How to Select Ballroom Dance Music
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2025 5:28 pm
This is by definition an opinion article. Everyone has their own preferences for ballroom dance music. Some people I meet don't care much about the song as long as it has a beat at the right tempo.
How to Select a Song
Check for a proper rhythm for the dance.
Some of the ballroom DJs that are producing ballroom songs simply slap an additional beat on top of a song with a rock-and-roll beat, and say that is for some ballroom dance. I am much more particular. I want the feeling of the proper rhythm for the dance. If the rhythm doesn't match what the dance should be, I reject the song. I don't want to dance a Samba to a rock-and-roll beat.
Check that the song has a clear and easy beat.
Most social dancers are not very advanced dancers. They need a clear and easy beat to dance to. There are some wonderful songs that are simply difficult to find the beat and don't work well.
Find songs with good energy.
One of the questions I ask myself is, is this a song I can dance to every week without getting tired of it? Is the song fun to dance to? For my playlists, I only choose songs that I rate as "Great". There are many perfectly decent songs to dance to, but some are sleepy or tame or good-but-not-great. Since adopting this method, almost every week someone comes up to me and says "Great Playlist!".
Where to Get Ballroom Dance Music and how to select a song.
One main resource is a German company: Casa Musica (I have no association with this company). They carry several different labels. Some albums can only be purchased in their entirety, but much of the music can be purchased as individual MP3s, which at the time this article was written cost around $1.60 each. Their website is ok, a bit slow sometimes and occasionally playing certain songs doesn't work well. The other issue with this website is that they do not carry American style songs such as Bolero and Night Club Two Step and have a limited selection of some other dances. Some of the Rumbas can be slowed down and played as a Bolero.
Generally speaking, for any given ballroom music album, only a few songs (or none) may be any good to use -- many of the songs are sleepy or ok, but not great. For this reason I do not recommend purchasing entire albums, but only individual MP3s. Also look for "Explicit" in the song information. Some modern songs can have rather nasty vulgarities (though some songs labelled "Explicit" are ok).
This website allows the first 30 seconds of MP3 songs to be played. If the song has a long introduction, this can be a problem as the music may change character. If you're not sure about a song, skip it rather than taking a chance that it will be good.
The other resource to use is Youtube and Amazon. Find songs that are good to dance to on Youtube (as you can listen to the entire song), then purchase them on Amazon. I find Amazon a bit difficult to use, as searching for a particular artist and title brings up a lot of "covers" by random people (I think they are gaming Amazon's system).
You can spend $5-$10 per month on purchasing ballroom dance music and build up quite a good collection over time.
I've done pretty well. There have been a few songs I purchased that are a bit advanced for social dancing. One West Coast Swing I purchased was truly awful. But there have only been these few mistakes.
Some music can be downloaded from various websites or via a Youtube downloader, but I try not to do this, as I want the ballroom dance music community to receive their money so that they will survive into the future.
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How do you select your ballroom dance music? What resources do you use? I am interested in other websites where I can purchase ballroom music (even other languages). Post a reply and let everyone know your methods and resources.
How to Select a Song
Check for a proper rhythm for the dance.
Some of the ballroom DJs that are producing ballroom songs simply slap an additional beat on top of a song with a rock-and-roll beat, and say that is for some ballroom dance. I am much more particular. I want the feeling of the proper rhythm for the dance. If the rhythm doesn't match what the dance should be, I reject the song. I don't want to dance a Samba to a rock-and-roll beat.
Check that the song has a clear and easy beat.
Most social dancers are not very advanced dancers. They need a clear and easy beat to dance to. There are some wonderful songs that are simply difficult to find the beat and don't work well.
Find songs with good energy.
One of the questions I ask myself is, is this a song I can dance to every week without getting tired of it? Is the song fun to dance to? For my playlists, I only choose songs that I rate as "Great". There are many perfectly decent songs to dance to, but some are sleepy or tame or good-but-not-great. Since adopting this method, almost every week someone comes up to me and says "Great Playlist!".
Where to Get Ballroom Dance Music and how to select a song.
One main resource is a German company: Casa Musica (I have no association with this company). They carry several different labels. Some albums can only be purchased in their entirety, but much of the music can be purchased as individual MP3s, which at the time this article was written cost around $1.60 each. Their website is ok, a bit slow sometimes and occasionally playing certain songs doesn't work well. The other issue with this website is that they do not carry American style songs such as Bolero and Night Club Two Step and have a limited selection of some other dances. Some of the Rumbas can be slowed down and played as a Bolero.
Generally speaking, for any given ballroom music album, only a few songs (or none) may be any good to use -- many of the songs are sleepy or ok, but not great. For this reason I do not recommend purchasing entire albums, but only individual MP3s. Also look for "Explicit" in the song information. Some modern songs can have rather nasty vulgarities (though some songs labelled "Explicit" are ok).
This website allows the first 30 seconds of MP3 songs to be played. If the song has a long introduction, this can be a problem as the music may change character. If you're not sure about a song, skip it rather than taking a chance that it will be good.
The other resource to use is Youtube and Amazon. Find songs that are good to dance to on Youtube (as you can listen to the entire song), then purchase them on Amazon. I find Amazon a bit difficult to use, as searching for a particular artist and title brings up a lot of "covers" by random people (I think they are gaming Amazon's system).
You can spend $5-$10 per month on purchasing ballroom dance music and build up quite a good collection over time.
I've done pretty well. There have been a few songs I purchased that are a bit advanced for social dancing. One West Coast Swing I purchased was truly awful. But there have only been these few mistakes.
Some music can be downloaded from various websites or via a Youtube downloader, but I try not to do this, as I want the ballroom dance music community to receive their money so that they will survive into the future.
=====
How do you select your ballroom dance music? What resources do you use? I am interested in other websites where I can purchase ballroom music (even other languages). Post a reply and let everyone know your methods and resources.