Choosing background music for a company video is a personal choice. However, my own examination of the background music for a series of short plumbing videos, revealed the fact that there are at least three approaches to selecting background music, and the owner of a company, in conjunction with a video production team can initially simplify their decision by deciding which of the three roads they wish to travel along.
The videos I listened to revealed that musical selections for background music can be divided into music which sounds like, or symbolizes the sounds of the service activity being offered, music which resembles or imitates the sounds of the problem that needs fixing and music which promotes a general positive mood related to successful resolution of the problem, and the successful ongoing flow of life, both before the problem and after its resolution.
I believe that in general optimists in life outnumber pessimists. Most people put life’s daily struggles in perspective, and see them as problems to be dealt with and overcome, so that they can get on to the “rollicking good times.” In this light, consider what happens when something goes wrong, e.g., a plumbing leak, and a service company is called? At first, something is not working right, the order of daily life is a bit disturbed and the service company, such as a plumbing company, steps and restores order, and the good times march on.
Applying this analysis of a service intervention we can divide the service intervention into three distinct phases: the breakdown, the intervention to fix the breakdown and the restoration of order. As we will see, these three phases of a service intervention correspond to three different types of background music that are used in service videos. Consider examples taken from videos which I examined when writing this report.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4770485/12735726 This video presents music imitating the sound of a dripping pipe, along with a video of the drip and a narrator encouraging the viewer to get help. This is background music imitating the sound of the breakdown.
http://espanol.video.yahoo.com/watch/4466979/11977280 This video presents driving music with a rapid almost industrial beat which imitates the on screen display of a plumber making repairs to a sink. This is background music imitating the sound of the repair process.
http://www.graspr.com/videos/Richmond-BC-Plumbing-Company-1 , http://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-plumbing-company-in-valencia-7960332.html These videos present feel good background music. The type of music which suggest the ongoing flow of the good times of life, which existed before the plumbing problem, and which will be restored as soon as this small disorder is repaired. The background music in these videos present music associated with the restoration of order and the ongoing good times.
The question which a company owner and his videography company must address is which of these three types of background music will make his video most effective in winning customers. All three types of music have advantages and disadvantages, a search on the web, however, will show that most people choose positive mood music for their background.
Background music that imitates the sound of the problem, might have some appeal because the problem is uppermost in the minds of people searching for a service company on the web. This type of sound seeks to win trust by giving the viewer the feeling that the company understands his predicament. One problem with this approach is that it can only portray one type of problem. A video portraying the sound of a leaky faucet may not appeal to a surfer looking for a company to fix his blocked sewer.
Music which imitates the sound of repair, seeks to win the trust of surfers by presenting a vision of the repair process, which is after all what they seek. It does carry a message of hope. On the other hand, how many people like to stand over the shoulder of a plumber as he solders pipes together or drains filthy water from a toilet. Most people prefer to wait in another room until the plumber finished everything, including the cleanup. Consequently, most people may not be that interested in a video that musically portrays the repair process.
Music which conveys an upbeat mood reminiscent of the good times brings a message of hope and assurance that the company will succeed in fixing the problem and restoring order and the ongoing good times. This type of music wins viewer trust, because that, in essence is what surfers seek when they go online, a means for restoration of their former order.
While all three types of background music have positive qualities, it is clearly the third type which has the most human appeal. Because while humans stoop, in their daily labor to various mechanical tasks to solve various ongoing challenges and problems, it is the restoration of humanity and the good life, at the end of the day, which keeps most people going, and which is most important. Therefore use of background music that appeals to this fundamental human goal is most likely to net results.