Struggling to find, save and add music to your Instagram Reels?
You’re in the right place.
Instagram recently rolled out new features that make it 100x easier to create a Reel to the music or sound you want.
Whether you’re looking for the perfect song to dance to or you’re in the mood to lip sync to an iconic Kardashian quote — this guide will help you find and add the perfect soundtrack to your Reels.
Update: New hack to access more Reels music as a business account
Still don’t have access to the full catalog of music for Reels, because you have a business account? There’s a hack for that! Turns out, changing your account to the ‘entrepreneur’ catalog is a workaround for getting access to all of the available music.
Here’s how to do it:
- Select ‘Edit profile’
- Scroll down to your account type, and select ‘Category’
- Type in ‘entrepreneur’ and click the green check mark to save
- If you’d prefer not to have it displayed on your profile, you can also go back into category settings and select ‘turn off display category label’
- Head back to your profile and check you’re happy with everything
- Voila! Start creating a Reel, and have fun checking out the more extensive catalog of music you have available to add!
Watch Jenn’s walk-through here
What is Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels is the newest way to create video content on Instagram. Similar to its rival TikTok, you can record and edit 15-30 second video clips to music and text and effects to your creations.
Once your Reel is live, you can share it on your Stories, publish it to your Reels tab on your profile and allow Instagram to push it out to the Explore Feed.
While the algorithm for Reels is still up for debate, it looks like the Explore Feed curates a mix of trending content as selected by their content creators and content based on who you follow, the content you like and where you’re located.
The Benefits of Adding Instagram Reels to Your Content Mix
Think of Reels like permanent high-quality (but still informal) Instagram Stories. It’s a way for you to show off your personality, make your followers laugh and deliver educational content in bite-sized pieces.
Grow Without Ads
As with any new feature Instagram rolls out, the algorithm rewards early adopters. Plus, with the Reels Explore feed, it’s super easy to reach new followers and boost your engagement WITHOUT buying ads.
Shop ‘Til You Drop
And if that’s not enough to get you Reeling with excitement, Instagram announced that they’re working on a shopping integration. Much like users can shop IG Stories, Feed Posts and IGTV, brands and influencers will soon be able to tag products in Reels and make it easier than ever for followers to shop in-app.
Gain Engaged Followers
But what makes Reels stand out from all the other features on Instagram is the fact its algorithm shows you Reels based on your interest. As a brand or influencer, this is incredibly powerful as your content is getting in front of potential leads who are most likely to buy, follow and interact.
Read More: New Instagram Reels: How to Make It Work for Your Brand
Where to Find Trending Music For Your Instagram Reels
Adding music to your Reels is not only a great way to make it more engaging, but it can actually be a huge help for when you’re stuck on ideas! Because, you can actually build the theme of your Reel around the song! For example, there are many trending songs on Reels that are accompanied with certain dances or content themes (think, the ‘International Superspy’ trend, or ‘The Magic Bomb dance.’) By jumping some of these trends early, you can explode the reach and virality potential of your video. But, where do you go to find trending music to use in your Reels? Here are some ideas:
6 places to find trending music for Reels
Peruse the explore page: The good ol’ explore tab can be a goldmine for Instagram trends on the rise, and Reels are no exception. While this section shares real estate with grid posts (so, not everything you see will be Reels), it’s an awesome starting point to find trending sounds in your niche.
Scroll through Reels: For even more video inspiration, head straight to the dedicated Reels section on the Instagram app. This is the video icon that sits in between the search button and Instagram shopping. Here, you can swipe through Reels to your heart content, and see what songs are popular right now.
Look for the arrow symbol: Okay, so how do you actually know which Reels songs are on the rise, and which ones are yesterday’s news? Well, there’s now a handy icon that shows up on trending music if you’re watching Reels on mobile. If it’s a song on the rise, you’ll see a little arrow pointing up and to the right, next to the song name.
Browse Instagram’s music catalog: When you’re creating your Reels, you’ll see a section to add audio. Here, you’ll see some music recommended for you! While these are based partially off the songs you’ve used in your previous Reels if you’ve made them before, you can also find trending music in here sometimes, too.
Snoop around on TikTok: With the effortlessly cool Gen Z kids using TikTok more than any other platform, this is often where trending songs are born! Songs will quite often hit it big on TikTok before heading over to Reels. TikTok also has a handy trending page that will sometimes pop up in your notifications if you have a business account. So, it’s worth being on TikTok if for no other reason than to lurk the trends!
Check out trending Reels and TikTok playlists on Spotify: Another hack for finding trending music on Reels that you might not have thought to? Head to Spotify! They have dedicated playlists just for songs that are popular on Reels and TikTok. These aren’t always updated regularly, but can be a good source of inspo if you’re feeling particularly stuck
How to Add Music to Reels: A Step-By-Step Guide
When Instagram first launched Reels, there was a lot of confusion around adding music. Some people had it, and others did not. Some of the sounds people loved on TikTok were nowhere to be found, and the ability to save music to use later was non-existent.
Since then, Instagram has rolled out a bunch of new features to clear up the confusion and help them compete with TikTok.
You can now:
‣ Save audio clips to a folder and use it for a future Reel.
‣ Share audio pages via DMs.
‣ Search the audio browser to find sounds and music for your clips.
Not sure how to do it? Keep reading.
We’re breaking down the entire process to have you Reeling like a pro in no time.
Step 1: Open Instagram on Your Phone
‣ Tap on the Instagram Stories icon in the top left corner of the screen
‣ At the bottom of the screen slide to the right to select ‘Reels’
Step 2: Search For Music
‣ When the Reels screen loads, you’ll see a bunch of new icons on the left hand side of the screen. Tap on the music note to choose music or a sound for your Reel
‣ Tap the ‘Saved’ icon to view sounds you’ve added to your collection
‣ Browse songs that are trending on Instagram
‣ View songs Instagram thinks you will like in the ‘For You’ section
‣ Or tap on the ‘Search Music’ bar at the bottom screen to look for a particular song or artist
Step 3: Add Music to Your Reel
‣ Once you’ve found a song clip you like, tap on it
‣ The song page will open, and you can slide the bar at the bottom of the screen to find the part of the song you want to use
‣ A pink dot indicates the most popular segment of the song
‣ The lyrics will also show on the screen to make it easier for you to select the perfect snippet
‣ When you’re happy, tap on the ‘Done’ button in the top right-hand side of the screen and you’ve successfully added music to your Reel!
Step 4: Share Your Reel
‣ You can now film your Reel, add effects, text and everything else
‣ When you’re done creating your masterpiece, add your caption, hashtags and share it with the world!
How to Save Music From Other Reels
So you have ZERO music in your “Saved” folder?
Whelp. Let’s fix that stat!
‣ Go to the Explore Page (or any Reel you love)
‣ Swipe around until you find a Reel with music or a sound you want to use
‣ Tap on the audio file at the bottom of the screen
‣ The audio page will load, and you can save it to your folder by tapping on the save icon in the top right hand side of the screen
Top tip: You can also choose to DM the sound to a friend by tapping on the paper plane icon. Your friend will receive a link to the audio page and can save it to their folder and see all the other Reels using the sound.
Reel in Your Followers
At a loss when it comes WHAT to post on Instagram? We’ve got you!
Sign up for a free Plann account and you can use our new content prompts *tailored to more than 50 different industries* to help you stay consistent and on-brand.
Remember, you can use Reels to expand on the content you’re creating elsewhere. Use this as a guideline to brainstorm ideas for your videos that will reel in your audience and keep them coming back for more!
Note: If you are a Business Account you don’t currently have access to Audio on your Reels which is a massive bummer, but you can use original audio from other people’s Reels – or, if you don’t want to try this trick consider switching your Business Account to a Creator Account and continue enjoying all the Plann perks like Analytics and Audio on Reels!
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