Instagram Stories are easy to create, but they can require a lot of thought if you want to make them truly entertaining. Thankfully, Instagram offers a number of tools to help make your stories as fun as possible.
Maybe you have some great photos or videos and some cool filters and stickers to layer on top, but your story is still missing one important factor—music. Instagram offers a selection of tunes from its own library and your favorite music streaming services, like Spotify, SoundCloud, and Shazam. Here's everything you need to know about adding music to your Instagram stories.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
You can add music directly to your story using Instagram’s library. Open the app on your mobile device. From the main feed page, tap the plus (+) icon at the top of the app and then select Story on the bottom navigation bar. You can also long-press Your Story and tap Add to Your Story or just tap Your Story and then tap the Camera icon.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
At the camera screen, snap your photo or video. If you’d rather use an existing photo or video, swipe up to see your photo library and then select the image that you wish to add. Apply whatever filters or special effects you want. When you're ready to add a tune to your story, tap the Sticker icon and then tap the Music sticker.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
At the Music screen, browse through the different sections and genres to find a song. You can also use the search field at the top of the screen to look for particular music by song, artist, or album. Spot a tune you might like? Tap the Play button to hear a short clip.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
After you’ve selected a song, tap its name to add it to your story.
You’ll have the opportunity to scroll through the song and decide which clip of the music (up to 15 seconds) will play over your story. Move the slider bar until you find the section you want added.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
Some songs offer multiple images from which you can choose, so tap the music thumbnail to change the image. Some even offer lyrics that appear on the screen as the music plays. When you're happy with the image you've chosen, tap Done and the song is added to your story in the form of a sticker.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
You can choose where the sticker will be placed in your story by moving it around the screen with your finger. Change the size of the sticker by pinching or expanding two fingers. Use two fingers and twist to change the orientation of the sticker. Don’t like the look of your sticker? Double tap it to return to the previous screen, where you can change its appearance. Tap Done to return to your story.
If you’ve recorded a video, you can do even more with your sticker before you post the story. Hold down on it and you’ll be able to pin the sticker to a specific person or object in the video. This means the sticker will move along with the object as it moves in the video.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
When you're done tweaking the music, tap the Your Story icon to publish your story with music. Alternatively, if you want only specific people to see it, tap the More icon at the bottom. From the menu, select Send to or Share to select which people should receive it.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
To view your story, tap the Your Story icon. Your story appears with the music automatically playing. Tapping the song label pauses the music and brings up a window at the bottom through which you can save the music or send it to another person on Instagram. Your followers can view your story and play the music in the same way.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
You can add external music to your Instagram story by grabbing it from certain apps, such as Spotify. With a song playing in Spotify, tap the Share icon. Select the icon for Instagram Stories, and you're taken to your Instagram story, where your selected song appears with its cover art.
You can add text, stickers, and other effects to your story. Tap the Your Story icon to post the story with the song you selected.
Annoyed With Instagram? Take Control of Your Feed With These Tips and Tricks
Instagram Gets a New 'Quiet Mode' To Cut Down on Social Media Overload
The Most Toxic Online Platforms: Are Your Kids on Them?
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
After your story has been posted, it will display a Play on Spotify link. Anyone viewing your story can then tap the link and tap Open Spotify to hear the song in the Spotify app.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
You can also share music from the SoundCloud app to your Instagram story. Launch a song in the SoundCloud app, tap the Share icon, and select Instagram Stories to import the song and its associated image into Instagram.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
Back in Instagram, your story will present a Play on SoundCloud link. Anyone can tap it and select Open SoundCloud and listen to the song directly in the app.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
While Shazam is primarily used to analyze and identify songs to which you’re already listening, you can also use the app to play music and send it to Instagram. Open the app and allow it to recognize a song currently playing.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
With the song playing in Shazam, tap the Share icon and select Instagram.
If you don’t see Instagram listed on an iPhone or iPad, tap the More icon and then select it from the list. In Instagram, post the song and its artwork to your story by tapping the Your Story icon.
(Credit: Lance Whitney)
After the story has been published, you can travel back to the Shazam app through Instagram. To do this, open the story in Instagram and tap the More on Shazam link to play the song in the app.
Sign up for Tips & Tricks newsletter for expert advice to get the most out of your technology.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
Wondering how to add music to an Instagram Story?
If you’re a content creator or marketer, then you know that using creative visuals is key to catching people’s attention on social media.
One of the best ways to grab attention is to create Instagram Stories that are a vibe. You’ll want to add music to set the mood, and this article will teach you exactly how to do that in 6 different ways.
How to add music to your Instagram Story
How to add music to an Instagram Story with Apple Music
How to add music to an Instagram Story with SoundCloud
How to add music to an Instagram Story with Shazam
Why am I only able to see limited music choices on Instagram?
Bonus: Unlock our free, customizable Instagram storyboard template to save time and plan all your Stories content in advance.
Adding music to your Instagram Story in the app is pretty easy! You can watch this video to find out how:
It’s a necessary skill for any marketer or content creator worth their salt.
Plus, once you’ve got Instagram Stories nailed, you can move on to the rest of your Instagram marketing strategy. We can walk you through creating white-hot Instagram Story Ads, too.
Stick with us, and you’ll be well on your way to engaging and entertaining your followers in no time.
Follow these eight steps to add music to your Instagram Story.
Step 1: Open the Instagram app
Step 2: Tap on the Your Story icon in the top left corner of the screen or find a post you would like to share and hit the airplane widget then click Add post to your story
Or:
Step 3: If you’ve chosen to add a Story from the Your Story icon, then tap on the Camera square in the top left corner or choose a photo or video from your camera roll.
If you’re sharing someone’s feed post, move on to Step 4.
Step 4: On the top bar of widgets, navigate to stickers
Step 5: Tap on the Music sticker
Step 6: Select a song from the For you library or search for a specific song using Browse
Step 7: Once you’ve selected a song, you will have the option to show either just the song’s name or the album art. Here, you can scroll through the song and choose the place where you want the music to start.
Step 8: Share to either your Close friends or your entire following by hitting Your story
If you’ve followed the steps above but don’t see the music sticker in your app, there are 3 potential reasons:
Copyright laws and Instagram’s advertising rules mean that some features (like music) can’t be included in branded content ads.
But maybe you’re wondering how to add music to your Instagram Story without the Sticker. Well, good news, friend, there’s a pretty easy workaround.
Step 1. Open a music streaming app, like Spotify or Apple Music
Step 2. Start playing the song you want to use
Step 3. With the song still playing, head to Instagram and record your Story. The music playing on your phone will be included in the end result.
Just a note, this workaround won’t show your followers the album cover or lyrics.
It’s not technically sanctioned by Instagram, so you won’t have the same features the app offers. It’s more of a ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ situation.
You may also be on the hook for copyright infringement which Instagram is pretty strict about. If so, Instagram will remove your Story and could flag your account.
Just FYI, Instagram defines its ‘general copyright guidelines’ as:
g., filming an artist or band performing live) are permitted.So, if you do use the workaround above, it would be beneficial for you to use a shorter clip and accompany your recording with a visual component. If you need some visual component inspiration, here are over 30 Story ideas you can shamelessly steal!
The only problem with having so much Story inspiration is that you probably won’t want to post them all at once. Being able to schedule Instagram Stories in 4 simple steps is a must for busy content creators.
How to add music to an Instagram Story with Spotify
Vibing to a song on Spotify that you think your Instagram community would like? Well, you can add music to Instagram Stories directly from Spotify.
Step 1. Open the Spotify app
Step 2. Find the music you want to add to your Instagram Story
Step 3. Tap the vertical ellipsis icon on a song, album, or playlist
Step 4: In the pop-up menu, navigate to Share
Step 5: Navigate to Instagram Stories. You might have to give your permission to open Instagram
Step 6: Spotify will open up a new Story for you, uploading the cover art of the song, album, or playlist.
Once you publish your Story, your followers will be able to click through your Story to the song you posted on Spotify.
Step 7: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story.”
If you are getting the error message “You can’t add a song to a story you shared from another app,” you may not be able to play music over the cover art image, but there is a workaround!
Follow the steps above and then hit the download button or take a screenshot.
Discard this Story and create a new one using your downloaded or screenshotted version and add music like you normally would.
This means your followers won’t be able to navigate to the song on Spotify from your Instagram Story, however.
Sharing music to an Instagram Story through Apple Music is simple. In four easy steps you’ll be able to post songs across your apps.
Step 1: Open the Apple Music app
Step 2: Find a song, album, or playlist that you want to post
Step 3: Touch and hold the piece, then tap Share
Step 4: In this menu, tap Instagram and post as you normally would
Source: Apple
Adding music from Soundcloud directly to an Instagram Story is especially useful for musicians. This way, you can cross-promote your new music to your Instagram followers.
People who see your Instagram Story will be able to click on your song and listen to it on Soundcloud.
Step 1. Open the SoundCloud app
Step 2. Find the song, album, or playlist you want to post, hit the share icon
Step 3. In the pop-up menu, select Stories. You may have to give your permission to open the Instagram app.
Step 4. SoundCloud will upload the cover art to your Instagram Story.
Step 5: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story”
Step 6. Once you post your Story, a link will appear at the top of the Story that says Play on SoundCloud. If you click this link, you’ll be taken directly to that song, album, or playlist on SoundCloud.
Step 1. Open the Shazam app
Step 2. You can either hit Tap to Shazam to identify a new song or choose a song from your library of previous Shazams
Step 3.
Tap the share icon in the top-right corner
Step 4: Choose Instagram. You may have to give your permission to open the Instagram app.
Step 5: Shazam will create a new story with the cover art of the song
Step 6: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story”
Step 7. Once you post your Story, a link will appear at the top of the Story that says More on Shazam. If you click this link, you’ll be taken directly to that song, album, or playlist on Shazam.
If you can only see a limited music selection, it’s likely one of two things. It could be your professional account or the copyright laws in your country.
Do you have a business account? Instagram restricts songs for business accounts. You can switch to a personal or creator account, but be sure to weigh your Instagram business vs.
creator vs. personal account pros and cons first.
Your music selection could be dependent on where you live. Instagram music isn’t available in all countries, and they follow the copyright laws of the country they operate in closely.
Don’t just save time adding music to your Instagram Stories, save time managing all your social media networks with Hootsuite! From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.
Get Started
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
Free 30-Day Trial
One of Instagram's most popular features is the ability to add music to Instagram stories.
Instagram offers an extensive selection of tunes from its music library, as well as the ability to import songs from other music streaming services such as Spotify.
Ever since Instagram introduced the ability to add music to your stories - now even Reels - people have been using the feature. In fact, Instagram adds new ringtones to its music library every day. In this article, you will learn how you can add music to your Instagram. It will also address some common questions and misconceptions about music on Instagram.
First, it's important to know that Instagram doesn't actually allow you to add music directly to your Instagram posts. You can only add music to your Instagram stories and videos. Even if you add music to the video you made of your story and upload it, the video will be uploaded without the song.
If you want to attach a song to a video and upload it to Instagram as a post, you will need to edit your video beforehand. There are many free video editing apps and programs that allow you to add music to your videos. Once you're done, you can upload the video to your Instagram feed. One of the most feature rich and easy to use free video editing apps is called InShot. To add music to a video before posting to Instagram, just follow these steps:
Instagram released the Reels feature in August 2020. Because it's such a new feature, Reels is one of the easiest ways to post content to Instagram, including music. To add music, follow these simple steps:
First, we'll walk through the process of adding music directly from Instagram. It doesn't matter if you have an iPhone or Android, as long as your Instagram is updated, the process of adding music to Instagram remains the same. Here's how it's done:
When your followers open your story, the song you selected will automatically play. If they want to see what song is playing, they can click on the title under your name and the song will appear in another tab.
You can also add music from other music streaming platforms. In this guide, we will show you how to do it with Spotify.
Again, this method is identical for both iPhone and Android devices. Here's how:
The song will immediately open in your story, where you can make any additional adjustments. Once you're done, post it to your story. If your subscribers have Spotify accounts, they will be able to open the song in Spotify.
Adding songs to your Instagram story the "old way" refers to how people added melodies before the music feature was introduced. Here's how it's done:
When you play your story, you will be able to hear the song in the background. What's great about this method is that you don't have a 15 second time limit. You can record as many stories as you like.
Instagram's music library has millions of songs to choose from. When you click on the Music sticker, you can search for a specific song or find it in the For You section. You can also go to the Browse section where you have different categories:
If you can't find your song in the Instagram music library, you can import it from external sources (such as Spotify, SoundCloud, Shazam, etc.
).
You can find almost any music for your Instagram stories.
Some users sometimes have problems with music on Instagram. For example, some songs may not be available or your music feature may not work. Here are some factors to keep in mind:
Article content
Creating stories with music, you can get by with only the functionality of the official Instagram app, without installing any additional programs on your phone.
With a little skill and ingenuity, users will be able to appreciate your original and beautifully designed stories.
So, learn how to quickly and easily add a melody or a song to stories. To make account promotion more effective.
All you need to shoot a story on Instagram with music is a player with a collection of tracks.
The selected melody will play in the background of the video. If you wish, you can mark friends in the story or add a geo-location.
Attention! High volume will degrade the quality of the recording, so it is better to choose a medium level.
Keep in mind that when creating a story with background music, the track is recorded through the smartphone's main microphone, so all extraneous noise will also be recorded along with the audio.
Related articles:
- How to make an inscription in an Instagram story
In June 2021, the Instagram story editor added the option of music clips. Now, in order to add music to the story, you need to attach the “Music” sticker and overlay the track on the video.
With a music sticker, you can use a certain part of the composition.
Sticker for adding music to the StoryTo add a melody to the story using a sticker, you must:
A track can also be added to a saved media file from the gallery. When editing, enter the "Stickers" category and click "Music".
In the list of audio recordings that opens, select a song and add it to the music to the story.
Use the "Enable" and "Stop" buttons to select an excerpt that you want to add to the story, and use the buttons in the form of text to select the display of subtitles or the artist's album poster.
In the published story, viewers will be able to play the track by clicking on the sticker, as well as find out the name of the track and the artist.
A fairly popular way to record a story with music is to use the built-in smartphone screen recording function. First of all, you need to turn on the playback of the track, start the video from the gallery or open the photo.
The procedure for IOS and Android is as follows:
If the screen recording function is not available by default, then you will need to download a similar application from Google play or the App Store. In most cases, smartphone manufacturers include this feature in the shell by default.
If you want to create really cool content, use special applications and programs to post them on Instagram later.
Video applications allow you to not only create videos with music overlay, but also apply filters and masks, transitions and effects that your competitors do not have.
Let's take a look at some good video editing editors that are available for download in the official stores of both systems.
A powerful and simple video editing app for your smartphone.
InShot
Received video can be posted to Instagram story
Download: PlayMarket App Store
Application for creating animated stories with spectacular transitions.
VLLOHow to use the software:
Download: PlayMarket App Store
The application allows you to create stories with musical accompaniment.
Storybeat
How to use the Storybeat app when adding music to a video
To do this, you just need to move your finger along the scale bar Attention! The video will have the Storybeat logo on it, and when you save it, you will have to watch a promotional video. You can avoid this by purchasing the Premium version.
Download: PlayMarket App Store
Program for creating videos. It allows you to edit saved videos, make slideshows of photos with music, shoot videos.
VivaVideoInstructions for using the application:
The app will prompt you to send the video to Instagram.
Download: PlayMarket App Store
The application will allow you to put music on a media file for stories for free, or record voice acting over the file.
VideoleapThere are four options to add music to the selected file:
Music in stories posts is recommended to be used only without copyright. Only in this case it is possible to guarantee that Instagram will not block the post.
Download: App Store
Application for adding music to stories not only for iPhones, but also for Android devices.
PicmusicInstructions on how to work with the program:
Download: PlayMarket App Store
If you have a computer at hand, you can add music to Instagram stories using cloud graphics and video editors and programs.
Read the article: How to add stories to Instagram from a computer
Special services that allow you to create animated stories for publication on Instagram. Musical accompaniment is added to the video or photo, after which the file is laid out like a regular story.
The service allows you to create short stories with music for further posting on social networks, including Instagram. With the help of functional and convenient tools, the user can create vivid videos from scratch, or use templates with the effect of overlaying photos on photos or collages.
Overview of the Supa service
The service allows you to style videos for stories or Instagram feed.
With a collection of templates and a built-in editor, it's quick and easy to create your own unique videos yourself.
Mooovie service overview
You can add music to a video file or photo for an Instagram story on a computer using special programs that are directly downloaded and installed on a computer.
The program allows you to create short videos or edit videos made, lasting more than two hours. You can also make a slideshow by adding a photo and substituting music:
To post on Instagram, the user must send the video to a smartphone. The video to be published must be in MP4 format.
Download Movavi
You should try Canva if only because it has hundreds of professional design templates and free fonts.
It is possible to upload your pictures and photos, and then publish them to your account
There is no copyright mechanism for Instagram Stories. If the record is complained by the copyright holder or viewers, it can be removed from stories.
In order to protect yourself and your account from copyright claims, it is better to use music with an open license in your stories. The melody for the video can be found on special sites or telegram channels, where the musical arrangement is provided absolutely free of charge.
Compositions for adding to stories on Instagram can be taken from Telegram channels and groups on Vkontakte. The advantage of such music is that the author of the video does not need to indicate a link to the artist, confirm copyright.
YouTube community with a free library containing over a hundred tracks divided by genre.
Subscribers have access to a whole list of melodies and songs, as well as audio effects. The only condition for the use of content is the need to indicate authorship.
Go to the Audiolibrary
An open platform for talented musicians. More than 500,000 tracks from 30,000 artists from 150 countries are freely available here for free use.
Go to Jamendo
The online music library contains 60,000 different high quality songs.
Free Music ArchiveGo to Free Music Archive
The streaming service is a great alternative to buying music from third party sites.
SoundcloudGo to Soundcloud
In PlayMarket you can download and install programs that allow you to create songs yourself and use them in your stories without any restrictions.
Using the sound catalog, the application allows you to create original compositions for Instagram, for which the copyright belongs to you, as well as edit downloaded music on your smartphone.
How to make your own track:
The user can add created tracks through the application and post them to the Instagram story.
Open Google Song Maker
Application allows you to create your own audio tracks and edit saved ones. You can make really cool tracks with the help of a large selection of auxiliary tools and plugins.
FL Studio MobileDownload Play Store App Store
User-created media is the intellectual property of the user. Using other people's music, videos or photos, you must verify ownership.
Consider how you can add someone else's composition to avoid blocking:
