Music is important. And the impact of music on viewer engagement and retention on Twitch while live streaming is one of the most important things to keep in mind when building your channel.
How Music Is Used In Film To Keep An Audience Engaged
While live streaming isn’t exactly the same as movies or television, the effect it can have on your community members can be quite similar.
In film, a director will use a musical score to make the audience feel nervous, excited, happy, or sad to help the story feel more real. Long periods of silence are filled with fitting musical overtones to express the emotion the scene is meant to convey.
The viewer is drawn in by the effect of the music, and that interaction has a major impact on how audiences respond to the film.
This ability for sound to make such an impact can be translated quite easily to a community-driven platform like Twitch.
The Effect of Music While Live Streaming
Successful streamers typically generate revenue through advertisements based on large audiences. Generally, more viewers equals more money, and the entertainment value of any given stream is usually indicative of 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.
An article by Harvard Health, published online at health.harvard.edu, shows the positive effects music has on our brains. Music helps us focus and is important for creating and maintaining certain neural pathways.
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.
What Music Twitch Streamers Should Use for Engagement
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.
A streamer also needs to worry about copyrighted content. There are a few resources with tons of options that also eliminate the need to request permissions from music producers and record labels. For that reason, you need to use royalty-free music.
Epidemic Sound – Expansive Library to Enhance Your Content
Epidemic Sound is a Royalty free music service that is perfect for live video streaming on Twitch and other live streaming platforms.
There are a number of different subscriptions for both personal and commercial use. For a streamer just starting out the basic package at $15 a month ($9/month if paying for a full year).
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 effects, Epidemic is guaranteed to have the music you are looking for.
Simply search through their extensive 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 content.
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.
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.
Chris
Chris is a digital marketer with a strong background in small business and influencer branding. He applies his knowledge of content and promotional strategies to design actionable advice for new and intermediate streamers. When he’s not busy crunching analytics, he can be found in the salt pits of League of Legends.