Instagram Stories have become a vital tool for expression and engagement. Adding music to your IG stories not only enhances the viewer’s experience but also significantly boosts engagement. With so many features coming up regularly, few parts of the world, don’t get many of the features that Instagram has yet to offer.
What is IG Story?
In short, you can say that Facebook has copied the Key selling point of Snapchat ie. disappearing posts or images.
So what you can do with IG Story?
With Snapchat Stories, you can broadcast multiple snaps (videos and photos) taken throughout the day, complete with overlays of doodles and stickers and filters and masks.
This ‘reel of snaps’ will disappear after 24 hours, thus maintaining Snapchat’s ephemeral vibe. If you want to repopulate your story reel, just take more videos and photos and continue to broadcast them. So now let’s see what’s all this fuss about?
What is the Music feature in IG Story?
Through the Instagram Music feature, you will be able to choose from a huge variety of songs and these songs are primarily categorised as “Popular”, “Moods” and “Genre”.
You can also choose songs from the search bar on top. When you choose a song to add to your story, you will only be able to play 15 seconds of the song in it, however, you will have an option to choose which part of the song you want to add to the story. Now in the next section, let’s learn how to add music to an IG stories.
Step-by-Step Guide to Adding Music to Your IG Story:
- Accessing the Music Feature:
- Open your Instagram app and swipe right or tap on your profile picture to create a new story.
- Capture or select a photo or video from your gallery to add to your story.
- Choosing the Perfect Track:
- Once your photo or video is ready, tap on the sticker icon at the top of the screen.
- Select the ‘Music’ sticker to access Instagram’s music library.
- Navigating the Music Library:
- Browse through the available tracks. You can search for specific songs, artists, or browse by mood and genre.
- Listen to previews by tapping on the play icon next to each song.
- Customizing Your Music Selection:
- After selecting a song, choose the exact part of the track you want to feature in your story.
- Adjust the duration of the music clip (up to 15 seconds).
- Finalizing Your Story with Music:
- Once you’ve selected the part of the song, tap ‘Done’ to add it to your story.
- You can then move and resize the music sticker, or even choose to display song lyrics
The same thing can be done via the “Music” option available at the bottom when you open the Instagram camera, the only difference is, by using this, you can just put the music in the story and not the lyrics.
The music option at the bottom will also give you some filters like “Pulse“, ” Glow“, “Vintage” and more to customise your story.
Best Practices for Choosing Music:
- Relevance: Select music that complements the content of your story.
- Trends: Pay attention to trending songs on social media, as they can increase the chances of your story being discovered.
- Mood Matching: Choose music that matches the mood of your visual content.
FAQs on Instagram Music Story Feature
Why can’t I use Instagram music?
Updating the IG app should give you the ability to select the music sticker from the sticker tray in the Instagram camera. If you don’t see it after updating, there’s no need to panic. Sometimes, you need to sign out of the app and force-quit, then open up Instagram and sign back in.
When will the Music sticker be available worldwide?
We’re not sure yet. Instagram said they are “working hard to bring it to the global community”.
Can everyone view the music in my story?
Music availability may vary based on geographic location and licensing agreements.
I completely understand that it must be such a huge (legal) task to make Music available worldwide. So let’s be patient (and try some of the tricks below).
So far, the Music sticker is available in these countries (and a few more as time goes on):
- US
- UK
- Australia
- New Zealand
- France
- Germany
- Sweden
- India
- Canada
But you could still be in one of these countries and not have it yet (or not have it anymore).
UPDATE: This feature has been rolled out to a maximum of countries now, and thus the question of how to add music to an IG story is pretty easy now.
How to get an Instagram music story?
If you have a Business account and really want the Music sticker: switch from a Business to a personal Instagram account
You will lose some of the other features like the “Email” and “Direction” buttons, “Swipe up”, Instagram insights, and “Shop” feature (if you have a shop).
If you don’t mind losing these features, then here is how to switch back:
- In your Instagram app, open your “Settings”
- Select “Account”
- Select “Switch to personal account”
You might have to wait a few days. Most people got the Music sticker back 3 days after switching.
And once you get it you can perform the section 1 steps to add music to your Instagram story.
Method 2 to get music to IG Story: Switch to a Creator Account
This trick worked for most people.
To switch to a Creator account:
- Go in your “Settings”
- Select “Account”
- Select “Switch to Creator account”
You might have to wait a few days. Most people got the Music sticker back 3 days after switching.
And the last trick that might work is :
Find someone’s Insta Story that is playing music right now
Here’s the trick:
- Find one person you are following who has the Instagram Music sticker (if one of your friends has it, ask him/her to upload an Instagram Story with Music)
- Watch their Instagram Story, and see the name of the song below their username (top left corner of your screen)
- Tap on the song
- A little pop-up window will appear at the bottom of your screen with the name of the song and the artist
- You will see an icon saying “Try Music in your Story”
- Click “Try Music in your Story”
Done.
Final Words!
Adding music to your IG stories is a powerful way to elevate your content and engage your audience. With this guide, you can confidently navigate the music feature, select the perfect track, and create stories that not only entertain but also resonate with your viewers.