For this post I’m going to look at Audio Watermarks and how to add them to your audio files.
- What is an Audio Watermark?
- Why do I need one?
- How do I create my own audio watermarks?
- How do I add audio watermarks to my tracks?
- Is there an easier way?
- Is there a way to automate this task?
- Audio Watermarking Applications
- Conclusion
What is an Audio Watermark?
An Audio Watermark is a short piece of audio which is repeated over the top of a piece of music (or other audio recording) to signify that it is a preview. It also serves as copy protection so that other people cannot illegally copy the audio.
Not to be confused with digital watermarks, which are usually undetectable, audio watermarks are meant to be heard and noticeable.
Why do I need one?
Apart from stopping people illegally copying your music you can also use audio watermarks when sending samples of your work to clients. For example, mixing or mastering engineers may initially send a free sample to a client containing a watermark. If the client is happy the finished audio tracks can be sent without the watermark after payment is completed.
How do I create my own audio watermarks?
It’s pretty straight forward to create your own audio watermarks. You can easily record your own voice or even just use a short burst of white noise. For a watermark to be effective it has to deter other people from copying the track. So don’t choose something which blends in to the track you want to protect.
If recording your own voice (or someone else’s) it could be something as simple as the phrase ‘This is a preview’.
Often audio watermarks consist of the name of the mixing or mastering engineer repeated over and over. This helps to serve as promotion for their business, as well as protecting their work.
Audio Jungle, who host thousands of stock music tracks and sound effects, have a watermark which simply consists of the phrase ‘Audio Jungle’. Customers can preview the music and sound effects but all previews contain the watermark.
If you sell music or SFX on Audio Jungle they provide you with the audio watermark. You can choose a short, single file or as a one minute loop with the watermark repeated every 10 seconds. Audio Jungle are quite specific about how you submit music to them and will reject tracks which do not follow their guidelines.
If you plan to sell stock music and sounds online it’s a good idea to check the guidelines for the specific site you intend to use.
How do I add audio watermarks to my tracks?
If you have any kind of multitrack audio software (Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, etc) you should be able to do this yourself. If you don’t already have an audio application like this then a good place to start is with Audacity, which is free to download.
You only need 2 tracks: one for the original audio track (music or sound effects) and the other for the audio watermark.
First, line up the track that needs protecting at the start of a new project or session in your DAW software.
Next, on a separate track, add the audio watermark at regular intervals until you have covered the whole of the first track. You might want to use between 5 and 10 seconds as a rough guide for spacing out your audio watermark.
Now, set the level of the audio watermark: It needs to be loud enough to distract the listener but not so loud that they can’t hear the original audio track properly. Potential customers still need to be able to evaluate it properly.
Then you need to export or bounce, the mix of the two tracks. Usually previews don’t need to be high quality, so you can use a compressed format such as MP3. Audio Jungle specify that MP3 files should be at 320KBps.
Is there an easier way?
This all sounds pretty easy and straight forward but what if you have multiple files needing a watermark? It can soon become a tedious and boring task which can be fairly time consuming. It takes time to set up each track, as each will have slightly varying lengths, and make sure the watermark audio loops to the end of the track. Setting levels and then naming and exporting the tracks also takes time.
Is there a way to automate this task?
Most audio software has some kind of macro function or batch processing feature. Macros let you record a set of tasks, selections, processes, etc. Macros can then be played back by the software to save you performing the actions multiple times. In Adobe Audition this feature is called ‘Favourites’. You can batch process your Favourites in Audition and apply the processing to multiple files.
I’ve tried to use macros to automate the task of adding audio watermarks but I found it too complex a task. If anyone finds a way of making macros work with audio watermarks please let me know.
Audio Watermarking Applications
Luckily there are some apps out there that have been created to solve this particular problem.
I looked at various solutions and narrowed it down to one that was suitable for my needs: AG Watermark Generator.
There are a couple of Windows only applications out there which I was unable to try (I only have a Mac) but I found that AG Watermark Generator ticked all the boxes.
It’s very easy to use: Simply add the files you need to process (it accepts batch processing). Then add the watermark file and select a few simple settings. You can set the audio level of the watermark, the gap between the watermarks and the ‘start after’ parameter. This delays the first instance of the watermark by a number of seconds.
I find it easier to use a single short watermark and then set all the looping settings in the AG Watermark Generator.
Next, set the audio format of the output file (MP3’s up to 320Kbps, or Wav files). Now select the output folder and the file name (with prefix or suffix).
Before exporting you can preview the files with audio watermarks and when you’re ready just click ‘Lets Go’. It really does save a huge amount of time and the price I paid was very reasonable. You can check out AG Watermark Generator here: AG Watermark Generator
Conclusion
Adding your own audio watermarks is very easy. If you only have a small number of files that need audio watermarks, and on an infrequent basis, it makes sense to add your own watermarks in your own DAW software (as described above).
However, if you have many files requiring audio watermarks on a regular basis you might want to consider an application like AG Watermark Generator.