How To Use a Reference Track to Find Similar Music

Sometimes the easiest way to brief music is to play someone a track and say, “Something like this.”

Reference tracks are one of the most common starting points for a music brief because they can communicate a sound, energy and emotional tone far more quickly than a list of genres or mood words. But while a reference can point you in the right direction, it’s rarely as simple as using the track itself. Copyright, licensing costs and rights clearance can quickly turn a useful reference into a complicated one.

In this guide we’ll look at how to find music like a reference track, where the traditional approach to finding similar music can fall short and how Audio Network’s Smart Search offers a faster way forward. We’ll also share some tips for choosing the most useful reference and refining your results, so you can move from “something like this” to the right track for your project, without the clearance headaches.

Why Reference Tracks Work So Well

Music can be surprisingly difficult to describe in words. You might know that you want something driving but not aggressive, emotional but not sentimental or electronic with a sense of momentum. You can add genre, mood and instrumentation keywords, but there’s still plenty of room for interpretation. A reference track cuts through all of that. Instead of trying to explain the sound, you can simply show it.

This makes reference tracks particularly useful when thinking about how to brief music for video. They give composers, music supervisors, editors and creative teams a much clearer idea of the direction you have in mind, from energy and instrumentation to pace, production style and emotional tone.

But a reference track is just that: a reference. Even if it perfectly captures what you’re looking for, using the original recording can bring copyright and licensing considerations into play. Depending on the track and how you want to use it, you may need to identify rights holders, negotiate permission and pay licensing fees. For projects spanning multiple territories or platforms, that process can become even more complicated. The challenge is finding music that captures the same feeling without creating the same rights issues.

Why Searching by Keywords Can Fall Short

Traditionally, the next step has been to translate your reference into search terms. Maybe it’s upbeat indie, cinematic electronic, emotional piano or energetic hip hop. From there, you work through the results, adjusting keywords and adding or removing genres and moods until something starts to feel right.

It can work. But there’s a fundamental problem: music isn’t particularly easy to put into words. Two people might hear the same track and describe it completely differently. And the qualities that make a track work for a particular scene – the way the drums build, the texture of a synth, the pace of a vocal or the overall production feel – aren’t always captured by conventional search terms. As a result, you can spend a lot of time searching for something you already know when you hear it.

Search by Sound With Smart Search

This is where Audio Network’s Smart Search comes in. Rather than trying to describe your reference track, you can use the track itself as your starting point. Simply paste a link from YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Spotify or TikTok and Smart Search finds similar tracks from Audio Network’s fully licensed catalogue. It’s a more intuitive form of music search by reference track. Instead of asking, “What words describe this music?”, you can ask, “What else sounds like this?”

Smart Search analyses the audio characteristics of your reference and surfaces tracks with similar qualities, helping you get to relevant results without having to second-guess your search terms. It’s a music search tool for video editors and other creative professionals that makes it easier to move from a creative reference to usable music. And because the results come from Audio Network’s high quality, pre-licensed catalogue, you can move from inspiration to selection without starting the rights-clearance process from scratch.

How to Find Similar Music Legally

A reference track can be a great creative starting point, but it doesn’t automatically give you permission to use that recording. Searching a licensed catalogue provides a simpler way to explore alternatives. If you’re looking for ways to find similar music legally, start with the track that captures the sound you want, then search for an alternative with the appropriate licence for your project.

Smart Search lets you do exactly that. Your original track provides the creative direction, while the results give you options from a catalogue created for professional use. In other words, you can find licensed music similar to a track without having to pursue permission for the original recording.

Choose Your Reference Carefully

Not all reference tracks are equally useful. If you’re searching for music to accompany a particular scene, campaign or edit, think about which part of the reference actually captures what you want.

It might not be the whole song. Perhaps it’s the first 30 seconds, where the instrumentation and atmosphere are exactly right. Maybe it’s the chorus that has the energy you need, or a particular instrumental section that nails the mood of your scene. The more closely your reference represents the specific quality you’re looking for, the more useful your results are likely to be.

Before using Smart Search, ask yourself:

• What am I responding to in this track? Is it the energy, instrumentation, tempo, atmosphere or production?
• Which section captures that best? A verse, chorus, intro, breakdown or instrumental passage?
• Does the reference reflect the brief? Choose it because it works for your project, rather than simply because you like the song.

Think of your reference as a creative shortcut. The better the shortcut, the faster you’ll get where you want to go.

Refine Your Results

Smart Search isn’t about finding one identical replacement for your reference. It’s about giving you a strong starting point. Once you have your results, listen for the elements that are working, and the ones that aren’t. Perhaps you’ve found the right energy but need something more understated. Maybe the instrumentation is spot on but the tempo needs to be slower. Or perhaps you’ve got the right overall feel but need a track with more space for dialogue. From there, refine your search and explore the catalogue with a clearer sense of what you need.

It’s also worth remembering that similar doesn’t mean identical. The goal isn’t necessarily to recreate every element of your reference track. Sometimes the right choice is a track that captures the same feeling while bringing something new to the project.

What About Royalty-Free Music?

If you’ve ever searched for how to find royalty free music like a song, you’ll know that finding something with the right sound is only part of the challenge. You also need to understand what you’re actually allowed to do with it.

“Royalty-free” can mean different things depending on the provider and licence, so it’s important to look beyond the label and understand the rights attached to any music you choose. With a properly licensed music service, you can search for an alternative to your reference while knowing that the track comes with defined usage rights for your project.

From Inspiration to Licensed Music

The biggest advantage of starting with a reference track isn’t simply that it makes searching easier. It’s that it separates creative inspiration from the track you can actually use.

You can begin with the music that inspired your idea, then find something with a similar sound within a catalogue built for professional use. That means less time spent searching and less time worrying about whether the track you’ve found can actually be cleared.

With Audio Network, the music you discover through Smart Search is pre-licensed and ready to use globally, giving creative teams a straightforward route from reference to final selection. So next time the brief starts with “Something like this”, you don’t need to spend hours trying to put that sound into words. Just start with the sound.

Discover More

So now you know how to use a reference track to find similar music, why not read more of our expert blogs including How to Build a Music Brief from a Mood Board and How Much Does It Cost to License Music? And don’t miss Audio Network’s guides to selecting music for short-form and long-form content, and how to find music for YouTube videos,  TikTok or Instagram.