How to get your song on instagram music

How To Get Your Music On Instagram Stories and Reels

Stories and Reels now account for the majority of content being consumed on Instagram. This means you should be posting on Stories regularly (we suggest at least five times a day) and Reels once per week (or more if you are capable!). Adding your actual music strengthens your brand and connects your fans and followers to what you sound like which is a crucial element for connecting the dots and capturing new fans.

Instagram has their own in-app Music Library. When you are uploading your release for distribution, make sure that you have selected Facebook & Instagram as a store to release to. This is the only way to get included in the library upon release. Tunecore & Distrokid have joined in a special partnership with Facebook to making getting your music onto Stories easier than ever! Read more about that here.

Once your music has been distributed, anyone can access your music to share on Instagram. This could be a fun way to have your fans also share your music in their stories. Many independent artists are frustrated, because Meta (Facebook and Instagram) doesn’t automatically pull your music from any of the streaming platforms. We’ve had many artists ask us how to get their music into their library. In order to do this you must submit your music for inclusion.  Here’s how…

Both Instagram and Facebook get their lyrics from a platform called Musixmatch. The music and lyrics you see in Stories are pulled directly from the Musixmatch catalog. To get your music in their library, first you’ll need to become a Verified Artist.

1. Download the Musixmatch desktop app
2. Sign in with the account you just made
3. Connect your preferred streaming service
4. Play your song (From Spotify or Apple Music – the app will show the lyrics automatically)
5. If your lyrics aren’t available, click “Add lyrics” and type them out by hand
6. Review and Edit the lyrics to make sure everything is correct – and sync them
7. You’re done!

Add your music to your story with the “music” sticker and start sharing it with your followers!

One way to get your music on Instagram Stories is to share your music straight from the Spotify App on your phone. When you share from it your Story will display your cover art or “Canvas”, song title, and your artist name, along with a link which will show up under your username for fans to click which will lead them to your track on Spotify. Using the Spotify App unfortunately does not offer a way for your music to play during your story.

The same goes for the Apple Music App. When you share to your Story, it will display your cover art, song title, and your artist name, along with a link which will show up under your username for fans to click which will lead them to your track on Spotify. Using the Apple App unfortunately does not offer a way for your music to play during your story (deja vu)!

Getting your music on your Instagram Stories and Reels can be as simple as playing it in the background. Open Spotify or Apple Music and start playing your song through your phone speakers. Go back to the Instagram app, swipe over to story, and start recording. The microphone will pick up the song that you have playing in the background. You can add text to let people know the name of the song and where they can find it. This is a quick & easy trick to get your music heard.

You can also use apps like iMovie to create an Instagram Story or Reel video. You can use a still, or a moving video, and drag your music into the background of the video. You can also take advantage of text options in iMovie or on Instagram Stories themselves. You will need to export the video as a .mp4, then AirDrop or send it to your phone and save it to your camera roll.

Once saved to your camera roll, open the Instagram app, swipe over to Stories, and click the little icon in the bottom left to open your camera roll. Click on the video and it will open in Instagram Stories for you to post.

There is an app for iPhone’s called “Add Music” – which we often use to add music to videos for social media. This one does cost $2.99 a week, but it is extremely easy to use.

Click the big orange + button under “Start a new project.”

Then choose the video you’d like to add your music to. A screen will appear for you to select your music. You can either record a voiceover, or click “My Music” to open your Apple Music Library.

You can choose a track based on different categories – as the Apple Music library always offers. Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, etc.

Once you choose your music, it will open your project. In order to edit, click on the blue track. You can cut it shorter, change the start time, add fade in/fade out, and even make the music loop. Once you’ve done that, click save and save it to your camera roll to use it in your Instagram Story or Reel!

There are a lot of different video editing apps out there that allow you to add music (ie – VideoShop), this is just our favorite one. It’s very easy to use and you can even AirDrop from your phone directly to another device in the app before having to save it to your camera roll.

Now that you know how to get your music into Instagram’s in-app library, let’s talk about how to use it.

After you open Instagram Stories or Reels and take a photo or video (or upload one from your camera roll), swipe up. You will see the display of stickers that Instagram offers for their Stories. Click the “Music” sticker.

Next, start searching for your music in their search bar. Click on the song you’re looking for and it will open as an overlay on your Story or Reel. Tap on the sticker itself to change it. There are multiple options – some are cover art/song title display options, and others are font options for the lyrics (our favorite option)!

Note: With the 2021 Instagram roll-out of the Music sticker globally, there have been a lot of issues. Business accounts may only be able to access a small amount of royalty-free music (this comes from Facebook’s sound library). The good news is that there is an easy fix to this! Switch your account from a Business account to a Creator account and BOOM, problem solved! (Plus, you still get things like insights so there is not much of a difference).

Want to learn more about how to utilize Instagram for your music career? Check our out Musician’s Guide to Instagram Stories & Highlights here.

Everything you need to know as an artist on Instagram - how to upload to Stories and Reels

Image Credit: Instagram

Your all-in-one guide about everything Instagram, including how to upload and monetize your music across the social media platform.

Find out all of the details on the social media platform loved by music artists around the world. We hope to cover each of Instagram’s tools without overwhelming you.

Click below to jump to one of the following:

• How to upload to Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, Facebook Stories and Facebook Reels
• What is Instagram?
  • How did Instagram start?
  • Feed
  • Stories
  • Reels
  • Live
  • Upload
  • Direct Messenger
  • Explore
  • Activity
  • Shopping
  • Profile
• PUSH. fm
  • Smart Links
  • Reward Links

How to upload to Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, Facebook Stories and Facebook Reels

RouteNote offers hundreds of thousands of independent artists and labels free distribution to stores, streaming services and social media platforms. With a simple tick on the Facebook box, your music will be sent to the social giant, getting your music on Facebook Stories, Facebook Reels, Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels, as well as monetizing video content that uses your track.

It’s super easy to upload too. Just sign up for a free RouteNote account here, head to the Distribution tab and select Create New Release. Here you will input release metadata, upload your audio and artwork, then select the stores and territories you want to distribute to.

Once you’ve finished your release, choose Distribute Free or Distribute Premium. Free Distribution costs nothing, while artists keep 85% of the revenue. Premium Distribution costs a small fee, while artists keep 100% of the revenue. Switching tiers is easy for any release at any time. No matter which tier you choose, you always keep 100% of the rights to your release.

Many other distributors such as Amuse, TuneCore and UnitedMasters charge additional fees for uploads to Facebook and Instagram. The stores and features offered do not differ between RouteNote’s Free and Premium tiers. Get your music to all stores, with zero upfront or recurring costs.

Statistics, earning reports and revenue come to your RouteNote account monthly. Statistics and earning reports breakdown exactly how much each track is earning in each store. Payments can be securely transferred to a linked PayPal or bank account.

As is the case with YouTube and TikTok, unfortunately non-exclusive audio cannot be uploaded to Facebook and Instagram. This includes things like backing tracks and tracks with samples.

What is Instagram?

How did Instagram start?

Instagram launched as a square photo sharing app in 2010, right around the time smartphone cameras got good. Loved for its simplicity and filters, Instagram was a refreshing break from status-filled alternatives like Facebook and Twitter. A chronologically ordered feed showed the newest photos of those you follow, with a caption underneath and easy-to-use liking and commenting functions. Less than two years after launch, Instagram was acquired by Facebook Inc. for approximately $1 billion.

While largely sticking to its roots in the feed, Instagram has evolved to include videos and non-square photos, as well as a host of other new features detailed below. As Facebook struggles with engagement on their main social platform, particularly among younger users, Instagram is as popular as ever with over a billion monthly active users, though receives criticism for negatively impacting teens’ mental health.

Going forward, with growing competition from TikTok and YouTube, Instagram will focus heavily on video, shopping and more monetization options for creators. To stay on top of the latest new features coming to Instagram, head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri on Instagram and Twitter is a great source for regular updates.

Instagram is available on iOS, Android and web. Facebook and new users can sign up today.

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A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

Feed

The Feed has been a constant since the launch of Instagram and is still the main page seen when opening the app or site. Here you will see all of the recent photos and videos posted by those you follow, displayed in a vertical manner. On mobile, each photo/video is the full width of the device, zoomable with a pinch. Carousels contain up to 10 images or videos, and are swipeable by the end user. A double tap or tap on the heart likes the content. Beside the heart icon, around the post you’ll also see options for commenting, sharing, bookmarking and more.

Feed posts are ordered based on the profiles you interact with the most. Instagram will intersperse these posts with recommended posts based on topics you’ve shown interest in and of course ads. Instagram is bringing back the option to order your feed chronologically, as well as some other display modes.

Stories

Stories were introduced to Instagram in 2016 after gaining popularity on Snapchat. Represented by profile image circles of those you follow at the top of the feed, simply tap one and Instagram will present a full-screen story recently posted by the user. Stories last 24 hours, but can be saved to the user’s profile using the highlights feature.

Recently, Instagram added the option to like stories. Previously, reacting to a story would send a direct message to the creator. Now, using the heart in the bottom right corner, you can easily like a story without starting a message thread. The creator can see a list of users who have viewed and liked the story.

Reels

The Reels feature is Instagram’s latest major addition to the platform. After seeing the success of short-form video sharing app TikTok, Instagram launched Reels globally in August 2020. You’ll find the Reels page in the middle of the navigation bar. The full-screen interface is almost identical to TikTok, with a vertically scrollable feed of vertical videos up to 60 seconds. The content is tailored to your preferences, meaning the more you use it, the better the app gets at suggesting videos.

In April last year, Instagram added the option to remix reels. A staple of TikTok, the collaborative feature lets you easily build upon existing reels in split screen. Recently, Instagram expanded the remix feature to any videos, not just reels.

Another key feature of TikTok that has recently made its way to Instagram (are you seeing a theme here?) are Reels visual replies. These allow creators to reply to comments with reels.

In hopes of bringing more creators to their short-form video platform, the Reels Play program pays uploaders for original content.

Can’t find Instagram Reels? Click here for help.

Live

Launched back in 2016, live streamed videos on Instagram saw a real boom at the start of the pandemic, with thousands of artists hosting gigs from their bedrooms. By default, you’ll be notified if someone you’re following goes live and their profile picture will show at the top of the app, beside stories. When a user has an upcoming live stream, this will show at the top of their profile.

Live streams can be held by up to four users in one stream.

Upload

A swipe to the right on the homepage shows the upload screen. From here you can take or upload a feed post, story, reel or go live.

While uploading posts for the feed, creators are given easy-to-use editing features. Click here to find out how to delete a single photo or video from a carousel.

Stories is full of fun AR filters, effects and stickers, such as the music sticker (with lyrics), the link sticker (which is now customizable) and the Add Your sticker.

Reels has simple video editing tools and effects such as Superbeat, 3D Lyrics and Dynamic Lyrics.

Live has additional features like the ability to title or schedule live streams, as well as add moderators and monetize streams with badges.

Instagram content such as Reels can easily be shared to Meta-owned social platform Facebook with just an extra tap.

For feed posts with more than one person, you can either tag other users or use Instagram’s new collab feature to post to two profiles. Once you’ve uploaded your feed post, you can share it to other platforms, such as Twitter.

Some apps like Spotify (with Canva), Apple Music, Deezer, Shazam, SoundCloud and Pandora make sharing creative stories to Instagram easy.

When sharing to Reels, be sure your videos don’t include watermarks. Find out how to remove the TikTok watermark here.

Knowing how often to post and which format to use can be complicated. Click here for valuable data on viewing habits. Click here for some of the secrets behind the algorithm. With so many different video formats, it’s difficult to know where to post videos. At least they combined IGTV and feed videos. Here are the maximum video lengths for each format:

• Stories – 15 seconds (with tests of 60 seconds)
• Reels – 60 seconds
• Feed – 60 minutes
• Live – 4 hours

Direct Messenger

A swipe to the left opens the Direct Messenger page. Here you can send messages, photos, videos or even video chat with specific people or groups of friends. Find some of the fun messaging features here.

Activity

The heart icon in the top right of the homepage will show your Activity page. Here you’ll see a feed of new followers, those who have liked and commented on your posts, suggested profiles, tagged posts and comments, and more.

Explore

The second icon in the bottom navigation bar is a magnifying glass called Explore. Here you can use the top bar to search for accounts, audio, tags and places. Under the search bar, you’ll find a never ending grid of posts and reels tailored to your preferences. Click here for tips on how to show up at the top of search results.

Shopping

The bag icon on the navigation bar is Instagram’s Shopping tab. While the feature is likely Instagram’s least visited tab, shopping has huge potential across social apps and will likely grow further in the coming years. The Shop page has feeds of items for sale, profiles’ storefronts, videos highlighting items, editor’s picks, collections, guides and categories to filter items.

Shopping is integrated throughout the app, with posts and reels that can be tagged with for sale items. Instagram Shopping is a great addition for artists looking to sell merchandise, with fans able to purchase and checkout, without needing to leave Instagram.

Profile

The icon on the right of the navigation bar is your profile. This is Instagram’s destination for everything you, such as your profile image, bio, videos, tagged posts, story highlights, as well as the number of posts, followers and profiles you’re following. The grid shows all of your posts, ordered with the most recent first, though Instagram are letting some users reorder.

With profile embeds, you can now share a preview of your account to your website. This feature is currently US-only, but due to expand to more countries soon.

Professional accounts will see a few additional features on their profile, such as Professional dashboard, Ad Tools, Insights and Add Shop, which help businesses with paid promotions, analytics and sell items. Click here to find tips for creators.

PUSH.fm

Smart Links

As you can’t hyperlink in the captions of feed posts, creators are forced to share links on their profile. “Link in the bio!” Unfortunately you can only share one link on your Instagram page. This limits your ability to share links to your social media profiles or streaming services. Let our friends over at PUSH.fm step in.

Smart Links on PUSH.fm are a great way to share one link that contains links to multiple stores, streaming services or whatever you want. Free users can create unlimited Smart Link campaigns, customize the landing page and personalize the URL.

What’s more, you are provided with detailed statistics showing exactly how many people have clicked your Smart Link and clicked through to the various links within.

Reward Links

Reward Links are also a great PUSH.fm feature for Instagram creators. These enable fans to access exclusive content, such as a downloadable file, secret message or URL, in exchange for taking social actions, like a follow on Instagram. This is a great way to reward fans and boost your online presence.

Much like Smart Links, campaigns are fully customizable and you can create as many as you like for free, while you’re provided with full, in-depth statistics.

Head to RouteNote and distribute your own music to Instagram and Facebook today to upload to Stories, Reels and start earning money across the platforms.

How to put your music on Instagram ▷ ➡️ Creative Stop ▷ ➡️