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The feature was designed to compete with Snapchat, which was one of the most popular social media apps at the time.
With Instagram feeds generally consisting of aesthetically pleasing imagery that wouldn’t look out of place in a glossy magazine, Stories offered something that felt more natural. Stories were posted by creators with the intention of giving followers a sneak peek into their daily lives through on-the-go images and vlog-style video snippets.
With Stories being easily accessible for 24 hours, creators and brands also didn’t have to focus as much on the best time to post content, making Stories feel even more authentic.
In June 2018, the platform announced that creators and brands could add music to their Instagram Stories.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to add music to Instagram Stories and why it’s a great engagement booster for your social media strategy.
We’re about to get a little nerdy, but there’s scientific evidence that when we hear music that we like, our limbic system (which processes emotion) is stimulated. And if it’s a piece of music we really connect with, our bodies can release dopamine, which triggers feelings of positive wellbeing.
But what does that have to do with Instagram Stories?
Well, brands and creators often promote products through their Instagram Stories. So just by learning how to add music to Instagram Stories, you can increase your chances of building likeability and trust, and even boost your sales.
There are several different ways to add music to Instagram Stories but in-app is the easiest. Here’s how:
Unfortunately, Meta doesn’t allow you to share songs direct from third-party music apps, which is a bit of a buzzkill. But if you want to share a link to a song on a music platform, here’s how:
You can add a link to a song on Spotify in your Instagram Story (if you’re a premium Spotify user), but due to Instagram’s licensing agreement, the audio won’t be included. If you want to drive more traffic to a song on Spotify, this is how:
Soundcloud is a platform that empowers independent artists to share their music with a global audience.
If you want to share from Soundcloud, unfortunately your followers won’t hear the audio. But if you want to link to a song on Soundcloud, here’s how:
Apple Music is an incredibly popular music platform with over 100 million songs to choose from. You can add your favourite song details, including artwork and artist info, but not the sound.
Here’s how to add a link to a song on Apple Music:
By now, you’ll know what we’re going to say here… You can add Shazam music to your Instagram Stories but yes, it will be without audio. Here’s how to add a link to a song in your Instagram Story:
If you’re having trouble adding music to your Instagram Stories, it’s probably for one of the following reasons:
If your music choices for Instagram Stories are limited it could be because you have a business account.
Business accounts are restricted from using certain songs because not all songs are cleared for commercial use.
When you open the music section in the Instagram app, you’ll only see songs that have been cleared for commercial use, so you can choose any of those safe in the knowledge that you’re not breaching copyright.
Adding music to Instagram posts that show in-feed can liven up static images or carousels. It’s also very easy to do. Here’s how to add music to an Instagram post:
If you’re a musician and want to know how to add your own music to Instagram Stories and posts, then there are a couple of different ways you can do this.
First up, you could add your music to Soundcloud and then share it to your Instagram Story (don’t forget that audio won’t be included though).
You can also submit your tracks through Meta’s Independent Artist Program. If they’re accepted, people will be able to use your music on their own Stories. This is a really simple way to upload your music and earn royalties.
So, there you have it, your complete guide to adding music to Instagram Stories and posts. Choose music that complements your Stories and posts, and you’ll be giving your engagement levels a nice boost.
If after reading this guide, you want to discover even more about building your brand through social media, then Vamp has you covered.
Take a look at our platform, which enables creators and brands to collaborate on campaigns with ease.
