How to Add Music to an Instagram Story, Post, or Reel

Dominic Anderson August 3, 2023

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Instagram has many useful features; one of the most most popular is the option to add music directly to stories, posts, and reels. Instagram offers a lengthy selection of tunes from its music library and the ability to import songs from other music streaming services, such as Spotify.

Instagram adds new tunes in its music library daily. If you’re curious about the in’s and outs of adding music to your Instagram content, this article will teach you everything you need about adding music to your Instagram Story or post. You’ll also see some common questions and misconceptions regarding Instagram music. Let’s get started.

How to Add Music to an Instagram Story on Android/iOS/iPhone

It doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone or an Android device as long as Instagram is updated to the latest version. The process of adding music to Instagram is the same for both.

Note: This method requires lyrics or album art to appear on your Story, but you can resize it to your liking. Also, you can legally use premium music clips from Instagram’s library (uses Facebook Sound Collection).

Here is how it’s done.

Open the Instagram app, then tap on Your story in the upper-left corner.
Proceed to add a Story. Hold down on the first image/video, then tap on each additional one you want to add/remove. Tap on Next when finished.
Choose the style for your Story, which includes Layout for a collage Story or Separate to make each image/video a new segment. Choosing Separate requires editing each segment.
Tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
Select the Music sticker. You can use the search bar at the top to go directly to the correct one.
Instagram displays recommended songs, as well as different categories you can choose from. Tap on the adjacent Play icon to preview each track.
Tap on a song to add it to your post or Story.
Adjust the slider bar at the bottom to choose the song position. You’ll see the lyrics while you slide. You can also change the music and text color/appearance/style or use album art.
Tap Done when finished with your editing process.
Resize, rotate, or reposition the lyrics (or album art) on the screen by holding down on them and moving, sliding, or twisting them.
If you chose Separate for the layout in Step 3 above, you need to edit each Story segment individually by tapping on it. Each one has music (if desired) when they autoplay.
Tap on Next when you have finished editing your Story.
Choose Your Story at the bottom to post it on your Instagram Story.

When your followers open your Instagram Story, your added song automatically plays for each segment you edited. If they want to see which song is playing, they can tap on the title under your name, and the song pops up in another tab.

How To Add Music to an Instagram Reel

Instagram released the Reels feature in August 2020. With it being such a new option, Reels are one of the easiest ways to post content on Instagram, including music. To add music to a reel, follow the steps below.

Tap the + sign in the top right of the Instagram home page.
Slide and highlight Reels at the bottom of the page.
Select the Music icon on the left.
Choose the music track you want to add to the Reel.
Adjust the slider at the bottom of the screen. Select the part of the song you’re using for the Reel.

If you forget to add music before recording your Reel, don’t worry. Instagram allows you to add music before or after recording the Reel.

How to Add Music to an Instagram Post Using Third-Party Apps

Instagram doesn’t allow you to add music directly to your Instagram posts. You can only add music to your Instagram Stories and Reels. Even if you add music to a video you made on your Story and download it, it will download without the song.

If you want to attach a song to a video and upload it on Instagram as a post, you have to edit your video beforehand. There are loads of free video editing apps and programs available that allow you to add music to your videos. When finished, you can upload the video to your Instagram feed. One of the most feature-rich and user-friendly free video editing apps is InShot. You can also use songs, playlists, and albums from Spotify.

How to Add Audio/Music to Instagram Posts Using InShot

Open the InShot app and tap on the Video button.
Select the video you want to add sound to from the list.
Tap on the MUSIC button in the bottom left corner.
Tap on Tracks to open the music menu.
To add a featured track, select the FEATURED tab, then browse and choose from categories like Vlog, Mood, Beats, etc.
Select a song to preview. Then, tap on the download icon or USE to add it to your video.
Select the My Music tab in the navigational menu below the video to add your own music.
Browse and select any song to preview it, then tap on USE to add it to your video. Be cautious with copyright material.
To add sound effects, tap on the EFFECTS tab, then choose a category.
Select an effect track to preview it, then tap on USE to add it to your video. All sounds in the EFFECTS tab are free from copyright protection.
To edit the timing, fade, or other settings associated with the audio, tap the track bar for the correct audio title. Just tap it. You’ll see white markers appear on the ends.
Hold down on the beginning or end white marker. Move/adjust the audio track’s start position (always starting from the beginning of the track) in correlation with the video. You can also adjust the end position (it always cuts out the remainder).

For advanced editing, go to the next step. Otherwise, skip to Step 16.
While the audio track is still selected (shows white markers), tap on EDIT.
Slide the purple dot markers (left and right) to clip the audio as you see fit, such as cutting it to start at the 3.7-second mark rather than the beginning and ending the track at the 19.4-second mark. The preview continues to play as you edit.
Tap on the checkmark when finished with your cutting, volume level, and fading adjustments.
The app returns to the track’s audio editing screen. Tap on the play icon to preview your edits.
If needed, you can re-edit the track by tapping the audio’s track bar and selecting EDIT.
If you don’t need to re-edit the track, you can add more TRACKS, EFFECTS, or even RECORD your own sounds.
You can adjust the video’s master volume by tapping VOLUME.
Tap on the checkmark to save all changes.
When satisfied with the final edits, tap on SAVE in the upper-right corner.
Confirm your resolution, framerate, and size, then tap on SAVE once more.
Your audio/video file is now saved, represented by a green circled checkmark. You can (A) tap the checkmark icon to see the location details, (B) play the video from the thumbnail at the top, or (C) share the video to Instagram directly.

How to Add Audio/Music to Instagram Posts Using Spotify

You can also add music to Instagram posts from Spotify, whether it be a song, an album, or an entire playlist. Once again, this method is identical for both iPhone and Android devices. This is how it’s done:

Open your Spotify app.
Select the song, album, or playlist you want to add to Instagram.
Tap the three dots on the right side of the song title.
Scroll down and tap Share.
Tap Instagram Stories.

Your Story will open with the song preloaded and you can make any additional adjustments. When you’ve finished perfecting the video, post it to your Story. If your followers have Spotify accounts, they can open the song on Spotify.

Note: There was an issue adding Spotify songs to Instagram, but a recent update resolved the error. Ensure that your Instagram app is updated.

How to Add Music to an Instagram Post the “Old Way”

Adding songs to your Instagram Story the ‘old way’ refers to how people used to add tunes before Instagram introduced the music feature. This is how it’s done:

Start playing the song you want to post. It can be any song in your phone’s library or a music streaming app.
Go to Instagram and open your Story while the song is still playing in the background.
Start filming your Story by pressing the record button.
Make any necessary adjustments to the Story. Post it by tapping Your Story in the bottom left corner.

When you play your Story, you’ll 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 want.

Additional FAQs

If we didn’t answer all of your questions about Instagram music above, keep reading!

How Do you Open Spotify Songs from Stories?

Once you share a particular song from Spotify, you can open it from your Instagram. This option is also available for your followers, who might be interested in the song you just posted.

To open Spotify from Instagram, you need to:

Open your Story.
Tap on the Play on Spotify option below your name.
Tap Open Spotify.

The song will immediately open on your Spotify. Keep in mind that you need to be logged into your account for this to work.

Note: Instagram users without a Spotify account won’t be able to do this.

Add Your Favorite Tunes to Your Instagram Story

Now you know how to add music to your photos and videos on your Instagram stories. Considering the different music apps you can use to add your favorite tunes, the sky is the limit! Adding music is a great way to boost your engagement on social media.

Have you ever added a song to your Instagram? Did you use any of the methods outlined in this guide? Leave a comment in the section below.