and you don’t need a separate performance license if you use that music in your presentation.

Background music for common types of presentations

Let’s see what music works best for different presentation types:

Business presentation

There are many types of business presentations, including motivational talks, training presentations, real estate, corporate, and many more.

When choosing music for business presentation, first of all, decide whether you want to create the calm professional background or you want music to take the leading role and deliver some sort of emotional impact.

Calm corporate style music will work best for formal work presentations, commercial real estate, and business training.

On the other hand, inspirational music will be great for presentations related on achievement, good results, awards, and similar topics.

Here are some examples of background music for professional business presentations:

Educational presentations

Educational presentations can include school presentations, lessons and tutorials, history, math, and lost of other topics. You can even make cooking presentations!

With educational presentations, the choice of music of music depends primarily on the subject and the content of your presentation.

Use reflective music for emotional or serious topics or positive or upbeat music to set a lighter mood.

For educational presentation or lessons related to history, cinematic or retro music should work the best.

For anything else, a subtle background soundtrack without a strong lead melody can be a good option.


Technology presentations

For presentations that focus on groundbreaking IT or science concepts, futuristic “hi-tech” music should work the best.

More background music for presentations

Of course there are many more types of presentations.

You may decide that your presentation is better off without any music!

In that case I can recommend using a short music clip either at the opening or the ending of your presentation.

Some of the good places to insert such audio clips include the presentation title, branding logos, sponsors list, or any other significant call to action in your presentation slides.

How to play music across multiple Powerpoint slides

Ok, so by now I hope you have a good idea as to what kind of music you should use in your presentation.

It’s relatively easy to add audio clips to individual Powerpoint presentation slides but what if you want the music to play continuously across multiple slides as you deliver your presentation?

Fortunately, you can add a song to a presentation and play it across slides in the background of your slide show.

Here’s a quick tutorial from Microsoft that explains how to play music across multiple slides in your Powerpoint presentation or a slideshow.

Do I always need music in my presentation?

In certain cases you may decide against using background music.

It is generally not recommended for content-heavy presentations, sensitive or serious topics, situations with language barriers or translation needs, or when the presenter has a soft speaking style.

Additionally, you should take into account your audience preferences and sensitivities, as some may find background music distracting or annoying.

In that case you still can add an audio dimension to your presentation by using occasional sound effects.

Questions or comments?

Hope this post will help you to find the best music for your presentation!

Any music featured in this post or on TunePocket Web site can be licensed for presentations. You can also download free MP3 previews and safely try any of our music in your slideshow before you purchase the license.

See available licenses and pricing

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post it below in the comments. I’ll be happy to answer.

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