Choosing songs for a memorial video
The music carries more of the feeling than people expect - and the song everyone reaches for first is often the wrong one for the job. A few honest guidelines before you commit.
Their song beats the right song
There is a standard list - the same handful of ballads at every service - and it is fine, but it is nobody's in particular. The track that actually lands is the one attached to them: what they played in the car, what was on at the wedding, the artist they never shut up about. Recognition does more work than sadness.
If their music was upbeat, use it. Nobody has ever regretted a tribute that sounded like the person.
If there's a voice, be careful with lyrics
Words compete with words. If the video carries narration or a spoken eulogy, a lyric-heavy song underneath forces the listener to choose, and they usually end up following neither. Instrumental, or something familiar enough to sit in the background, keeps the attention where you want it.
For a silent photo montage the opposite is true - there, lyrics are doing all the emotional work and a big vocal is exactly right.
The copyright part nobody mentions
Playing a commercial track at a private service is not a problem. Posting that same video publicly usually is - Facebook, YouTube and Instagram all scan for licensed music, and the result is a muted video or a takedown, discovered at the worst possible moment.
If there's any chance the video gets shared publicly, licensed or original music avoids the whole issue. That's why the videos we make use properly licensed music, matched to the mood of what you wrote rather than picked from a dropdown - they can be posted anywhere without being silenced.