Streaming music during your live broadcast is one of the best ways to maintain high user engagement. As a content creator, you will need to find music that compliments your stream content the best.
In this article, we will cover how to use music to create a memorable and engaging Twitch stream, as well as give you some options for how to add music and avoid being subject to copyright law.
How Playing Music Can Make Your Live Stream More Engaging
Successful streamers typically generate revenue through advertisements based on large audiences. Generally, more viewers equals more money, and any given stream’s entertainment value usually indicates its performance.
So, just like in other video media, the inclusion of music on Twitch streams can not only bring new viewers but engage continuing viewers.
As a Twitch streamer, streaming gameplay or chatting with viewers will be invariably enhanced, whether it’s to millions of people or just a few loyal followers.
Background Music While Playing Games
Video game streaming is among the most popular content on streaming platforms. Many creators build their entire Twitch stream around gaming and video games.
While some games often include fantastic musical scores in them, a lot of gameplay people watch does not. This type of game content often features the streamer playing the game in an incredibly focused manner, making chat interaction a little hard.
Adding background music can really enhance the gameplay in a way that is not included in the game design. For example, a video stream that only has the sound of cars racing, or characters fighting, can become a bit boring after a time. Music gives the viewer something to focus on while watching the stream content.
Chat participation
Music can be a great tool for turning regular viewers into active participants. Many Twitch viewers will sit quietly during a live stream, but catering to this behavior doesn’t help with viewer engagement, especially when live streaming to a large audience.
Because of the wide variety of music out there, individual interests vary significantly. As a streamer, you can use this to your advantage. You can create polls and conversations or ask and answer questions about your viewer’s favorite genres. This will get more viewers to interact, as a debate about the best new song can be an incredibly engaging activity.
This is just one example, but there are tons of other ways to include music in your stream. Even a small about of time spent creating content based on music will make users want to watch your stream even more.
What Music Content You Should Play On Your Twitch Streams
The type of music Twitch streamers use for their content will depend heavily on the type of stream as well as their audience. This means there is no correct answer to what will work best.
If you play music on your Twitch channel, you will react differently from your viewers than another streamer. Try out various genres to find the right music for your live broadcasts.
A streamer also needs to worry about copyrighted music. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects music creators and music owned by a record label. For that reason, you need to use royalty-free music.
Royalty-Free Music
Since you can’t play copyrighted music without a license, how does a streamer add music to their stream without playing copyrighted material?
There are a few resources with many options that also eliminate the need to request permission from music producers and record labels. These platforms give you the ability to share music on your streaming platform and generate a curated library your viewers will love.
Some of these streaming services allow you to purchase licensed music to add to your audio library, while others, like Twitch music, will remove the music from your VoD audio so you don’t have to worry about copyright laws.
Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is a Royalty free music service that is perfect for Twitch live streams and other platforms.
Epidemic works flawlessly with any streaming software and includes music from your favorite artists, from hip hop to rock.
There are a number of different subscriptions for both commercial and personal use. For a streamer just starting out, the basic package at $15 a month ($9/month if paying for a full year). Check out their pricing to find the best personal plan for you.
A subscription with Epidemic will get you unlimited access to all of the tracks they offer for use on any social media or streaming. With access to 40,000 songs and over 90,000 sound effects, Epidemic is guaranteed to have the music you seek.
Simply search through their extensive royalty free music library to find what you need, and soon your loyal fanbase will be the envy of other streamers.
Epidemic offers a 30-day free trial that you can cancel at any time to see if their service fits the needs of your stream. Check out Epidemic and add high-quality music to your content today.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you can see the tremendous effect that music can have on your success as a Twitch streamer. Choosing the right soundtrack for your content can really help your stream rise above other creators.
Creating amazing content on your live Twitch broadcasts is incredibly easy, especially if you use one of the royalty-free playlists you can find online. Find your favorite music on Epidemic and avoid any copyright infringement problems.
So, whether you’re using Twitch as a gaming platform, a talk show, or anything else you can think of, generating meaningful audience engagement is the most important part of growth. With music being one of the staples of human socialization, almost nothing else will come close to the impact it can have on your next stream.