Wondering how to add music to an Instagram Story?

If you’re a content creator or marketer, then you know that using creative visuals is key to catching people’s attention on social media.

One of the best ways to grab attention is to create Instagram Stories that are a vibe. You’ll want to add music to set the mood, and this article will teach you exactly how to do that in 6 different ways.

Bonus: Unlock our free, customizable Instagram storyboard template to save time and plan all your Stories content in advance.

How to add music to your Instagram Story

Adding music to your Instagram Story in the app is pretty easy! And it’s a necessary skill for any marketer or content creator worth their salt.

Plus, once you’ve got Instagram Stories nailed, you can move on to the rest of your Instagram marketing strategy. We can walk you through creating white-hot Instagram Story Ads, too.

Stick with us, and you’ll be well on your way to engaging and entertaining your followers in no time.

Follow these eight steps to add music to your Instagram Story.

Step 1: Open the Instagram app

Step 2: Tap on the Your Story icon in the top left corner of the screen or find a post you would like to share and hit the airplane widget then click Add post to your story

Or:

Step 3: If you’ve chosen to add a Story from the Your Story icon, then tap on the Camera square in the top left corner or choose a photo or video from your camera roll.

If you’re sharing someone’s feed post, move on to Step 4.

Step 4: On the top bar of widgets, navigate to stickers

Step 5: Tap on the Music sticker

Step 6: Select a song from the For you library or search for a specific song using Browse

Step 7: Once you’ve selected a song, you will have the option to show either just the song’s name or the album art. Here, you can scroll through the song and choose the place where you want the music to start.

Step 8: Share to either your Close friends or your entire following by hitting Your story

How to add music to an Instagram Story without a sticker

If you’ve followed the steps above but don’t see the music sticker in your app, there are 3 potential reasons:

1. You need to update your app
2. Instagram’s music feature isn’t available in your country
3. You’re sharing a branded content campaign

Copyright laws and Instagram’s advertising rules mean that some features (like music) can’t be included in branded content ads.

But maybe you’re wondering how to add music to your Instagram Story without the Sticker. Well, good news, friend, there’s a pretty easy workaround.

Step 1. Open a music streaming app, like Spotify or Apple Music

Step 2. Start playing the song you want to use

Step 3. With the song still playing, head to Instagram and record your Story. The music playing on your phone will be included in the end result.

Just a note, this workaround won’t show your followers the album cover or lyrics.

It’s not technically sanctioned by Instagram, so you won’t have the same features the app offers. It’s more of a ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ situation.

You may also be on the hook for copyright infringement which Instagram is pretty strict about. If so, Instagram will remove your Story and could flag your account.

Just FYI, Instagram defines its ‘general copyright guidelines’ as:

• Music in stories and traditional live music performances (e.g., filming an artist or band performing live) are permitted.
• The greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be limited.
• For that reason, shorter clips of music are recommended.
• There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video.

So, if you do use the workaround above, it would be beneficial for you to use a shorter clip and accompany your recording with a visual component. If you need some visual component inspiration, here are over 30 Story ideas you can shamelessly steal!

The only problem with having so much Story inspiration is that you probably won’t want to post them all at once. Being able to schedule Instagram Stories in 4 simple steps is a must for busy content creators.

How to add music to an Instagram Story with Spotify

Vibing to a song on Spotify that you think your Instagram community would like? Well, you can add music to Instagram Stories directly from Spotify.

Step 1. Open the Spotify app

Step 2. Find the music you want to add to your Instagram Story

Step 3. Tap the vertical ellipsis icon on a song, album, or playlist

Step 4: In the pop-up menu, navigate to Share

Step 5: Navigate to Instagram Stories. You might have to give your permission to open Instagram

Step 6: Spotify will open up a new Story for you, uploading the cover art of the song, album, or playlist.

Once you publish your Story, your followers will be able to click through your Story to the song you posted on Spotify.

Step 7: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story.”

If you are getting the error message “You can’t add a song to a story you shared from another app,” you may not be able to play music over the cover art image, but there is a workaround!

Follow the steps above and then hit the download button or take a screenshot. Discard this Story and create a new one using your downloaded or screenshotted version and add music like you normally would.

This means your followers won’t be able to navigate to the song on Spotify from your Instagram Story, however.

How to add music to an Instagram Story with Apple Music

Sharing music to an Instagram Story through Apple Music is simple. In four easy steps you’ll be able to post songs across your apps.

Step 1: Open the Apple Music app

Step 2: Find a song, album, or playlist that you want to post

Step 3: Touch and hold the piece, then tap Share

Step 4: In this menu, tap Instagram and post as you normally would

Source: Apple

How to add music to an Instagram Story with SoundCloud

Adding music from Soundcloud directly to an Instagram Story is especially useful for musicians. This way, you can cross-promote your new music to your Instagram followers. People who see your Instagram Story will be able to click on your song and listen to it on Soundcloud.

Step 1. Open the SoundCloud app

Step 2. Find the song, album, or playlist you want to post, hit the share icon

Step 3. In the pop-up menu, select Stories. You may have to give your permission to open the Instagram app.

Step 4. SoundCloud will upload the cover art to your Instagram Story.

Step 5: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story”

Step 6. Once you post your Story, a link will appear at the top of the Story that says Play on SoundCloud. If you click this link, you’ll be taken directly to that song, album, or playlist on SoundCloud.

How to add music to an Instagram Story with Shazam

Step 1. Open the Shazam app

Step 2. You can either hit Tap to Shazam to identify a new song or choose a song from your library of previous Shazams

Step 3. Tap the share icon in the top-right corner

Step 4: Choose Instagram. You may have to give your permission to open the Instagram app.

Step 5: Shazam will create a new story with the cover art of the song

Step 6: For the music to play over the cover art image, add the song following the steps outlined above under “How to add music to your Instagram Story”

Step 7. Once you post your Story, a link will appear at the top of the Story that says More on Shazam. If you click this link, you’ll be taken directly to that song, album, or playlist on Shazam.

Why am I only able to see limited music choices on Instagram?

If you can only see a limited music selection, it’s likely one of two things. It could be your professional account or the copyright laws in your country.

Do you have a business account? ​​Instagram restricts songs for business accounts. You can switch to a personal or creator account, but be sure to weigh your Instagram business vs. creator vs. personal account pros and cons first.

Your music selection could be dependent on where you live. Instagram music isn’t available in all countries, and they follow the copyright laws of the country they operate in closely.

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