How to add background music in Facebook live

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms for live streaming video — which means there’s a lot of competition. If you’re looking to expand your reach with live video on Facebook, how can you stand out? Customization. In this guide, you’ll learn how to level up your live streaming game on Facebook using customization options like overlays, titles, logos, backgrounds and more. If you’re new to streaming on Facebook, check out our ultimate guide to live streaming on Facebook first.

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👀 What is Facebook Live and why should you use it?

Facebook Live is a live streaming platform that allows you to broadcast live video with your Facebook account. You can live stream from your personal account, as well as to a page or a group on Facebook. Live streaming on Facebook is 100% free; all you need is an account and some basic live streaming equipment.

One reason why Facebook Live is so popular among streamers is because you can go live from the Facebook app or a browser on your desktop. Live streamers also like Facebook because it’s a social network with 2.93 billion active monthly users; the potential to find an audience for live video is greater, especially if you’ve already built up a network.

Just having followers on Facebook isn’t enough to make it as a live streamer on the platform, however. You need polished content that’s professional and appealing to your target audience. If you want to capitalize on your existing Facebook network to spark engagement for your live videos, there are tried-and-true use cases that can help you achieve your goal. The most common ones are:

• Live event streaming. Conferences, product launches, webinars and expos all make great live streamed events, and you can broadcast them without encroaching on the overall purpose of your event. Live streaming also contributes to your event’s goal of reaching a wider audience and promoting your brand or organization.
• Interviews and Q&As. An interview or Q&A session is a great way to establish authority for your brand. An interview with an industry thought leader can lend credence to your brand, and a Q&A with your own employees can educate your target audience about who you are and what you do. This format is also engaging for live video because you can ask viewers to submit their questions for your interviewee too.
• Behind-the-scenes content. Behind-the-scenes videos come in several forms. You can give viewers a live tour of your company headquarters, show them the process for creating your products or do a live “day in the life” profile of your CEO. A behind-the-scenes live stream breaks down the barrier between you and your target audience. They can offer exclusive looks at your business or organization to your most loyal customers and followers.
• Product launch. Unveiling a new product live on Facebook is a great way to drum up excitement. Share the news about your latest offering or newest feature with a much wider audience by streaming the launch event. All these types of live content do well on Facebook, but they attract more audiences and look more professional when they’re customized.

👉 How to customize your Facebook Live stream

You can customize your live stream and make it more engaging by using overlays, split screens, background music, animated backgrounds and other graphics. These features make your stream more interactive and eye-catching.

• Split screen. A split-screen format allows both you and your guest to appear on-screen at the same time. This feature is ideal for interviews, panel discussions, podcast recording sessions, press conferences, business meetings and any live stream with multiple participants.
• Overlays. A live stream overlay is a graphic that sits on top of your video feed. Overlays come in many sizes and shapes, with some animated and others static. You can use an overlay to show messages from the Facebook Live chat, provide the names of your stream participants to viewers, add calls to action with your social handles and much more. An overlay makes your stream look more professional and enticing to viewers.
• Lower thirds. Lower thirds take up the bottom portion of your screen (sometimes one-third of the screen, sometimes less) and allow you to introduce guests, speakers or hosts of your live stream on Facebook. Titles can be simple with a single line of text or more complex with graphics. Lower thirds are also a good place to promote your social media accounts, website or other contact info.
• Screen sharing. When you share your screen on a live stream, you can show viewers what’s on your computer monitor in real time. If you have a presentation to show or are doing a tutorial, sharing your screen is an important feature. Formatting your live stream so viewers can see your screen and still view your video feed keeps the live stream engaging as well.
• Background music. Music can help change the entire tone of your Facebook Live stream. It’s also a useful tool for boosting engagement and keeping viewers interested. But if you play music, it has to be legal to use. It must either be your original track, music you have a license to play or copyright-free music. When you use Restream Studio to go live on Facebook, you have access to free background music you can legally use, and the tracks are infinite.
• Animated background. An animated background is more captivating than a static one and makes your stream engaging for viewers. If your background is moving, remember to keep it simple, however. You want it to be dynamic, not distracting!

Want to delight your audience & keep them engaged?

New animated backgrounds in Restream Studio are here. Choose your favorite in the Backgrounds tab or upload your own! 🌈🎉

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— Restream (@Restreamio) May 11, 2021

• Titles. Giving your Facebook Live stream a specific title and description will make it easier for viewers to find you. You can update the title, description and game you’re streaming (if you are streaming a game) with Restream.

There are many options that let you enhance your live stream on Facebook. You can modify all the features listed above with Restream Studio, an all-in-one live streaming solution.

🛠 How to create custom Facebook Live graphics

There are plenty of design tools out there that can help you create custom elements for your Facebook live stream — and you don’t need design skills to use them. Here are some of the most user-friendly design tools for making custom graphics for your Facebook live stream.

Canva

Canva is the non-designer’s design tool. You can design almost anything on Canva, from logos and flyers to resumes and invoices. With thousands of free templates for hundreds of different project types, you can create the overlays, logo, background, captions and other graphics to personalize and brand your Facebook live stream. You have to pay a monthly subscription to get Canva’s premium features but there are a lot of great resources and features with the free plan too.

Features

• Free plan is robust enough for an entrepreneur or small team
• 8,000+ free templates
• Store your brand’s color palette, logo and other assets in the brand kit
• Team collaboration tools

Snappa

Snappa has a huge image library that you can draw from to create custom overlays, banners and other Facebook live graphics. The drag-and-drop editor also lets you repurpose designs for multiple uses so you can create lower-thirds captions, backgrounds, a logo and more using the same style and branding. You can choose the paid subscription or the free plan and still have plenty of designs to work with.

Features

• Background removal tool for images and logos
• 6,000+ free templates
• Robust photo cropping and editing

Easil

Easil is a design tool that lets you choose from a library of graphics or create custom designs from high-quality templates. You’ll find designs ready to go for your Facebook live stream, with an easy-to-use editor. If you’re working with a team, you’ll love Easil’s design approval workflow, ensuring designs are finalized before being downloaded.

Features

• Drag-and-drop editor
• Brand kit
• 1 million+ free stock images
• Color palette generator

Adding graphics to your Facebook live stream

Once you’ve created your custom graphics with one of the design tools above, you need to add them to your live stream on Facebook. One of the easiest ways to do this is with encoding software such as OBS. With OBS, you have more control over how your stream and your graphics look than if you streamed directly to Facebook. If you’re new to using OBS, read our getting started guide.

When you create your designs for your stream, you’ll have to save them as image files to use them with OBS. If you’re doing an overlay or a graphic that doesn’t take up the entire screen, be sure to save it as a PNG file so the background remains transparent.

After your designs are ready to go, you can open OBS and add your image as a source. OBS lets you create scenes for your live videos as well, so if you have an image that you don’t want to display for the entire broadcast, like an intro screen, you can create a separate scene for it.

Adding graphics to Facebook Live without an encoder

OBS is a free encoding software that’s widely used by live streamers. But it’s not the most user-friendly if you’re just starting out. If you want an even easier way to customize your Facebook live stream, without having to download any software, then you can use Restream’s browser-based live streaming tool, Restream Studio.

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From the Restream Studio dashboard, you can navigate to the Graphics tab. Here, you can choose the primary color for your captions and upload a logo, overlays, video clips and backgrounds. Once your custom graphics are uploaded, you can easily toggle them on and off throughout your stream.

If you navigate to the Captions tab in Restream Studio, you can create lower-third captions with custom text. You can also add a ticker, or scrolling text, to the bottom of your live video.

Finally, with the Chat tab, you can select comments from the Facebook live chat to display on screen during the stream, simply by clicking on them.

Some Facebook live video creators don’t have the time to create custom designs but still want their stream to look professional. With the default graphics available in Restream Studio, you can broadcast a high-quality, professional-looking video that still shows off your brand personality.

🔥 How to stream to Facebook Live and other platforms (with customizations)

Streaming to Facebook has several advantages for live streamers, but what if you could stream to Facebook Live and other major platforms simultaneously?

With Restream, you can.

Multiply your views and engagement

Reach a wider audience by streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously.

Get Started

Not only does Restream’s browser-based Studio help you add customizations to your stream, but it also lets you broadcast your stream to multiple platforms at the same time. You can choose from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and more than 30 other platforms to stream to simultaneously. Once you have a Restream account, connecting it to your Facebook, Twitter and other profiles is simple:

1. From your Restream dashboard, click Add Destination. You’ll see a list of our supported services. Click the one you want to stream to, such as Facebook.
2. You can then choose automatic setup or manual setup to connect your channel to Restream, although we recommend automatic unless there’s a problem. You’ll be redirected to Facebook and must enter your account credentials.
3. Make sure you read through the permissions carefully, then click Allow. Your Facebook account is now connected to Restream!
4. Repeat the three previous steps for every channel you want to connect to Restream.

To add your customizations to  Restream Studio, click the Start with Studio button on your Restream dashboard. Once you’re in Studio, you can add destinations for live streaming, upload and select your graphics, toggle your split-screen options, invite guests, and access all the customization features your stream needs.

FAQs

How do I add graphics to Facebook Live?

You can either create graphics in Facebook’s Live Producer and add them to your stream, or you can use a third-party streaming tool like Restream to broadcast your live video with your graphics to Facebook. Learn more about adding graphics to your live stream with Restream Studio with this Help Center article.

Can I use a green screen on Facebook Live?

Facebook Live supports green screens, so you can add a virtual background to your stream. Most basic webcams support green screens as well. Learn more about how to use green screens on a live stream here.

How do I add a logo to my live stream on Facebook?

You can add a logo and other custom graphics to your Facebook live stream by using a third-party streaming tool like Restream. You can connect your Facebook account to Restream so your live video will broadcast to Facebook. Inside Restream’s live streaming studio dashboard, you can navigate to the Graphics tab, then click the Upload logo button.

Can I add text to my Facebook Live stream?

You can add captions, chat overlay and even a ticker (scrolling text at the bottom of the screen) to your Facebook live stream by using Restream. Connect Restream to your Facebook account, then go live using Restream’s Live Studio. Inside the Studio, you can customize your captions, toggle chat overlay options, and configure your ticker text.

Wrap-up

Customization options can help take your Facebook Live broadcast to the next level. Make your live stream professional and engaging, and stand out from the millions of other live streamers on Facebook. Restream Studio makes customizing your stream easy. Add stream graphics, titles, guests and more in just a few clicks. To make your next Facebook Live stream a success, broadcast with the all-in-one, browser-based Restream Studio.

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