Background Music
Add a looping music bed that plays behind your story on the share page
What Is Background Music?
Every story can have a music bed — a gentle, looping track that plays behind your book on the share page and in the reader. It loops seamlessly for as long as someone is reading, and automatically lowers itself whenever narration or video audio is playing so voices always stay clear.
Adding Music to a Story
- Open your story in the editor
- Click the music note icon in the settings toolbar
- Pick a track from the library — every plan includes all six:
- Lullaby — a calm harp melody for bedtime stories
- Calm — gentle piano
- Sunny — upbeat ukulele
- Playful — light and mischievous
- Adventure — cinematic and bold
- Magical — sparkling and dreamy
Each track shows its length, and the play button next to each row lets you preview it (previews loop, just like the real thing) without changing your selection. Choose No music to turn it off.
Volume
The Volume slider sets how loud the music plays for readers. The default (40%) sits comfortably under a reading voice. Music also ducks automatically — it drops to about a third of your chosen volume whenever page narration or a video clip is playing, then eases back up.
Autoplay
Turn on Autoplay and music starts as soon as someone opens your story — or on their first tap or page turn if their browser blocks instant sound (most do until the reader interacts). With Autoplay off, music starts when the reader presses play or taps the music button.
What Readers Can Control
Readers get their own controls in the viewer toolbar:
- A music button to turn the bed on or off at any time — it works even if they never press play
- A volume slider that appears while music is on — their adjustment is just for that visit and doesn't change your story's settings
- If a reader turns music off, their choice is remembered on their device
Upload Your Own Track
On paid plans, Upload your own lets you use any audio file (MP3, M4A, WAV, or OGG, up to 15MB) as the music bed — a recorded melody, a favorite tune, anything you have the rights to use. Uploaded tracks are automatically volume-matched to the library so they behave exactly the same way.
Music and Videos
Background music currently plays in the digital reading experience — the share page, subdomain pages, and previews. Generated videos use narration audio; music beds for videos are on the way.