The Role of Music in Sports Promos

A diving tackle, a full force thwack of the bat, an emotional celebration between players - these classic sporting moments of the promo reel are all the more satisfying when backed by the perfect track.

Whether you're hyped by a driving beat that matches the pace of play or roused by anthemic harmonies that track the emotions of the crowd - it's all designed to keep you watching.

Types of sports promos that feature music

Music is fundamental to building anticipation and excitement for the upcoming game, match or race, and so all good sports promo footage needs some form of backing track.

You'll find it across a variety of promo types, such as:

1. Game previews

Designed to promote individual games or matches, game previews often feature intensity-driving tracks highlighting key storylines, player matchups and what's at stake.

2. Season or tournament launches

These focus on historic feuds or recent dramatic moments between players to deepen the significance of the match. Dramatic music, including many common classical choices, will feature.

3. Rival matchups or "grudge" matches

Naturally, when it comes to promoting a grudge match, music choices are designed to evoke a sense of rivalry, power and foreboding. Hard rock with menacing overtones is a mainstay of this genre of sports promo.

4. Playoffs or finals

These high-stakes games or matches require a back track that emphasises the ultimate prize and the journey to reach it. These promos often feature dramatic music to signify the importance of winning the title and the pressure and glory associated with it.

5. Player features

Music choices match the story arc of the player feature, whether it's designed to communicate career highlights, personal stories, including comeback narratives or a player's match statistics.

6. Network promos to advertise sports programming

Music for network promos is often more concerned with sonic identity and branding. The sonic design needs to communicate the credibility and identity of the network and generate a sense of recognition and excitement in the viewer with the aim of eliciting that response whenever the listener hears it again.

7. Digital promos

Digital promos are much shorter cuts, especially for social media. Any music choice is limited to key phrases, and so no matter what the effect, it has to be the punchiest part of the track.

How is music used in sports promos?

In the world of sports promos, music is the ultimate hype-up device, but it can be deployed for a variety of objectives:

• Foregrounding: Music choices can signal the type of contest you're about to see, from world championships to friendlies.
  
  
• Identity: Music can evoke a channel or network's style of programming, whether that's hard-hitting or fun-loving. If their promo music forms part of their sonic identity, it can trigger recognition and an excited response through catchy phrases and pop devices.
  
  
• Emotion and atmosphere: Hit on the right one and a music choice can amplify the already heightened emotions of the upcoming game or match.
  
  
• Audience connection: This is particularly true of anthemic music choices, which evoke a sense of togetherness (mirroring spectatorship and shared investment in the outcome). Music choices can also reflect fan identities, as they're the ones the footage needs to connect with. Women's sports, such as the Women's Euros, may feature songs of female empowerment.
  
  

Examples of music in sports promos

When it comes to choosing a sports promo track, ingenuity and originality are important
to pique the interest of viewers with something new and different. However, there are some tried and tested music choices we hear time and again:

Rock

Rock, particularly the harder side, mirrors the darker energy of certain sports and rivalries. Papa Roach's "Break Stuff" and The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" are common choices to communicate sporting aggression and intimidation.

Rap and Hip Hop

Rap and Hip Hop lyrics are great for portraying both a sense of overcoming adversity and adversarial match-ups. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself" is a prime and infinitely popular example.

Classical

Classical, orchestral music is your go-to genre for conveying the grandeur of a sporting tournament. It's also great for picking out instruments in the edit. While strings are highly emotional, the thunder of the percussion section brings the drama.

Heavy metal

Intense, complicated, nature-defying guitar solos - such as those in "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica - mirror the complexity and "cool" of sports prowess.

Popular music

Pop music is often used for its fun-loving melodies and driving beats as a way to build excitement and a sense of fun. Added bonus points go to pop songs that hit you at full and unwavering speed (like the sports they portray) such as Blur's "Song 2" and "Here We Go Again" by Ok Go.

Trance music

The otherworldly, intensity-building nature of trance music works well in sports promos. Classics such as Tiesto's Adagio for Strings bring plenty of intensity, punctuated by ethereal moments - perfect for creating a sense of energy and anticipation.

Nailing the edit

Sports promos sometimes require a mix of music, commentary and sounds from the footage itself and so music choices not only need to match the mood, they also need to mirror the action and combine well with spoken audio.

But that’s where the fun really starts. Will you choose a beat that lands at the moment of physical impact in contact sports? Will the pace match the speed of the sports player? How will you mix the roar of the crowd and the excited cry of the commentator into your final track for maximum impact?

As a sports video editor, it's your job to make it happen.

 

Back your sports promos with best-in-class music

If you're working with any kind of sports footage, music is a major part of the edit, visit Universal Production Music's vast catalogue of Sports music or their Sports promos playlist for quality audio to back your project.