How to put music on iMovie

Need to make a video with the music in the background and you have been advised to use iMovie , the famous Free from Apple video editing application installed “standard” on all of the “bitten apple” devices. After successfully importing your videos, you were also able to apply some fades between each video. Unfortunately, however, you didn’t have the same luck when you tried to add some background music.

If that’s the case, let me tell you that you’ve come to the right place at the right time! In the next paragraphs of this tutorial, in fact, I will explain how to put music on iMovie , both from Mac and from iPhone and iPad. In addition to the detailed procedure for using the songs and sound effects available in the application library, you will also find directions for adding the songs available on your device.

If that’s what you wanted to know, let’s not waste any more precious time and get to the heart of this tutorial. Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you see fit and dedicate yourself to reading the next lines. By doing so, I assure you that you will be able to add all the music you want to iMovie and use it in your projects. Happy reading and, above all, good work!

Index

• How to put music on iMovie from Mac
  • How to put downloaded music on iMovie
  • How to put music on iMovie without iTunes
• How to put music on iMovie from iPhone / iPad
  • How to put music on iMovie for free
  • How to put music on iMovie from Apple Music
• How to put music on iMovie from YouTube
• How to put music on iMovie from Spotify

How to put music on iMovie from Mac

To put music on iMovie , simply access the Audio section of the famous Apple video editing program and choose which songs to use in your project from those available in the iMovie library. Alternatively, you can import and use the downloaded music on your computer. Find everything explained in detail right below.

How to put downloaded music on iMovie

If you are making a personal project with iMovie, you can also use copyrighted music that you have previously downloaded to your computer and imported into the Music app , that is the installed “serial” application on Mac that allows you to listen to music locally, buy songs on the iTunes Store and, by activating Apple Music , even stream songs and albums.

To put downloaded music on iMovie , start the program in question, click on the Create new item and select the Movie option from the opened menu, to create a new project. In the new screen displayed, press on the Audio item located in the top menu and choose the Music option visible in the sidebar on the left, in order to view all the songs that you have imported into the Music application and / or that you have downloaded from the iTunes Store .

To speed up the search, you can write the title of the song of your interest in the Search field and, if you wish, you can also start playing it by pressing the relevant ▶ ︎ button. If, on the other hand, you can’t find a song, it means it’s not available in the Music library. In this case, you can start the application in question, click on the File and Import options from the top menu and select the song of your interest. In this regard, you can take a look at how to upload music to iTunes (also valid for the macOS Music application, which since macOS 10.15 Catalina has taken the place of the latter).

After choosing the song to use from those available in the Music section , select and drag it to the iMovie workspace. Once this is done, if you want to use only a specific portion of the song in question by cutting the rest, pause with the mouse pointer on one of the two ends of the song and drag the yellow tab to the right or left, to select the part of the video of yours. interest (and thus cut off the rest).

Also, by moving the two sliders at either end of the song you can create a gradient effect allowing the song to start and end with the audio gradually increasing / decreasing. By pressing, instead, on the Volume option (the megaphone icon ) present in the toolbar above the player, you can adjust the volume of the selected song. To find out more, I leave you to my guide on how to use iMovie .

How to put music on iMovie without iTunes

If you are wondering if it is possible to put music on iMovie without iTunes , or rather, without the Music application, you will be glad to know that the answer is positive.

The first solution you can consider is to use the music available in the iMovie library. To do this, start the program in question, select the Create new and Movie options from the top menu, in order to create a new project; then access the Audio section by pressing on the appropriate item located in the top menu.

Now, click on the Sound Effects item and press the ▶ ︎ button relating to the sound effect or musical theme of your interest, in order to start listening. To simplify your search, you can also click on the Effects option at the top and select one of the sub-categories available between Sound Effects and Theme Music . Once you’ve chosen the effect you intend to use in your project, drag it to the iMovie workspace and that’s it.

If, on the other hand, you want to import an audio file available on your Mac, click on the File item in the menu bar and select the Import media file option from the opened menu. Alternatively, click on the down arrow icon located at the top left.

In the Import screen , then select the file of your interest (you can import multiple files at the same time, even of different types) and click on the Import all button , to import it into iMovie.

Once this is done, go to the My multimedia files section , select the file you just imported and, if you wish, select the part you want to use by moving the two yellow tabs on the two ends of the file.

Finally, press the + button for the file in question, in order to import it into the iMovie workspace and use it in your project.

How to put music on iMovie from iPhone / iPad

As you well know, iMovie is also available as a free application for iOS / iPadOS and, even in this case, you can add music to your videos, choosing from the one available in the iMovie library or the one in the Music app of your device . So let’s see how to put music on iMovie from iPhone / iPad .

How to put music on iMovie for free

As mentioned in the previous lines, you can put music on iMovie for free by choosing from the effects and soundtracks available in the iMovie library.

To proceed, take your iPhone / iPad, start iMovie and select the project of your interest. If you haven’t created one yet, tap on the Create project option and press on the Movie and Create movie items .

At this point, tap the + button , select the Audio item and choose the option of your interest from Soundtracks , to view a collection of soundtracks created by well-known composers and artists and that you can use for free in your project, and Effects sound effects , to choose one of the numerous sound effects (eg Applause , Alarm , Bells, etc.).

Regardless of the choice made previously, press on the name of the effect / music you want to use, to start playing it: if the chosen music is to your liking, tap the relative + button to add it to iMovie and use it in your project .

At this point, by pressing on the green bar relating to the music just added and tapping on the megaphone icon , you can set the volume, make cuts and create audio fades. By selecting the Delete option instead, you can remove the music you added previously.

How to put music on iMovie from Apple Music

How do you say? Would you like to put music on iMovie from Apple Music ? In this case, despite having activated a subscription to the famous Apple music streaming service, I am sorry to tell you that it is not possible to do this. However, you can use the local songs that you previously added in your iPhone / iPad’s Music app library.

In the latter case, start iMovie, select the project of your interest or create a new one by pressing on the options Create project , Movie and Create movie and tap the + button , to add new media files.

In the new screen that appears, press on the Audio item , choose the My Music option and tap on the Songs item , to view the complete list of songs available in the Music app. Alternatively, you can also select the Albums and Artists options , to choose a song from an album or a specific singer.

At this point, tap on the title of the song you want to use and press the relative + button to add it to the iMovie workspace. In case you should see the message Background Music , it means that you have previously already added a song or a sound effect: in this case, press the Add button , to add the new song in the queue, or select the Replace option , to replace the previous song.

How to put music on iMovie from YouTube

If your intention is to create a video with iMovie to upload, then, on YouTube , you must know that you can download and use the music available in the Audio Library section of the famous Google video sharing platform.

To put music on iMovie from YouTube , first connect to the YouTube main page and log in with your Google account . Once this is done, press on your photo , at the top right, select the YouTube Studio option from the menu that appears and, in the new screen displayed, click on the Audio Collection item in the left sidebar.

At this point, choose one of the songs or sound effects among those available in the Music without costs and Sound effects sections and press the relevant button on the ▶ ︎ button to start playing it. If you like it, pause with the mouse pointer on the song / effect of your interest and click on the relevant Download button to start the download. To learn more, I leave you to my guide on how to put music on YouTube without infringing copyright .

Once the download is complete, all you have to do is launch iMovie, import the song you downloaded from YouTube and add it to your project, so I told you earlier to put music on iMovie without iTunes .

If you prefer to proceed from smartphones and tablets , you should know that the YouTube Studio app does not allow you to access the Audio Library section and, consequently, to download the available songs.

However, you can succeed in your intent using Safari , the browser installed as “standard” on iPhone and iPad. Connect, therefore, to the main page of YouTube Studio , log in with the Google account of your interest and click on the Continue on Studio option .

In the new screen displayed, then tap the ☰ button, at the top left, select the Audio Collection option , press on the song of your interest and tap the Download option , in order to start the download on your device.

Once the download is complete, tap on the arrow icon pointing down , located at the top right, press on the song you just downloaded and tap on the arrow icon inside a square , at the bottom left.

In the new screen displayed, press on iMovie and select the project of your interest (or tap on the option Create new movie , to create a new one), in order to import the song downloaded from YouTube on iMovie and use it in your project. Simple, right?

How to put music on iMovie from Spotify

If you are wondering if it is possible to put music on iMovie from Spotify , I am sorry to tell you that the answer is no, as Apple’s famous video editing application does not have a feature to use songs available online.

Furthermore, although Spotify has a function to download songs , albums and playlists to your device, this is limited exclusively for using the service in offline mode, i.e. when an Internet connection is not available, and it is not possible to export songs to other applications. I told you more about it in my guide on how to download songs from Spotify .