Best Music Video Editors Recommendations [2021]

Whether it’s a YouTube video, a Facebook ad, or an Instagram story, using the best music video editing software is the key to making sure that your content looks professional and slick. In fact, the music industry simply cannot thrive without these tools. The best thing about music video editing is that there are many free music video editing tools out there to help you which means you don’t need to spend money on the paid software to create engaging content. Read on to learn about these tools and what makes them a recommended choice in 2021.

What Matters for Music Video Editing Software?

There are several things you should keep in mind when choosing a music video editing software. Some of the key considerations include:

Free Music

Many video editing tools as well as free music video editing software come with their own library of royalty-free stock music. You should look for this feature. Having a huge library of stock music is crucial to creating a quality music video that is also free of any copyright issues.

Effects

It is recommended that you choose a music video editing software that has wide range of stunning effects, filters, and transitions. These utilities are the key to enhancing a video and making it truly unique and the tool that offers a great variety of them should be your preferred choice.

Easy to Use

Ease of use is another important thing that matters for any video editing tool. Make sure that the video editor you choose has a user-friendly interface and it provides easy access to all of its features.

Less Work

There are certain video editors that feature automated operations. This means less work for the user. Such convenience should be your priority. This is because it not only minimizes the risk of mistakes, but it also streamlines the music video editing process.

Top 9 Music Video Editing Software for 2021

Following is the list of top 10 best music video editors. These tools are recommended due to their ease of use, variety of features, and reliability when it comes to creating a high-quality music video.

1. iMyFone Filme

Best for: Beginners and advanced users looking to create stunning slideshows or music videos.

iMyFoneFilme is a fast, pro video editor that is particularly helpful for creating stunning music videos and slideshow content with just several clicks. As a free music video editing program, the best features about it is the Fast Video mode. It also comes with variety of resources, e.g. music, transitions, filters, effects, etc. which you can use to personalize your video and make it engaging. Thanks to Filme’s user-friendly interface, anyone can use it to easily create engaging video content.

Features

• Fast Video mode allows you to create a high-quality slideshow with one click.
• Basic video editing utilities, e.g. crop, rotate, split, merge, picture-in-picture, etc.
• Wide range of filters, effects, transitions, and more for excellent video enhancing experience.
• Free music library.
• Instant preview.
• Share videos to social media platforms directly from the software.

Pros

• User-friendly, intuitive interface.
• Supports variety of media formats.
• Suitable for both beginners and advanced users.

Available on: Windows, Mac

2. Lightworks

Best for: Desktop music video editing at lower resolutions.

Lightworks is another reliable music video editing software that is equipped with a lot of useful features. The free version of this tool comes with limited features but it is sufficient for most users looking to create/edit quality music videos to share on YouTube or any social media platform. Lightworks supports a wide range of video formats and it is fairly easy to learn thanks to the video tutorials that it comes with. However, free version does not support 4K videos. To edit 4K videos, you will need to use the paid version.

Features

• High precision video trimming.
• Multicam editing.
• Realtime effects with variety of inbuilt presets.
• Various color correction and blend modes.

Pros

• Wide variety of basic and advanced video editing features.
• Supports a wide range of video formats.
• Comes with many video tutorials.

Cons

• Free version does not support 4K video editing.
• Steep learning curve especially for Mac version.

Available on: Windows, Linux, and Mac.

3. EaseUS Video Editor

Best for: Basic editing and enhancing music videos on Windows.

EaseUS boasts an easy-to-use and powerful music video editing platform to help you produce and edit stunning, premium quality videos even if you don’t have any technical know-how. With 50+ visual transitions and effects, you can enhance your message in your video and give it a polished look for sharing on YouTube, social media, or your website. Keep in mind that the free version of this tool comes with limited features. You will need to upgrade to a pro plan to access all the features and modes.

Features

• All basic video editing modes are available, e.g. split, crop, freeze frame, rotate, change speed, etc.
• Real-time preview which you can use before, during, and after the completion of your project.
• Add voice narration to your videos.
• Fix color issues as well as add effects and transitions to customize videos according to your preferences.
• Save music videos in wide range of popular formats.

Pros

• Easy to use, accessible software interface.
• Decent selection of video enhancing effects and overlays.
• Supports most video formats.
• Suitable for beginners.

Cons

• Relatively less editing features as compared to most other music video editing tools.
• Text effects are low quality.
• Not available on Mac and Linux.

Available on: Windows

4. Shotcut

Best for: Advanced music video editing, particularly involving 4K projects.

Shotcut is a feature-rich music video editing software that is suitable for anyone looking to perform professional level editing to truly optimize and enhance their videos. The tool supports 4K resolution natively and has many advanced modes and features, e.g. counter generator, timelines, text and noise generator, and more. It is also a powerful audio editor and has several dedicated features for enhancing any type of sound or music. It allows you to adjust various aspects of an audio, e.g. reverb, pitch, notch, treble, bass, etc. It’s huge collection of visual filters and effects will help you turn your music video into a high-quality, polished piece.

Features

• Native timeline editing, no import required.
• Webcam capture, audio capture, and frame-accurate seeking.
• Color, noise, text, and counter generators.
• Wide range of video effects and filters, including blur, fade-in/fade-out, dodge, burn, etc.
• 3-point editing and multitrack timeline with waveforms and thumbnails.

Pros

• Feature-rich tool with professional level video editing capability.
• Native 4K resolution support.
• Huge collection of tutorial videos that make learning the tool easy and convenient.
• Supports a wide range of video formats.

Cons

• User-interface is not beginner-friendly and needs improvement.
• Lots of advanced features make Shotcut a complex tool for beginners.

Available on: Mac, Windows, and Linux.

5. DaVinci Resolve

Best for: Advanced music video editing projects that involve a lot of color correction.

DaVinci Resolve is arguably the most advanced music video editing software available on the market. Even though it is packed with many advanced features, the software remains user-friendly and intuitive. Some of its key benefits include advanced video trimming and slicing, color correction, audio correction, adding 2D and 3D titles to videos, and more. All these features allow you to create and enhance your video to Hollywood style theme that is usually seen in films.

Features

• Advanced trimming, color correction, and multicam editing support.
• High-performance playback engine.
• State-of-the art color grading tools.
• 32-bit float image processing.
• Multi-user collaboration support.
• Support for 4K.

Pros

• Designed for advanced users.
• User-friendly, intuitive software interface.
• Compatible with some other popular tools for cross-software editing.
• Great community and tech support.

Cons

• Massive collection of features makes this tool a bit overwhelming for beginners.
• While the software does come with many tutorials to help you master it, not all of them are free.

Available on:Linux, Windows, and Mac.

6. HitFilm Express

Best for: Advanced video editing for online sharing and YouTube.

HitFilm Express is another popular video editor that is more suitable for advanced users. It contains all basic video editing features, e.g. trim, splice, merge, rotate, etc. as well as tons of special effects and filters. The tutorials it comes with are very engaging and interactive, making it fun to learn and master the software. The tool also includes a store where you can buy add-ons and further enhance the capability of the software.

Features

• Advanced video trimming capability.
• 3D video support.
• 410+ effects and presets for customizing and enhancing a video.
• Supports green screen effects.
• Composting tools, masking and layers, and more.

Pros

• Professional grade music video editing software.
• Suitable for advanced users and video editing enthusiasts.
• Comes with many tutorials to help you learn and master the software.

Cons

• Not available on Linux.
• User-interface is a bit complex and may take some time to learn.
• The vast number of features make this tool overwhelming for beginners.

Available on: Windows and Mac.

7. Kdenlive

Best for: Music video editing that does not require a lot of video customization and enhancement.

Kdenlive is a decent music video editing software that was initially designed for Linux platform but then made available for Mac and Windows. Even though this open source video editor has limited features, it is still very powerful and even a bit advanced for new users. Its features are robust and include everything from keyframe effects and transitions to incorporating virtually any audio file, multi-track editing, and more.

Features

• Multi-track video editing allows you to use several video and audio tracks simultaneously.
• Customizable interface and shortcuts.
• Dozens of visual effects are available, including most standard transform filters.
• Timeline preview.
• Automatic backup of projects.

Pros

• Feature-packed tool capable of advanced video editing and enhancement.
• Light on system resources.
• Suitable for advanced users.

Cons

• The number of filters, effects, transitions, etc. is relatively low as compared to most other video editors.
• Interface is not very user-friendly.
• Complex for beginners.

Available on: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

8. OpenShot

Best for: New users looking to edit music videos.

OpenShot is a powerful open-source video editor that is equipped with a wide range of useful features. It’s simple interface and drag and drop capability makes it easy to use. The software comes with many advanced features such as real-time preview, video transitions, unlimited layers, etc. Using OpenShot to cut and slice any video is extremely easy.

Features

• All basic video editing utilities are available, e.g. cutting, trimming, rotation, snapping, scaling, resizing, etc.
• Real-time preview capability.
• Image overlays, composting, and watermarks.
• Variety of visual effects, title templates, filters, etc.

Pros

• Open source with lots of decent features.
• User-friendly interface and quick, easy navigation.
• Unlimited layers.

Cons

• Software comes with video tutorials but their number is limited, making it a bit difficult to learn all the features quickly.
• Some users have reported that the software sometimes lags when rendering videos.

Available on: Windows, Linux, and Mac.

9. iMovie

Best for: Mac/iOS users who want to perform basic editing on their videos.

Available only for Mac and iOS users, iMovie is a popular video editing tool that natively supports 4K resolution and is equipped with various useful features of high-quality video editing. The drag and drop interface of the software is clean and minimal. You can use iMovie as a music video editing software thanks to its features that allow you to add music, titles, effects, filters, etc. to your videos.

Features

• Various high-fidelity filters that are easy to apply.
• Extra special effects, e.g. slow down/speed up video, split screen, picture-in-picture, etc.
• 4K resolution support.
• Several built-in sound effects which you can include in your video.
• Seamless Apple product integration.

Pros

• Simple drag and drop user-interface.
• Easy to learn and master.
• Light on system resources.
• Good overall basic video editing capabilities.

Cons

• Not suitable for more advanced video editing.
• Not available on Windows and Linux.

Available on: Mac, iOS

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether you are new to music video editing or you are a seasoned video editing enthusiast looking for a reliable software, there are plenty of great choices available in 2021. The above-listed music video editors are recommended because they are capable of boosting your video marketing efforts.