How To Play Music On Zoom, Step By Step With Photos

Zoom is a popular video conferencing tool with millions of users worldwide. Numerous companies with multiple offices and distributed teams use the Zoom application to cut down on business travel and improve communication. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the world was in lockdown, almost everyone signed up for Zoom.

One of the cool things about the Zoom app is you can play music during a Zoom meeting session. Not sure how this works? Follow our simple step-by-step guide below to learn how to incorporate music into Zoom meetings.

How To Play Music On Zoom

Learning how to play music on Zoom is helpful in different situations. For example, you could be a high school or college music teacher and need to incorporate songs into your lesson plan. Gym owners may also play music on Zoom when hosting online workout sessions.

The guide below explains how to play music on Zoom.

Step One: Join a Zoom Meeting  

Go to your desktop or laptop and launch the Zoom application. Next, click Join a Meeting if you want to play music at a meeting called by someone else and you do not have an account. 

Alternatively, you can sign into your Zoom account using your email, Apple, Google, or Facebook accounts. You can also sign in through an institution’s server by clicking Sign in with SSO.

Step Two: Start A New Meeting

Once you log in to your Zoom account, start a new meeting or join a session using the account.

Step Three: Click Share Screen

When you start or join a meeting, go to the bottom of your PC’s screen and click Share Screen on the Zoom meeting toolbar. 

Step Four: Select an Option

Clicking Share Screen does not automatically share your screen. Instead, a pop-up window appears. In the window, you have to choose what you want to share using the options Basic, Advanced, or Files. Sharing computer audio and playing music is under the Advanced option, so you should click on it.

Step Five: Click On Computer Audio

In the Advanced window, click on the Computer Audio option, then click Share at the bottom right corner of the screen to share audio produced by your laptop or desktop. Any music playing on your computer, either from your saved files or from an online source will also play in the meeting without sharing your screen.

Step Six: Change Your Preferences If Necessary

Zoom allows you to select the audio quality you would like your computer to produce. The Computer Audio option in the Advanced tab has a drop-down menu. Click the drop-down icon, then choose between Mono and Stereo (High-fidelity). The Stereo option produces a better sound quality than the Mono option. Once you make a selection, click share, choose a playlist from your PC files or your favorite music streaming platform, and then proceed with the meeting.

Once you start sharing audio, you will see a notification at the top of the Zoom tab indicating you are sharing audio. Next to that notification is the option to stop sharing audio at any point during the meeting. 

Step Seven: Setting Volume

If, at any point during the meeting, you need to raise or lower the volume of the audio playing, do not change your computer’s volume. Changing your computer’s volume only affects your device. If you are playing audio from your computer files, you must adjust your computer’s audio player volume to affect every participant’s volume. To adjust the volume from an audio streaming site, go to the specific website or application.

How To Play Music On Zoom While Sharing Your Screen

Below is a step-by-step guide to play music while sharing what is on your screen with other meeting participants.

Step One: Start or Join A Meeting

Start a new meeting or join an existing forum using the guidelines highlighted in the first section of the article.

Step Two: Click Share Screen

At the bottom of the screen, click Share Screen on the Zoom meeting toolbar. 

Step Three: Select  Screen

When you click Share Screen, you will see the three options Basic, Advanced, and Files. Basic is the option selected by default when you open the tab. Under Basic, you will see all the screens you have open on your desktop or laptop, and you can choose the screen you want to share. If you are going to share more than one screen, hold down CTRL while you select the screens.

Step Four: Select Advanced

Once you decide on the screen to share, head to Advanced to share your audio.

Step Five: Select Computer Audio

In the Advanced tab, select Computer Audio to indicate what you want to share. If you need to adjust the sound preferences, use the drop-down menu. 

Step Six: Click Share

When done, click Share to begin sharing a screen while playing music. Alternatively, you can use the more straightforward method below when sharing a screen.

Start a new meeting or join an ongoing one, then click Share Screen at the bottom of the Zoom meeting tab. Select the option to Share Sound located at the bottom left corner of the tab that opens after clicking Share Screen. Then Click Share on the bottom right corner of the tab.

How to Create a Zoom Account

If you do not have a Zoom account, you can create an account by clicking Sign Up at the bottom right corner of the Zoom window. 

Step 1: Go to the sign-in area

Step 2: Verify your age

Clicking Sign Up will open the sign-up page in your default browser, where you must verify your age.

Then provide an email address and enter the verification code sent to the email you provided. 

Step 3: Enter the verification code as shown below.

Zoom verification code is typically a 6-digit number sent to your email address.

Step 4: Create Your Account

Next, provide your first and last name, create and confirm a password, and state whether you have made the account on behalf of an institution. Finally, click continue, and you can start inviting others to meetings once the account is set up. 

Things to Know Before Sharing Music On Zoom

While learning how to play music on zoom may seem easy, you might want to consider these four things:

Practice

You might want to practice the above steps if you have never played music while hosting or participating in a Zoom meeting. Practice will help you avoid making mistakes in the middle of an ongoing session. This way, you avoid can disrupting the meeting. 

Device

Only those with a Zoom PC app can play music during a Zoom meeting. Anyone joining a meeting discussion on a Zoom mobile application or via their website cannot share music. So, ensure you have the appropriate device and app before joining a Zoom meeting.

Sound Settings

By default, Zoom uses sound suppression technology to nullify noise, ensuring speakers are audible throughout the session. However, the Zoom sound suppression technology can pick up some sounds like those from an instrument and nullify them while playing music.

Adjusting the sound settings ensures your computer’s microphone or an external microphone accurately captures sound not produced by the computer without suppressing it.

How to Suppress Background Noise in Zoom

By adjusting the background noise suppression, you will ensure all sounds generated, for instance, during a musical instrument lesson, get captured and conveyed to other participants. Therefore, you should follow the steps below to make the change.

Step One: Sign In To Your Account and Click the Profile Picture

Log in to your Zoom account, then click the profile picture icon on the top right corner of the screen.

Step Two: Click Settings

After clicking the profile picture icon, select Settings on the options panel that appears. 

Step Three: Select Audio

Tapping Settings opens another tab with several options. Find the Audio option and click it.

Step Four: Go To Background Noise Suppression

Under Audio, go to Background Noise Suppression and change the setting from Auto to Low to ensure the application only suppresses faint noises.

Enable Original Sound

Alternatively, enable original sound should you not want noise suppression. Original sound works best when you are in a studio environment as there is minimal background noise that will interfere with music notes produced when playing an instrument. 

Do the following to enable the original sound.

Step One: Log In To Your Account

Log in to your Zoom account and click the profile picture icon on the top right corner of the tab.

Step Two: Select Settings

In the drop-down menu, select Settings, then click on Audio in the next tab that appears.

Step Three: Go To Audio Profile

In the Audio menu, go to Audio Profile, then click Original Sound For Musicians.

Selecting Original Sound For Musicians allows switching between optimized audio and original sound during a meeting.

Step Four: Select A Sound Mode

Under Original Sound, you will see three options to enhance your sound settings further. They are High fidelity music mode (guarantees the highest quality sound), Echo cancellation (prevents the capture of echos), and Stereo audio.