Methods, systems, and media for selecting content to be presented are provided. In some embodiments, the methods comprise: receiving a request for a first video content item from a user device; receiving an indication that the user device is in a background playback mode; determining that the first video content item is not suitable for presentation in the background playback mode based on one or more properties of audio data; based on the determining that the first video content item is not suitable for presentation in the background playback mode, selecting a second video content item that is suitable for presentation in the background playback mode based on the one or more properties of the audio data of the second video content item; and in response to selecting the second video content item, causing the second video content item to be presented by the user device.