Music is such a strong factor for boosting your engagement on all social media platforms – especially Instagram. It has this almost magical power to increase your reach, followers’ activity, and, in many cases, even sales. When you add music to your Instagram story and posts, people tend to enjoy your content much more. They will have a much more enjoyable experience, and thanks to it, they will be much more likely to click that follow button and become your loyal followers.
Fortunately, Instagram is constantly looking to help us creators make more engaging Reels, Stories, and posts. Music options for our story and post creations, including niche tracks from some of the world’s biggest recording talents, were a big move. Today we’ll discuss how to maximize its power and how to easily add music to your Instagram stories or regular posts. Let’s go!
How can I add music to my Instagram post? Is it complicated?
You can easily add music to your static posts in the 3 simple steps I’ve described below. As you can see now, when creating your regular post (whether it’s a carousel, a single picture, or a video), you’re able to choose from a range of trending and niche tracks to add as an accompaniment/music background to your content.
To add music to your static post:
Adding music to your feed post only takes a few simple steps:
- Upload your photo or your graphics
The very first step is to upload a feed post, as you normally do. Select your picture, a video or a graphic design, apply in-app edits if you’re into them, and tap on the ‘Next’ button.
- When you see the caption creation screen, tap the ‘Add music’ button
Here you can easily add your preferred music (right below the geotag option). Click the ‘Add music’ button or choose one of the suggested audios.
- Choose your favorite or trending audio
The platform will show you some popular, trending audio in the For You section. If you already have your favorite artist, band or specific song in mind, look for it in the search bar at the very top.
- Choose which part of the song you want to use in your content
Since a regular, static post doesn’t have a predefined duration (like Reels or video posts do) you need to set up how long of a music track you want to add to your post.
Protip: keep in mind that once the post ends, the track loops.
How to add audio to the video?
You need to follow the instructions we created above – adding audio to your video post is exactly the same procedure as adding music to your static post with picture/pictures.
How to add music to Instagram Story
Music has become a key component of engaging Instagram stories, with many creators now formulating new strategies in line with Instagram trends, in order to maximize engagement and boost reach. But hey, how do we do that?
The fastest and most straightforward way to add music to your Instagram Story is to simply use the “Music” sticker from the Instagram Story Creator In-app editor. After clicking on the sticker, you can instantly pick your track from Instagram’s music library.
How do you legally add music to Instagram videos? Is it legal to add music to your posts?
As Instagram said some time ago, they had established partnerships with big music groups to bring top artists’ albums, so you can add your favorite music to your content.
They saw it that way: being able to add trending songs to your posts and stories enables creators to engage more authentically with their audience, unlocking new fun ways to create original content and inspire their followers through their posts with music expression. That’s why adding a huge music library has become Instagram’s priority!
What about copyrights, then? Instagram has announced exclusive music deals to help promote trending and popular tracks while also – of course – gleaning the big benefits of using these tracks in our content.
Adding music to your Instagram story and posts – Q&A
As always – you ask, we answer. Here are the most frequently asked questions about the whole process of adding music to your Instagram stories and posts!
Why can’t I add music to my Instagram post?
There might be some copyright issues – especially if you have a business account. Instagram only lets businesses use music from the royalty-free library, other royalty-free sounds, or user-created sounds and audios.
Why is my Instagram music limited?
Due to licensing agreements, some audios and songs in the Instagram music library are only available in selected parts of the globe or for Creators or Personal accounts.
Why can’t I find some songs on Instagram?
If you have a business account, your Music Library is limited to royalty-free music and user-generated audios – that’s probably the number one reason.
Has Instagram removed music from posts?
If your post or Instagram story is muted, Instagram will notify you via notification. Due to legal requirements, some of the tracks are removed after some time – unfortunately, we can’t predict that or avoid this process.
Can creator accounts use music?
Yes, creator accounts have much broader access to Music Library than Business accounts, which are limited to royalty-free audio and user-generated sounds.
Where is the Instagram music library?
You can access it directly from the ‘add music’ section – in your Instagram post caption creator or from your Instagram Story sticker.
Why are some songs not available on Reels?
Copyright issues. Business accounts have different access to Music Library than personal or creator accounts.
How do I stop Instagram from removing music videos?
Unfortunately, we have no control over the issue – some tracks are removed because of the copyright issue, and we can’t predict it or avoid it.
How do influencers use copyrighted music?
Your content may only include licensed tracks that Instagram has the rights to. Your content may not contain licensed tracks if the post/Instagram story is for commercial use, sponsorships, or paid partnerships – when it comes to sponsorships, many creators have to buy licenses from music platforms like StoryBlocks or Epidemic to do that.
