How to Find Trending Music on Instagram

Finding the right trending audio for your Instagram Reel can feel like the difference between five views and fifty thousand. It's that invisible force that can hook a scroller, rocket your reach, and connect your content to a much wider conversation happening platform-wide. This guide skips the guesswork and gives you a practical, repeatable process for finding the music and sounds that will actually help your content get discovered.

Why Trending Audio Matters (It's More Than Just Background Noise)

Before we get into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Using a trending sound on Instagram isn't just about adding background music - it's a direct signal to the algorithm. When you use audio that hundreds of thousands of other people are engaging with, you're telling Instagram, "Hey, this content is timely and relevant to what's happening in culture right now." The platform wants to show people more of what they already like, so it bundles your video with other Reels using that same popular sound, placing your content directly in front of audiences who are already proven to enjoy that trend.

Beyond the algorithm, trending audio acts as a creative shortcut. It provides context, mood, and sometimes even the punchline for your video. A viewer who recognizes a familiar sound is more likely to stop scrolling and see how you've interpreted the trend. Done right, it becomes a powerful tool for connection and creativity.

Method 1: Using Instagram's Built-In Tools

You don't need to leave the Instagram app to find a goldmine of trending audio. The platform gives you clear clues about what's hot if you know where to look.

Master the "Trending" Arrow

Instagram's single most helpful feature for this task is the trending audio indicator: a small, upward-pointing arrow that appears next to the audio name at the bottom of a Reel.

If you see that little arrow, you've found certified trending audio. Instagram is literally telling you, "This sound is currently popular." It's the platform's official stamp of approval.

How to Use It:

• While Scrolling: As you browse your Reels feed, keep an eye on the bottom-left corner of each video. Pay attention to any audio clips that have the arrow symbol.
• Investigate Further: When you spot an arrow, tap on the audio title. This will take you to the audio page, where you can see two important things:
  1. The Number of Reels: You'll see exactly how many Reels have been created using this sound. Is the number in the low thousands but you're hearing it everywhere? That's the sweet spot for an emerging trend. Hundreds of thousands? It's a mega-trend but might be reaching its peak.
  2. Top Examples: You can see how other creators are using the sound. This is fantastic for inspiration and understanding the context of the trend.
• Save It for Later: Don't lose it! Hit the "Save Audio" button at the top of the audio page. This adds it to a folder you can access later when you're creating your own Reel.

Explore the Reels Audio Library

The best place to start is often staring you right in the face. When you go to create a new Reel, the audio library itself is designed to guide you toward popular songs.

Here's the step-by-step:

1. Open the Instagram app and swipe to the Reel creation screen.
2. Tap the music note icon to open the Audio Library.
3. Don't just search right away. Look at the sections Instagram provides, especially "For You." This is an algorithmically-curated list of sounds Instagram thinks you'll like based on your activity, and it's often filled with trending tracks.
4. Look for banners or sections explicitly labeled "Trending" or "Featured.” Instagram frequently updates these categories with hand-picked popular sounds.

Treat this library less like a search engine and more like a recommendation engine that's feeding you real-time data on popular tracks.

Turn Your Scrolling Into Research

The single best way to develop an ear for trends is to actively consume content. Your daily scroll through the Reels tab isn't just for entertainment - it's market research.

Your goal is to identify patterns. If you hear the same audio clip three or four times within a 10-minute scrolling session, that's a massive signal that something is cooking. The algorithm is pushing it hard, which means creators are adopting it and viewers are engaging with it. When this happens, tap the sound and immediately save it. Even if you don't have an idea for it yet, you'll thank yourself later for having a ready-to-use library of proven sounds.

Method 2: Looking Outside Instagram to Get Ahead

The best creators don't just follow trends - they catch them as they're just starting to rise. To do this, you sometimes need to look at what's happening on other platforms, because the internet's culture machine doesn't operate in a silo.

TikTok is Your Crystal Ball

It's no secret: most Instagram Reels trends are born on TikTok. Sounds and formats often go viral on TikTok anywhere from a few days to a few weeks before they jump over to Instagram. If you want a preview of what's coming next, spend 15 minutes a day actively scrolling TikTok's "For You Page."

Your Workflow:

• Listen for Repetition: Just like on Reels, listen for sounds that crop up again and again. These are the audio clips with viral potential.
• Identify the Sound: If it's a mainstream song, it's easy. If it's a remix or an original sound, you may need an app like Shazam to identify the track name.
• Search on Instagram: Once you have a name, go back to Instagram and search for it in the audio library. If you find it but there are only a few hundred or a couple thousand Reels made with it, you've struck gold. You can be one of the first creators to bring the trend to the platform.

Check Music Charts Like Spotify and Billboard

Major cultural moments often filter down into social media trends, and that includes hit music releases from big artists. Check in regularly with music charts to see what's dominating the airwaves.

• Spotify Viral 50: This chart is particularly valuable because it tracks songs that are getting buzz and being shared organically - a strong indicator of short-form video potential.
• Billboard Hot 100: The definitive list of popular songs. Look for new entries or songs making a big jump up the charts.

When you listen to these songs, don't just listen for enjoyment. Listen for the "Reel Moment" - that 10-15 second catchy chorus, instrumental drop, or relatable lyric that's practically begging to be used in a video.

Follow Trend-Spotting Creator Accounts

Why do all the work yourself when others have made it their job? There are dozens of fantastic creator accounts on Instagram and TikTok dedicated to announcing new trending sounds. They do the research for you and often break down how the trend is being used.

To find them, simply search Instagram for terms like "trending audio" or "Reels trends." Follow a few accounts that consistently deliver high-quality, early alerts. They'll spoon-feed you great audio choices directly in your feed.

The Extra Step: How to Use Trending Audio Effectively

Finding the audio is only half the battle. How you use it determines whether your Reel feels fresh and clever or completely out of touch.

Match the Vibe and Context

Using trending audio isn't merely about slapping a popular song onto a random video. The most successful Reels understand the context of the audio trend. Is it a lip-sync joke? A sound for showcasing a physical transformation? An emotional, swelling chorus perfect for a travel montage? Using a funny, conversational audio clip over a silent product demo can be incredibly jarring for a viewer. Before you use a sound, watch a dozen other Reels using it to understand the narrative and emotional tone, then make sure it aligns with your video.

Understand the Trend Lifecycle

Every trend has a lifecycle: early emergence, peak popularity, and eventual decline. Your goal is to post somewhere between "early" and "peak."

• Early (Under 20k Reels): You're an early adopter! This is high-risk, high-reward. If the trend takes off, your video could take off with it.
• Peak (20k - 250k Reels): This is the sweet spot. The sound is proven to work, lots of people are seeing it, but it's not completely oversaturated yet.
• Decline (Over 500k Reels+): You can still get views here, but the sound is everywhere. It's no longer novel, and viewers may be experiencing trend fatigue. If you hop on late, you need to bring a hyper-original take on the trend to stand out.

Don't Ignore Original Audio

The biggest trend of all could be one you start yourself. If you have a video with a unique and repeatable soundbite - a funny comment, a satisfying industrial noise, a great piece of advice - don't cover it up with music. Let your "Original Audio" shine. When another person uses the audio from your Reel, you're credited for it. If that sound goes viral, every Reel made with it links directly back to you, which can be an enormous source of traffic and new followers.

Final Thoughts

To consistently leverage trending music, you need a process. It's part detective work inside Instagram, part cultural listening on other platforms, and part creative strategy in how you apply those sounds to your own content. By building a habit of saving songs, watching for patterns, and acting on them quickly, you transform audio from an afterthought into a potent tool for organic growth.

Once you've found that perfect audio and created a stellar Reel, the last thing you want is for it to fall through the cracks of a clunky scheduling process. At Postbase, we designed our platform with short-form video as the main event, not a tacked-on feature. You can easily schedule your Reels for Instagram, your Shorts for YouTube, and your TikToks all from one clean, visual calendar, knowing they'll publish reliably when you set them. This frees you up to spend more time finding the next trend instead of wrestling with your tools. You can plan your entire content strategy with Postbase, confident that your brilliant audio choice will make it out into the world on time, every time.