The fastest way to add music to your timeline

Open your project in Premiere Pro and make sure your video clip is already on the timeline. Go to File > Import > Media, then find the audio file on your computer — Premiere Pro accepts MP3, WAV, AIFF, and most other formats. Select the file and click Open. The audio will appear in your Project panel on the left side of the screen.

Now drag that audio file from the Project panel directly onto the timeline below your video track. Drop it on the A1 or A2 audio track (the horizontal rows labeled with "A"). The music will snap into place at whatever point you dragged it to. If you want it to start at the very beginning of your video, drag it to the left edge of the timeline until it aligns with the start of your first clip.

Play back your sequence by pressing the spacebar. You will hear both your video's original sound and the new music track together. If the music is too loud or too quiet compared to your dialogue or ambient sound, you can adjust its volume — more on that in the next section.

Key Takeaways

  • Import audio files through File > Import > Media, then drag them onto an audio track in your timeline.
  • Audio tracks are labeled A1, A2, and so on at the bottom of the timeline; you can use multiple tracks for different sounds.
  • Adjust volume by clicking the audio clip and dragging the horizontal line that runs through the middle of the waveform up or down.
  • Fade music in and out by right-clicking the audio clip and selecting Audio Gain, or by using the pen tool to draw volume curves at the start and end.

Adjusting volume so music does not drown out dialogue

Click once on the audio clip in the timeline to select it. You will see a thin horizontal line running through the middle of the waveform — that is the volume control. Grab that line and drag it upward to make the music louder or downward to make it quieter. Dragging it all the way down to the bottom will mute the track entirely.

If you want the music to start quiet and gradually get louder, use the pen tool from the toolbar on the left. Click the pen tool, then click on the volume line at the point where you want the fade to begin. Click again a few inches to the right on the timeline. Now drag the first point downward and the second point upward — the volume will gradually increase between those two points. This technique works the same way in reverse to fade music out at the end.

A faster method is to right-click the audio clip and select Audio Gain. A window will open where you can type in an exact number of decibels to raise or lower the entire clip. This is useful when you know the music needs to be exactly 6 dB quieter but do not want to eyeball it on the timeline.

Syncing music to the beat of your video

If your video has action that should match the music — a cut on a drum hit, a transition on a bass drop — you need to see where those moments happen in both the audio and video. Zoom in on your timeline by scrolling the mouse wheel up while your cursor is over the timeline area. The waveform of your audio will become taller and more detailed, making it easier to spot peaks where the music gets louder.

Play your sequence and watch for the moment in your video where you want the music to hit. Pause, then look at the timeline and note roughly where that moment falls. Now look at your audio waveform and find the corresponding beat — louder sections of the waveform usually line up with louder moments in the music. Drag the audio clip left or right on the timeline to shift it until the visual peak in the waveform lines up with the moment in your video.

For tighter sync work, enable the Snap feature by pressing the S key. When Snap is on, clips will jump to align with each other when you drag them close, making it easier to line up exact moments without fine-tuning by hand.

Using multiple audio tracks for different sounds

Your timeline has multiple audio tracks — A1, A2, A3 — so you can layer different sounds on top of each other. Put your background music on A1, dialogue on A2, and sound effects on A3. This way you can adjust the volume of each independently without affecting the others. If your dialogue is too quiet compared to the music, you can turn up just the A2 track without touching the music.

To control the volume of an entire track rather than a single clip, look at the left side of the timeline where the track labels are. You will see a small fader icon next to each track name. Click and drag that fader to raise or lower the volume of everything on that track at once. This is faster than adjusting individual clips if you have many pieces of audio on the same track.

You can also mute or solo tracks by clicking the speaker icon next to the track name. Muting hides that track from playback so you can focus on the other sounds. Soloing makes only that track play, which is useful when you want to hear just the music without dialogue to check if it sounds right on its own.

Trimming audio so it does not extend past your video

If your music track is longer than your video, you will hear it keep playing after the video ends. To cut it off, position your cursor at the right edge of the audio clip on the timeline — the cursor will change to a bracket symbol. Click and drag that edge to the left until the audio ends where your video ends. The part you drag over will be removed from the timeline, though the original file on your computer stays unchanged.

If you want to keep the audio file intact but just hide the part that extends past your video, use the razor tool instead. Press C to set up it, then click on the audio clip at the exact frame where you want to cut. The clip will split into two pieces. Delete the second piece by right-clicking it and selecting Delete. The first piece will stay exactly where it is.

Exporting your video with the music included

Once your music is mixed and synced, you need to export the video so the audio is baked in. Go to File > Export > Media. A window will open with export settings. Make sure the Video checkbox is checked and the Audio checkbox is also checked — if Audio is unchecked, your music will not be in the final file.

Choose a format from the Format dropdown. For most purposes, H.264 is the standard — it works on YouTube, social media, and most devices. If you are exporting for a specific platform, that platform usually lists which format it prefers in its upload guidelines.

Click the folder icon next to the filename to choose where the file will be saved, give it a name, then click Export. Premiere Pro will process the video and audio together. Depending on the length of your video and your computer's speed, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. Do not close Premiere Pro while the export is running.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use music from YouTube or streaming services in my video?

Most music on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music is protected by copyright. Using it without permission can result in your video being taken down or claimed by the copyright holder. Royalty-free music sites like Pixabay, Pexels, and Epidemic Sound offer music you can legally use. Always check the license terms before downloading.

Why is my audio out of sync after I export?

This usually happens when your export settings do not match your sequence settings. Go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and note the frame rate and sample rate. When you export, make sure those same settings are selected in the export window. If they do not match, audio and video can drift apart during playback.

How do I fade music in and out smoothly?

Right-click the audio clip and select Audio Gain, then check the box for Fade In or Fade Out. You can set how many seconds the fade lasts. Alternatively, use the pen tool to draw a curve on the volume line — click at the start point, drag down, then click again a few seconds later and drag up to create a smooth fade.

What if the music I imported sounds distorted or crackling?

Check that your audio file is not already damaged by opening it in a media player on your computer first. If it sounds fine there, the problem is usually that the volume is too high in Premiere Pro. Lower the audio gain on the clip or track until the distortion stops. If the file itself is corrupted, you will need to find a different copy or re-read it.

Can I add different music to different parts of my video?

Yes. Import each music file separately and drag them onto the timeline in sequence, one after another. You can place them on the same audio track or different tracks — it does not matter. Trim each clip so it ends exactly where the next one begins, or overlap them slightly and use volume fades to crossfade between them smoothly.