Can you believe that Instagram Stories have been around since 2016? Now, Instagram Stories is a place to run polls, share clickable website links, gather donations and even sell products.
But out of all the interactive elements you can leverage on Stories, learning how to add music to your Instagram Story is a must.
By adding music to your Instagram Stories, you’re able to inspire engagement, drive action and boost the chances of users remembering your brand on social media.
Dive into our complete guide to adding music to Instagram Stories, complete with step-by-step instructions and expert tips for maximizing the use of music on Instagram Stories.
Why should you add music to Instagram Stories?
Across all content formats on Instagram, you can now add music to your content—from Instagram Reels to static posts.
This is an intentional design choice by the Instagram team. The platform is investing in audio-backed content because these posts are more engaging and discoverable than posts without music. Think about it: would you prefer to watch a video in silence or with your favorite trending song playing in the background?
When it comes to using music on Instagram Stories, here are three reasons why it’s a smart move:
- Boost your memorability: Adding on-brand tracks or trending music to your Stories acts as an extension of your brand identity, helping to set the tone for your brand’s content and the audience you’re looking to attract.
- Create immersive content experiences: By adding music to your Stories, you can add a new dimension to your storytelling to inspire engagement from viewers.
- Tap into trending, topic moments: With new, popular music constantly being added to Instagram’s music library, adding these viral songs to your Instagram Stories shows viewers your brand has its finger on the pulse.
👀 Keep Reading: Discover the best Instagram Story ideas to engage your audience.
How to add music to Instagram Stories: step-by-step guide
Ready to add music to your Instagram Stories? Follow these easy instructions to level up your content in minutes.
🔥 Plann Tip: Instagram has recently refreshed the design of Instagram Stories, meaning your interactive stickers and elements are now displayed in a new font and layout. Before following this tutorial, make sure you have the latest version of the Instagram app downloaded.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories.
- Open the Instagram app.
- Swipe to open the Instagram camera and select Story.
- Capture your content or upload your images and videos.
- Click the smiley face icon and select Music.
- Browse through the latest trending tracks or explore your Saved music files.
- Decide whether you want to show lyrics or the song’s album cover photo.
- Use the slider at the bottom of your screen to adjust which part of the song you’ll use.
- Happy with your audio selection? Tap done.
- Add your other interactive elements, filters and text overlays.
- Tap the arrow and share with either your close friends or followers.
Want an even quicker way to add music to your Instagram Stories? Simply tap the Music icon in your Instagram Stories creation suite to fast-track the process above.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories as fast as possible.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories as fast as possible.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories as fast as possible.
Can you upload your own music to Instagram Stories?
The most common way to share your favorite music on Instagram Stories is to use Instagram’s native music library.
But how can you add your own music to Instagram’s music library? To do this, you’ll need to use a third-party tool (like Ditto Music). By signing up for a free account, you can upload your music to Instagram’s library and even earn royalties on your original tracks.
However, most businesses and brands choose to use existing tracks on Instagram’s music library or share music from streamlining platforms (such as Spotify, Apple Music or Soundcloud) to their Instagram Stories instead.
To share music from a streaming platform to your Instagram Story, follow these steps:
- Open the streaming platform’s app.
- Find the song you want to share.
- Tap the Share button and select Instagram Stories.
- Then, customize the look and feel of your Story natively within Instagram.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
Troubleshooting tips: why can’t you add music to your Instagram Story?
If you’re not seeing the Music sticker or Music Icon on Instagram Stories, you won’t be able to add tracks to your Instagram Story slides. So, what’s the solution?
In some cases, this issue is caused by an outdated version of the Instagram app. As a first step, make sure you have downloaded the latest version.
Next, it’s worth checking that Instagram allows users to add music to their Stories in your region. Alternatively, it could be a licensing issue as some business accounts aren’t able to share music to their stories due to copyright restrictions.
🔥 Plann Tip: If you’re struggling to share music to your Instagram Story, try switching from a Business Account to a Creator Account to see if this resolves the issue.
Best practice tips for adding music to Instagram Stories
Tip 1. Experiment with adding music lyrics to your Instagram Story
One of the most unique features of adding music to Instagram Stories is that you can add lyrics to your story, too!
When using Instagram’s native music library, you’ll have the option to add lyrics as text overlays to your Story slides. There are a range of font options and animations you can choose from, so it’s worth experimenting with these to see what suits your branding best.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
A step-by-step guide to adding music to Instagram Stories from Spotify.
Keep in mind that on-screen lyrics can be distracting, so only use this feature if it’s not going to draw attention away from your main message (such as driving sales, sharing a tip or asking your audience to vote in a poll).
Tip 2. How to choose the best snippet of a song for your Instagram Story
Want to make a memorable first impression on Instagram Stories? Make sure you’re using the most engaging, recognizable snippet of a song!
The good news? Instagram makes this easy. When adding a song from Instagram’s native music library, the app will automatically select the most popular part of the song to include.
Plus, it will add timestamps to other popular sections of the song that you could consider adding instead, such as an intro, verse or chorus.
How to find the best snippet of a song to add when using music on your Instagram Stories.
🔥 Plann Tip: You can also change the duration of the music snippet you’re adding to your Instagram Story. Tap the icon that says ‘15’ in a circle and reduce the clip duration to your desired length.
Tip 3. Inspire engagement with the ‘add yours’ music sticker
Spark two-way conversations with your viewers by harnessing this interactive music-focused feature. On Instagram Stories, you can invite your viewers to respond to your story using the ‘add yours’ music sticker.
Learn how to use the ‘add yours’ music sticker on Instagram Stories.
This is a simple but effective way to inspire engagement and get your community involved in your content. Plus, you’ll be able to see your responses and even reshare the best ones!
👀 Keep Reading: Learn how to plan and create engaging Instagram Stories.
Level up your Instagram game with Plann
Whether you’re struggling to keep up with the fast-paced nature of social media or simply want to devote more time to growing your business and focusing on those tasks that take place offline, Plann’s range of features is sure to help save you time with an automated social media strategy.
From AI-generated captions to cross-posting, analytics, hashtags and more, Plann can help you maintain a consistent posting schedule while you remain focused on business growth. We even auto-post your Instagram Reels to take the hassle out of growing organically on the platform! Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
