This is music created especially for using backgrounds as you talk. I do not think that music, just any song in your background while talking is right.

Why cannot I use just any music in the background?

Pop songs or just any other song that is created for just listening has specific frequencies that make listening your talking complicated. When a singer sings in the background it is probably the same frequency that your voice. No matter how quiet you make it - still makes it harder to hear clearly your words.

Same applies to solo instruments. Such as violin, flutes, trombone, synthesizer and other instruments use their virtuosity to get your attention. Podcast music should not get the full attention especially unintentionally.

It is ok to use certain songs in your podcast background, because you have some message there. In this case you have to pay attention to sound editing. You might want to use an effect called ducking or just an EQ. But this is all about your audience's attention. When using background music in your episodes all the attention will be on your message.

Why to use podcast music at all?

Background music gives you an environment while you talk alone or interview a guest in your show. Imagine meeting your friend you have not seen for a while. You go probably into a bar or a cafe. Or you might choose a restaurant or a pub. It depends on your needs or occasion. But certainly you should not take your friend to a pop concert in a city hall or a rap event in an underground part of your town. There is too loud music for you to talk because you cannot hear what your friend is talking. Then you decide to go outside to talk and music is much quieter too. But why go to the concert at all?

To talk to your friend you need a place where music is just in the background and sets the mood of the evening. The same thing  goes to podcast music. You might like Michale Jackson's Black Or White but nobody can hear what are you saying and they just remember the fact you used this song in your episode's background or intro.

Use background music that corresponds to the space you want to be when talking.

I have noticed that some videos that are about a technical solution or gadget use a catchy hip-hop song. This makes me feel that I don't have to take this technical solution too seriously. One of my clients makes this mistake all the time and I don't know how to say it to him.

For example talking about religious things it could be a good idea to use some choir music or something else meaningful in the background. What your episode needs, isa neutral background, not religious music that carries a load of information in it.

Or just take two guys making jokes in a podcast episode and using a rap song in their background. It might be a good point, because they both like this rap artist. But rap music is about listening and carrying a message in it. So I recommend an edited composition of this rap song, where the singer is cut out and there are no strong solo instruments.

Don't use songs you like in the backgrounds

It is a common mistake that people listen to the music and then decide to use it. First make a test episode or talk for a couple of minutes and use this song. Sometimes an outsider is the most neutral person to ask.

Leave the tracks you liked and use them as a musical break in your episode. When thinking about the music in the background, think of it as a room or a space you want to talk about. Imagine - what kind of sounds there might be and always use podcast music created for background.