When making PowerPoint presentation, we may add soundtrack to the slides to jazz it up further and make it more attractive.
This tutorial is about how to add music to your PowerPoint presentation and get it to span across multiple slides or the entire presentation.
Get a sound file ready
Sound file format supported by PowerPoint:
PowerPoint 97 can use WAV, MID, and RMI sound files
PowerPoint 2000 and up can use WAV, MP3, MID, RMI, AIF, AIFC, AU, WMA, and AFS
PowerPoint Mac supports WAV sounds directly. All other sounds are handled by QuickTime
Note:
- Only WAV sounds can be embedded, regardless of PowerPoint version. All other sound files are linked.
- It is recommended that you use WAV sound for it’s the best compatible format with PowerPoint.
Since the sound file is ready, we can now insert it in PowerPoint.
If you are using PowerPoint 2003/XP
Step1. Insert the sound in PowerPoint presentation.
Go to the slide where you want to begin your audio track (defaulted as the first slide), from the main menu select Insert > Movies and Sounds > Sound from file.
A window will appear allowing you to browse to music file that you want to associate with the slide. After choosing the right music, click OK. You can then see a message pop up asking how you want the sound to start in slide shows. Click Automatically
Step 2. Set the sound to play across multiple slides
Select Slide Show ->Custom Animation to enter the Custom Animation pane. Your soundtrack is listed below in the pane.
In the drop-down list of the sound, choose Effect Options.
Then the Play Sound interface appears. In the Effect tab, click the radio button beside Stop Playing After XXX slides (which indicates how many slides you want this song to play across) to enter the number of slides you intend to add. For example, you can enter a number from 1 to 999 for this field. Then the sound will play throughout the specified slides.
Now you can play the sound from the very beginning to the end of your slideshow.
You can also watch the video guide here 
If you care using PowerPoint 2007
It is much easier to make a continuous sound since the PowerPoint 2007 is more comprehensive. Now do as follows:
Step 1 Insert sound file
On the slide, click Insert to pick the Sound drop-down list on the very right below the tab. Select Sound from File in the list and choose the specified sound track from your hard drive.
Click OK and a message prompts, saying How do you want the sound to start in the slide show? Click Automatically.
Now click the sound icon to display the Options tab. Click on the tab, and set Play across slides for Play Sound.
Step 2 Set to play the sound play across PowerPoint 2007
Click the sound icon to display the Options tab. Click on the tab, and set Play across slides for Play Sound. Then the sound will play across all slides starting from current slide.
If you want to play the sound across certain slides. You can follow the second step in PowerPoint 2003.
You can also watch the video guide here 
If you are using PowerPoint 2010
Step 1 Insert sound in PowerPoint 2010
Click the Insert tab located along the top PowerPoint toolbar. Then, locate the Audio icon, located on the far right of the lower toolbar, and click the arrow below it to bring down the sub menu.
From here, you will notice the options: Audio from File, Clip Art Audio, and Record Audio. You can choose whichever option you prefer. For this presentation, we will be using the Audio from File option. Therefore, we will need to navigate to our audio file and click the OK button.
Step 2 Set to play the sound play across PowerPoint 2010
Click the small speaker representing the audio file you have inserted, and the Audio Tools interface displays. Click the Playback icon.
Select the Play across slides option from the submenu of Start on the right side of Volume. So the sound will play across all slides staring from current slide.
To play sound across certain slides, please follow:
Select the Animation Pane option under the Animations tab. Right-click the audio file in the emerging Animation Pane window on the left, and select Effect Options from the drop-down list.
Then the Play Audio interface appears.
In the Effect tab, make your choice at Stop Playing-After XXX slides.
After you have done testing your music, you can hit the esc key to exit the slide show.
That’s all there is to it.
If you are using PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Step 1 Insert audio
PowerPoint 2011 for Mac enables you to work with various types of sound files such as MP3, WMA, or WAV. However, inserted sounds are always embedded within your presentation, which is different from the default behavior in previous versions of PowerPoint which always linked sound files rather than embedding them.
Navigate to the slide where you want to add a sound. Within the Home tab of Ribbon, locate the Insert group and click the downward arrow next to the Media button to bring up the menu, and choose the Audio from File option.
Then the Choose Audio dialog box comes up. You just navigate to the folder where your audio clips are saved, and select a file, click Insert.
Step 2 Set to play sound across PowerPoint 2011 for Mac
Select the sound icon, will notice that selecting the sound icon makes the Format Audio contextual tab active on the Ribbon.
This tab offers you different options to control the playback of the audio you have selected. Within the Audio Options group, click the Start drop-down list. From this list, select the Play Across Slides option.
Tips
1. If you choose When Clicked play option, the sound will begin when you click on the sound icon that appears on the slide. This option should be used with much caution because you must click precisely on the sound icon for the sound to play. If you click on the slide by mistake, the presentation will advance to the next action.
2. If the path name of a linked file exceeds 128 characters, Microsoft Office PowerPoint is not able to find and play that linked file. In such a case, you can either rename the linked file, or shorten the path name by copying the linked file into the same folder where your presentation is located.
3. The embedded WAV files are limited within 50 Mb.
