Set the right mood for your Keynote presentation with a fitting soundtrack. Learn how to add and manage music and voiceover narrations in your slides.
In this guide, we explore how to add music to Keynote and elevate the impact of your presentations.
How to Add Music to Keynote
Keynote supports two types of audio: soundtrack and voiceover narration. A soundtrack represents the background music that plays during your slideshow, while voiceover narration is a pre-recorded commentary that accompanies each slide. Below, we’ve outlined how to add a soundtrack:
- Click on the Media button in the toolbar, denoted by an image icon, and select the Audio tab located in the upper right corner.
- Click the “Add Audio” button, symbolized by a plus sign next to a musical note, and choose the song(s) you’d like to add to the soundtrack. You can also opt for a playlist, and Keynote will play all the songs in the selected list.
- To rearrange the song sequence, drag and drop the songs to your preferred order. Deleting a song or playlist is as simple as clicking on it and then pressing Delete.
- Navigate to the Soundtrack menu and choose a playback option for your music. Options include “Off” to mute the soundtrack, “Play Once” to play the list from start to finish, and “Loop” to play the list on repeat.
- If you intend to share the Keynote presentation or play it on different computers, ensure you save the audio files with your document. Do this by selecting “Keynote” > “Preferences” from the top menu, which opens the Preferences dialog box. Click on the General tab, and select “Copy audio and movies into document.”
How to Embed Audio in Keynote in 2023
- Select the Keynote slide where you wish to add an audio file. Drag the audio file onto the slide, and an audio icon will appear (it’s invisible during playback).
- Click on the audio icon, and from the main Keynote menu, choose “Format” > “Audio.” This will open an audio options sidebar.
- Finally, adjust the audio settings in the sidebar according to your preferences. You can determine how the audio will play when you reach the slide. Using the “Start Playing” option, Keynote allows you to sync audio playback with the appearance of another object on the slide. Simply select “Automatically after transition”, where the audio begins after the slide’s transition.
Understanding Digital Rights Management
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a form of copyright protection for digital media, including audio files. Keynote still does not support DRM-protected audio for presentations, so you will not be able to add these songs to your soundtrack list.
Cover image via ioat
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