How to Add a New Song to Instagram

Adding the perfect song to your Instagram content can instantly transform a simple post into a memorable capstone moment. Music sets the mood, grabs attention, and can even help you go viral by tapping into trending audio. This guide provides a full walkthrough on how to add music to Instagram Stories and Reels, explains the differences between account types, and even offers a smart workaround for adding music to your traditional feed posts.

Why Music Matters on Instagram

In a fast-scrolling world, audio is your secret weapon. The right track makes people pause and feel something - whether it's excitement from an up-tempo beat, nostalgia from a classic melody, or intrigue from a trending sound. For brands, content creators, and casual users alike, music completes the story you're trying to tell with your visuals. It elevates your content from a silent film to a full-sensory experience, making it more engaging, shareable, and effective. Tapping into trending sounds in Reels can also dramatically expand your reach beyond your existing followers, putting your content in front of a massive new audience.

The Big Difference: Business vs. Creator Accounts

One of the most common frustrations on Instagram is not being able to find a specific popular song. The reason almost always comes down to your account type. Understanding this distinction is the first step to mastering music on the platform.

• Personal & Creator Accounts: These accounts have access to Instagram's extensive music library, filled with millions of popular songs from major artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo. Instagram has licensing agreements that allow for personal, non-commercial use of this music.
• Business Accounts: To protect businesses from copyright infringement lawsuits, Instagram provides a more limited library called the Instagram Sound Collection. This collection contains thousands of high-quality, royalty-free songs and sounds that are cleared for commercial and promotional use. While you won't find the latest chart-toppers, there's plenty of great music to set the right vibe for your brand without legal risks.

Quick Tip: Should You Switch to a Creator Account?

If you're running a business but your brand is more personality-driven (like a coach, artist, or public figure) and you're not using posts for direct advertisements, switching your profile from a Business to a Creator account might grant you access to the popular music library. Creator accounts still get access to analytics and other professional tools. However, weigh the decision carefully. If you run paid ads or your content is explicitly commercial, it's safer to stick with a Business account and its royalty-free music to stay on the right side of copyright law.

Step-by-Step: Adding Music to Your Instagram Story

Instagram Stories are the most common place to add licensed music, and the process is straightforward. The music sticker allows your followers to tap and listen to the song while viewing your content.

Here's how to do it:

1. Open the Story Camera: Swipe right from your Instagram feed or tap the plus icon (+) and select "Story." You can take a new photo or video, or swipe up to select one from your camera roll.
2. Access the Sticker Tray: Once your visual is ready, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen (it looks like a square smiley face).
3. Select the "Music" Sticker: Find and tap the "Music" sticker in the menu. This will open up the music library.
4. Find Your Perfect Song: You can search for a specific track, artist, or browse through curated lists in the "For You" or "Browse" tabs. The "For You" section often suggests trending audio and music you might like, while "Browse" organizes tracks by genre, mood, and themes.
5. Choose Your Song Snippet: After selecting a song, a timeline slider will appear. Drag this slider left or right to pick the exact 15-second clip you want to feature in your Story. Some songs also have pre-selected popular segments you can choose from.
6. Customize the Sticker's Appearance: Instagram offers several ways to display the music in your Story. You can tap through the options to show:
   • Live lyrics that display in time with the music.
   • Static lyrics.
   • The classic album art sticker (in large or small format).
   You can also tap the color wheel at the top to change the color of the lyrics or sticker to match your Story's aesthetic.
7. Place and Publish: Drag the sticker to position it anywhere on your screen. You can pinch to make it bigger or smaller. Once you're happy, tap "Your Story" to share it.

Mastering Music in Instagram Reels

Reels are built around music and trending audio. Adding a popular sound is one of the best ways to get your Reel seen by more people. You can add music either before you start filming or after you've recorded your clips.

Method 1: Adding Audio Before You Record

This method is ideal when you want to create a video that's perfectly synced to the beat or lyrics of a song, like for a dance or a transition challenge.

1. Open the Reels Editor: Tap the plus icon (+) and select "Reel."
2. Tap the Audio Icon: On the left side of the screen, tap the music note icon labeled "Audio."
3. Select a Song: This opens the same music library you use for Stories. Search for a song or use a trending sound. Tap on the track to hear a preview.
4. Choose Your Audio Clip: Use the slider at the bottom to scrub through the song and select the section you want to use. Tap "Done."
5. Record Your Reel: The music you selected will now play in the background as you record, making it easy to time your actions to the audio. Record your clips as you normally would.

Method 2: Adding Audio After You Record or Upload

This method works best when you've already filmed a sequence of clips (like a tutorial or a travel montage) and want to add background music to tie it all together later.

1. Record or Upload Your Clips: Film your video clips using the Reels camera or upload them from your phone's gallery.
2. Go to the Editing Screen: After your clips are arranged, tap "Next."
3. Tap the Audio Icon Again: At the top of the editing screen, you'll see another music note icon. Tap it.
4. Add Your Music: Find and add your song as you did before.
5. Adjust Audio Levels: This is a powerful feature in the Reels editor. After adding music, tap "Controls" or the mixer icon. You'll see two sliders: one for "Camera audio" (your original sound) and one for the song you added. You can lower the volume of the music to keep your original audio audible (great for voiceovers) or turn your camera audio down to zero so only the music plays.
6. Finish and Share: Once your audio is balanced, add captions, effects, or text, and share your Reel.

The Workaround: Adding Music to Regular Feed Posts

Instagram is constantly changing features, and for a while, the ability to add music directly to a static photo post has been inconsistent. The most reliable and platform-friendly method is now to leverage the Reel format, which Instagram prioritizes anyway.

The Simplest Method: Share a Reel to Your Feed

Instead of creating a standard photo post, create a Reel using your photo. You can stretch a single image to last 5-15 seconds and add music just like any other Reel. Before you publish, make sure the toggle for "Also share to Feed" is turned on. Your Reel will appear on the Reels tab and on your main profile grid just like a traditional post, but with the added benefit of audio.

The Third-Party App Method

If you prefer a classic video in your feed, you can use a video editing app on your phone (like CapCut, InShot, or VN Video Editor).

1. Import your photo(s) into the app and create a new video project.
2. Set the duration for how long you want the photo to be displayed.
3. Add a music track directly within the app.
4. Export the final video to your camera roll.
5. Upload this new video file to Instagram as a standard feed post.

A Note on Copyright for Post Workarounds

When using a third-party app, you are responsible for using music legally. Stick to tracks from the app's royalty-free library or use services that offer copyright-safe music for social media (like Epidemic Sound). Pulling a popular song off the internet and adding it to your video can cause Instagram's algorithm to mute your video or take it down for copyright infringement.

Troubleshooting: When You Can't Find a Song on Instagram

Running into issues with the music feature is common. Here are fixes for the most frequent problems.

Problem 1: "I have a Business Account and can't find popular songs."

The Cause: This goes back to licensing. Instagram restricts Business accounts to its collection of royalty-free commercial music to protect you from copyright violations.

The Fix: Use a track from the Instagram Sound Collection, or consider switching your account to a Creator profile if it aligns with your brand strategy.

Problem 2: "The song I want isn't available in my region."

The Cause: Music licensing agreements are location-specific. A song might be licensed for use in one country but not another.

The Fix: Unfortunately, there's no way around this. You'll have to choose a different song from the library available to you.

Problem 3: "The Music sticker is completely missing."

The Cause: This is usually a temporary technical glitch with the app.

The Fixes: Try these steps in order.

• Update the app: The most common fix is going to the App Store or Google Play Store and ensuring your Instagram app is updated to the latest version.
• Log out and log back in: This can often reset minor glitches.
• Reinstall the app: If nothing else works, deleting and reinstalling the app can clear out lingering bugs. (Your content and profile will be safe).

Final Thoughts

Music is a simple yet incredibly effective tool for making your Instagram content more dynamic and connecting with your audience on an emotional level. Whether you're using the native music sticker for Stories, making perfectly-synced Reels, or using a creative workaround for your feed posts, the right soundtrack helps your message stand out in a crowded space.

Planning and creating content that resonates takes time, especially when dealing with the unique formats of Reels, Stories, and more. At Postbase, we built our platform to solve the exact frustrations that come with managing a modern social media presence. Since we designed our scheduler with short-form video in mind from day one, you can plan and schedule all your content - including your music-driven Reels - from one clean, visual calendar. It removes the daily chaos and gives you more time back to focus on the fun part: finding that perfect song.