Add music and soundtracks in iMovie on iPhone
When you’re editing your movie project in the timeline, you can add the following types of background music:
Soundtracks and theme music: iMovie comes with a collection of soundtracks that dynamically adjust to fit the length of your project. Soundtracks include the music from iMovie themes, which you can add separately from themes. For more information about themes, see Work with themes in iMovie on iPhone.
Songs from the Music app: You can add songs from the Music app that have been synced to your device using Music on your computer.
Note: To use a song you purchased from the iTunes Store in your project, you must be the copyright holder of the song or have express permission from the copyright holder. For more information, see the iMovie for iOS and iPadOS software license agreement.
Imported songs: You can add songs that you created in GarageBand, Logic Pro, or another app and imported into iMovie using iCloud Drive or the Music app on your computer. (To import background music from iCloud Drive, see Add background music or other audio from iCloud Drive, below.)
Background music clips are colored green in the timeline. If you add a song that’s less than 1 minute long, it behaves the same as a sound effect in the project and is colored blue in the timeline.
Add a soundtrack or theme music
Some soundtracks may need to be downloaded (you must have an internet connection).
In the iMovie app
on your iPhone, open a movie project.Tap the Add Media button
, then tap Audio.Tap Soundtracks.
Soundtracks that need to be downloaded appear with a Download button
next to them. Tap a soundtrack to download it. After you download a soundtrack, you can tap it to preview it.To download all soundtracks, tap the Download button
in the upper right. To add a soundtrack, tap it, then tap the Add Audio button
that appears.To add theme music, scroll down to the Theme Music section of the Soundtracks list.
Add background music stored on your device
In the iMovie app
on your iPhone, open a movie project.Tap the Add Media button
, then tap Audio.To find music previously synced to your device from your computer, tap My Music.
To listen to the music before adding it, tap the item.
To add the music to your movie project, tap the item, then tap the Add Audio button
.
Tip: If you’re creating a music video and want to align video clips to specific points in the music, add background music to your project first. (If the music is shorter than 1 minute, you must add video to the project before you add the music.)
By default, iMovie automatically loops background music to fit the length of your movie. You can add multiple songs as background music, but iMovie automatically arranges them to play one song at a time. You can also manually adjust the length.
Add background music or other audio from iCloud Drive
In the iMovie app
on your iPhone, open a movie project.Scroll the timeline so that the playhead (the white vertical line) appears where you want to add the song or audio clip.
If the playhead is resting over an existing clip, the new clip is added either before or after the existing clip, whichever is closest to the playhead.
Tap the Add Media button
, then tap Audio.Tap iCloud Drive in the list of categories.
Scroll to the folder containing the audio you want to use.
Tap the name of the song or audio clip you want to add, then tap the Add Audio button
.
Note: Songs that appear dimmed or are marked Unavailable need to be downloaded to your device for use in iMovie. Use the Music app or iTunes to download songs from iCloud, or use the Finder or iTunes on your computer to sync songs from your music library. If a song on your device still appears unavailable, it may be of a type that can’t be used in iMovie. For example, songs protected by digital rights management can’t be used in iMovie.