Music for explainer videos, timed to your animation

Tracks for explainer videos

• Under the opening line that names the problem

  Midnight Jazz Walk · 2:25 · Jazz · Upbeat · 118 BPM

• For the scene where your product appears as the answer

  Fingerstyle Morning Walk · 2:07 · Acoustic · Upbeat · 112 BPM

• A steady bed for a narrated feature walkthrough

  Hopeful Corporate Tech · 1:28 · Electronic · Inspiring · 92 BPM

• For bouncy motion graphics with icons popping in

  Ukulele Playground Tune · 1:56 · Acoustic · Upbeat · 118 BPM

• Under a light character animation with a playful tone

  Energetic Gypsy Jazz · 2:54 · World · Playful · 118 BPM

• Under the closing call to action

  Jungle Office Expedition · 1:31 · Cinematic · Upbeat · 118 BPM

Library tracks are free for personal use. Commercial use needs Pro or above. More tracks like these in the music library

An explainer is a narration with pictures

An explainer video makes one idea clear in a short time. Most run 60 to 120 seconds and carry a single script: here is a problem you have, here is how our product or idea solves it, here is what to do next. The narration does nearly all the work, and the animation illustrates it line by line. Music is the third layer. Its job is to set the tone of the brand, keep the pace feeling brisk and mark the turn from problem to solution.

That is a narrow brief, and it rules a lot out. Big cinematic swells, busy drum patterns and catchy hooks fight the voiceover. What works is light, steady music with a clear pulse and a narrow melody, built on plucked synths, light guitar, pizzicato strings, glockenspiel or soft piano. It should feel confident without sounding like an advert for something else.

The problem to solution shape

Almost every explainer follows the same arc, and the music can follow it too. The opening describes the problem: a frustrated character, a messy spreadsheet, a confusing process. Music here can be sparser, a little lower in energy or slightly tense, without becoming dark. Then comes the turn, usually a single line like "that is where we come in", and a clear visual change as the product appears. That is the music's one big moment: it opens up, gets brighter and adds a beat.

After the turn, the feature section walks through how it works in three or four short beats, each with its own scene. The music stays steady and bright here, carrying the pace. The close repeats the promise and gives the call to action, and the music either lifts slightly or resolves to a clean final chord as the logo and the web address appear.

• Problem, first 15 to 25 seconds: sparse, lower energy, a little unresolved.
• The turn: one clear lift as the product appears.
• Features, 30 to 60 seconds: steady, bright, short phrases.
• Call to action: resolve on the logo and end on the last frame.

Timing music to animation

Motion graphics are built on timing. Icons pop in, text slides, scenes wipe from one to the next. When those movements land on the beat, the animation feels crafted; when they drift, it feels loose. Animators who work this way usually lock the music tempo early and set keyframes to it. At 120 BPM a beat is half a second, which gives a comfortable grid for pops and transitions without feeling rushed.

If the animation is already finished, upload the cut to Sonilo. The music is built around the scene changes and pacing it reads from the video, so the lift tends to land on your turn and the steady sections follow your feature scenes. If you are still animating, you can start from a written direction instead, generate music first and animate to it.

Small accents help a lot. A soft pluck when an icon appears, a light swell into a scene change, a beat of silence before the product name. You do not need sound effects on every move; one musical accent per scene is usually enough.

Under the voiceover

Explainer narration is usually recorded clean, in a booth or a quiet room, so it is easy to drown. Keep the music 15 to 20 dB below the voice and choose arrangements without a lead in the voice range. Low piano, bass, soft pads and plucks in a higher register are safe; whistles, flutes and synth leads sit right on top of a narrator and make words harder to catch.

Record the voiceover before you finalize the animation and the music. The read sets the real timing of every scene, and narrators rarely hit the same length as the script estimate. Once the voice is locked, the animation follows it, and the music follows both. Changing the narration after the music is made usually means making the music again.

Leave short gaps in the script. A half second pause after a key line, with the music carrying through it, lets the point land and gives the animation room to move. If your upload already contains the narration, leave the speech setting on in Sonilo so the voice stays in the mix while the music is replaced, and set the music level with its own volume control before export.

Matching the music to the brand

Software and SaaS explainers usually want clean, optimistic electronic music with light plucks and a gentle beat. Fintech, health and insurance explainers want calmer, warmer music, soft piano and strings, that reads as trustworthy rather than exciting. Consumer apps and startups can go playful, with ukulele, claps and glockenspiel. Education and nonprofit explainers often suit warm acoustic or gentle piano with a hopeful build.

Character animation needs a little more care than icons and text. If your explainer follows a person through their day, the music can mirror their mood: a slightly flat, slow phrase while they struggle with the old way, a warmer and quicker one once they find the product. Keep those shifts small. An explainer is too short for several big changes, and each one competes with the narration for attention.

The test is simple: mute the narration and watch the explainer with music only. If the music alone suggests the right kind of company, it is working. If it sounds like a video game, a wedding or a movie trailer, it is pulling the brand somewhere else.

Lengths, cutdowns and endings

Explainers often ship in several lengths: a 90 second hero version for the website, a 30 second cutdown for social ads and a 15 second teaser. Music made for the long version rarely trims cleanly, because the turn moves earlier in each cutdown. Generate for each cut so the lift and the ending land where that version needs them. Always end on a definite final chord on the logo frame. A fade out on the call to action makes the ending feel weak.

How to make music for explainer videos

1. 1

   Upload the explainer

   Upload your finished or nearly finished animation. Sonilo reads its cuts, pacing and scene changes.

2. 2

   Pick an explainer preset

   Choose Friendly product, Clean tech, Problem to solution, Playful motion or Trusted brand, or describe the tone yourself. Leave the speech setting on to keep the narration.

3. 3

   Generate and export

   Generate on the create page, where the credit cost is shown before anything runs. Pick the version that best fits your brand and export it with the animation.

Questions before you start

Music for other kinds of video