Sad royalty-free music.

Emotional Background Music for Videos, Movies and Advertising

Sad/emotional music has been part and parcel of movies ever since the inception of the motion picture. It is ironical that something that was first introduced as a way of dull the din of the noisy projector and to hold the audience’s attention has morphed into an almost necessary emotive part of every modern film produced since the phasing out of the noisy projector.

Here’s why:

• Sad music has been proven to contribute significantly to the overall emotional quality of a film. And this is an aspect that makes a given movie memorable, years after one has watched it. Remember, ‘Titanic’? Yes, that’s more like it.
• Emotional/sad music is skillfully used by video directors and audio producers to conceal otherwise weak, poorly-enacted or poorly scripted cinematography. If anything, this is done so well that it becomes almost impossible for the average audience to pick out these flaws.
• Sad music, in general, offers a unique type of sub-text/sub-titles on the screen. It is an indirect yet appealing and un-intrusive way of adding commentary to the film. Unlike a written script, the audience has the freedom to fill these commentary thought bubbles with their personal perspective/thoughts, usually derived from their own past experiences. In other words, adding a note of sad music to a movie is an excellent way of ensuring that the audience connects to the action displayed on the screen.

That aside, most of the extensive research that has been conducted in the human psychology and perception of sad music shows that this genre fits the following movie scenarios perfectly.

1. Romantic Settings: There’s something about sad music that makes it correlate so seamlessly with romanticized movie settings. This could center from the fact that the human brain is wired to associate romance with bliss, contentment, and inner peace – something that sad music seems to advocate. What’s more, love is one of the strongest emotions that the human brain can process. So what’s a better way of intensifying the atmosphere than by throwing in some low note sad tunes?
2. Where the Hero or Heroine Dies or Faces a Tragedy: As a way of helping the audience internalize the demise of the hero in the movie, the director will play a stanza or two of sad music to awaken their hurtful, nostalgic or somber emotions. Add a few tearful moments here and there from a well-coordinated acting team, and you have a movie that could move your audience to tears.

Where to get your Sad Royalty-Free music?

Here’s a list of the best platforms on the Internet to get your background songs: