Adding Music to Your Instagram Story

Instagram is one of the most powerful ways to connect and engage with your clientele. Learning how to add music to your Instagram story is only one part of using Instagram, but it’s one that shows attention to detail and has great potential for exposure. Instagram launched the feature in 2018 and it has become a hit with users around the world. Among Instagram’s seemingly endless array of customization features, from boomerangs to filters to different post times, adding music to your story is unique from these other features for its focus on sound.

instagram music

Music on Instagram

Videos are a powerful marketing tool on Instagram, and a touch of melody or lyrics may be exactly what you need. If you learn how to add music to your Instagram story, you will have the ability to make your stories more dynamic, energetic, and engaging. If the stories before and after yours don’t include music, then your addition will add a colorful splash of sound that is sure to stand out from the crowd and be memorable. 

You can also use music to help build your brand by portraying and reinforcing specific moods or words that are important to your company image. Or you can show off an Instagram collab that helps boosts exposure for both you and a partnered party. By using music on Instagram, you also demonstrate your understanding of the Instagram audience, which is known to be music lovers. Therefore, adding music will help you to better connect with and catch the attention of Instagrammers. 

Copyright can sometimes get in the way of selecting the exact song you’re looking for. As a business, it is critical you avoid any copyright issues to avoid being blocked or removed from sites. If you have a business Instagram account, commercial music will not be available to you. Instead, you will have access to Facebook’s Sound Collection which features more than 9000 royalty-free songs. Accessing this music library is the same as accessing licensed songs for personal and creator Instagram profiles. It is possible to swap from a business account to a personal or creator account, but you could lose all the other functions of an Instagram business profile, so think carefully before you decide to make the switch. 

How to Make an Instagram Story

Before you learn how to add music to your Instagram story, you first need to start creating your story. Stories are posts (either photos, videos, or an in-app creation of your own) that are visible for up to 24 hours. You can create multiple stories a day, and if you’re especially proud of some of them, can choose to save a story by adding it to your highlights, which can then be found on your profile page.  

To create a story, tap the + icon at the top of your Instagram home page. You can also create a story by tapping on your profile picture on the top left corner of your Instagram home page. If you already have a story running, hold down your icon to create another one. When creating your story, you can upload from your camera roll, film one as you are on the create story page, or use the “Create” option (an Aa logo on the left of the screen) to ask questions, set up a poll, or to just create a story that doesn’t involve anything with a camera. 

How to Add Music to Your Instagram Story

Adding Music to Your Instagram Story

Since the music feature’s launch, there are a few ways to add songs to your Instagram story. 

Story Sticker

The most well-known and easier to learn method of adding music to your Instagram story is through a story sticker. As you’re making your story, you will notice different options on the top of your screen, including ones for text, drawing, and most important for adding music, the “sticker icon.” This icon is a little square with a smiley face on it. Tapping that icon will allow you to add all sorts of features to your story, from emojis to links to, most importantly for us right now, music. You can also access the stickers by swiping up once you have uploaded your photo or video to the story draft.

Click on the “music” sticker to bring up the music library you can choose from. Feel free to scroll through the options or use the search bar if you have a song in mind. Select the song that you like. You can also choose which part of the song to play by sliding along the audio bar at the bottom of the screen. While you may love the entire song you chose, Instagram stories only allow you to share 15 seconds of it. 

Once you select a song, its lyrics will automatically appear on the story. You can change the font and style of these lyrics by tapping on or swiping along the “A” icons. The two camera options after the text format options lets you choose to display your song with the album cover included or as just the song title and artist. Tap and drag either the lyrics or the song bar to change its placement on the story. Learning how to add music to your Instagram story and then customizing the display of the lyrics helps to ensure that your story suits your desired aesthetic. 

using music on instagram

Sharing Music Using Other Platforms

You can also share songs to Instagram from music platforms, but it’s important to know that adding these songs to your Instagram story will have them appear without any of your camera footage.The song will play and the story itself will be a link to the platform where listeners can listen to the song. These sorts of stories are still useful if you are looking to just share the music itself or to promote and highlight an artist. 

To share a song on Instagram from Apple Music, go to the song you want to share, tap the three dots on the right side of the screen, select share and find Instagram. The app will automatically open Instagram, where you can select your story to share the selected song.

To share a song on Instagram from Spotify, find the song you want to share, tap the three dots on the top right corner of the screen, and scroll down to share. Select Instagram and the song will be pasted into your Instagram story.   

To share a song on Instagram from SoundCloud, find the song, tap the three buttons in the lower right corner, and select the icon with the Instagram logo captioned with “Stories.” SoundCloud will then automatically open Instagram to paste the song in your personal story. 

Keep in mind that exact instructions and steps can vary between apps on iOS and Android, and between different versions of the app, so always try scrolling around share, and look for anything with the Instagram logo. 

Song Captions for Instagram

While you can learn how to add music to your Instagram story, there is yet to be a feature for adding music to your regular photo posts. Instead, you can opt to reference songs and build an image by adding lyrics to your post’s caption. Often, these lyrics are only a few lines to stay short and snappy, and song captions on Instagram always add a pop culture flair to your posts. 

song captions for instagram

Basic Troubleshooting

If you run into some trouble learning how to add music to your Instagram story or some technical difficulties, consider these tips. 

  • If you can’t add music to your story, your app might be out of date or the feature is unavailable in the country you’re in. Try updating the app or uninstall and installing it again to solve update issues. For location-based issues, using a VPN could help you access the restricted features. If you’re interested in sharing just the music, then you can share songs through music platforms.
  • If there is no sound or the music isn’t playing, try updating your app or signing in and out of your profile. When updating your app, sometimes you need WiFi so make sure you have a connection before updating. 
  • If your story fails to upload, try waiting a while or finding a place where your connection to the internet is stronger.
  • Make sure that the content you are uploading is within Instagram’s terms and regulations.

Ultimately, it’s up to you how you want a song, if any, to be part of your branding strategy and company image. Learning how to add music to your Instagram story effectively is definitely a skill that requires some practice to perfect. If you have any trouble with uploading music on your Instagram stories or are looking for support in marketing yourself and your business on Instagram, SEO Design Chicago offers Instagram marketing services

FAQ:

  • How do I add music to my Instagram story?
  • Why can’t I add music to my Instagram?
  • Can I post on Instagram with music?
  • Can I use copyrighted music on Instagram?
  • Are business accounts on Instagram allowed to use music?

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