How to Import Sound to Instagram

Creating an Instagram Reel that stops the scroll often comes down to one thing: the perfect audio. While trending sounds are great for reach, using your own original music, voiceover, or unique sound effect is the secret to building a memorable brand and creating truly unique content. This guide will walk you through exactly how to import your own sound to Instagram for Reels and Stories, covering everything from simple, in-app methods to more professional workflows for polished-looking videos.

Why Original Audio is a Game-Changer for Your Brand

Before getting into the how-to, it’s worth understanding why this matters. In a sea of creators using the same 15-second clips of popular songs, original audio makes you instantly recognizable. It gives you complete creative control and helps you stand out.

Here’s what you gain by using custom sound:

• Brand Identity: A custom sound or voiceover is a powerful branding tool. Think of it as an audio signature that followers will immediately associate with you.
• Full Creative Freedom: You aren't limited by Instagram's music library or forced to fit your video into a pre-existing trend. You can create content that is 100% original.
• Viral Potential: If your audio is catchy, useful, or funny, other creators might start using it! When they do, Instagram attributes the sound to you, driving traffic and new followers directly back to your profile.

Method 1: Add Original Audio Directly Within Instagram Reels (The Easiest Way)

This is the most straightforward method for adding a voiceover or a sound you've created. It involves simply recording a video that already contains your desired audio. Instagram then recognizes this as a new "Original Audio" track that you and others can use.

This works perfectly for:

• Recording a tutorial with your voice.
• Filming a skit with original dialogue.
• Recording a video with a piece of your own music playing out loud from a speaker nearby.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Prepare Your Video & Audio: Record your video as you normally would, making sure your desired original sound is clearly audible. This could be you speaking, an original song playing in the background, or a unique sound effect. The clearer the audio, the better.
2. Open the Reels Editor: On the Instagram home feed, swipe right to open the camera, and select "Reel" at the bottom of the screen. Or, tap the "+" icon at the top and choose "Reel."
3. Upload Your Video: Tap the blue square icon in the bottom-left corner to open your camera roll and select the video you just recorded.
4. Trim and Edit: Once your video is in the editor, you can trim the clip as needed. When you’re satisfied, tap the "Next" button.
5. Review Your Audio: On the next screen, you’ll see the name of your audio at the top of the video, labeled "Original audio." It has been automatically pulled from your video! You can tap "Edit video" to add text, stickers, or filters.
6. Name Your Audio (Optional but Recommended): Before posting, tap on the "Original audio" title at the top of your Reel. This will open a screen where you can rename it. Give it a descriptive and engaging name that encourages others to use it, like "Viral Cake Recipe VO" or "My Band's New Song." A good name makes your sound much more discoverable.
7. Share Your Reel: Write your caption, add your hashtags, and share your Reel. Your custom sound is now live! Anyone who sees your Reel can tap the audio source at the bottom and use it in their own creations.

Method 2: Use a Video Editing App for a Professional Mix (The Pro Method)

For more control and higher quality, you’ll want to combine your video and audio in a separate app before uploading to Instagram. This method allows you to perfectly sync audio, adjust volume levels, and combine multiple sound layers like music, a voiceover, and sound effects - something not easily done in the native Instagram editor.

This is the best approach if you have an MP3 of your own music, a professionally recorded voiceover, or want to create a polished sound design.

Popular user-friendly video editing apps include CapCut, InShot, and VN Video Editor. Professional tools like Adobe Premiere Rush also work great.

The General Workflow:

1. Gather Your Assets: Have your video clips ready in your phone’s camera roll and your audio file (e.g., an MP3 or WAV file) saved to your device’s files.
2. Open Your Video Editing App: Let’s use CapCut as an example since it's incredibly popular and free.
3. Start a New Project: Create a new project and import the video clips you want to use. Arrange them on the timeline in the order you want.
4. Import Your Audio: In the editor timeline, look for an option like "Add Audio," "Sound," or a music note icon. Tap it and choose to import a sound from your device. Navigate to where you saved your audio file and add it to the project.
5. Sync and Edit Your Audio: Your audio track will now appear as a separate layer on the timeline below your video. You can drag it to position it correctly, trim it to fit your video's length, and adjust its volume.
6. Export the Final Video: Once you’re happy with how the video and sound are synced, export the final movie. Make sure to export in high quality (1080p is a good standard). The editor will combine the video and audio into a single MP4 file and save it to your camera roll.
7. Upload to Instagram: Now, go to the Instagram Reels editor and upload this newly exported video. Because the sound is already part of the video file, it will be treated as "Original Audio" just like in Method 1. Don't forget to rename your audio to make it discoverable!

Understanding Instagram's Copyright Rules

This part is incredibly important, especially for brands and businesses. You cannot just take any popular song from the radio or Spotify and add it to your video using a third-party app. Using copyrighted music without a license can get your video taken down or your account flagged.

Original Audio vs. The Instagram Music Library

When you use the "Original Audio" methods described above, you are telling Instagram that you own the rights to that sound. This works perfectly if it’s genuinely your voice, your song, or a sound you created.

The Instagram Music library, accessed via the "Music" sticker in Reels or Stories, contains songs that Instagram has licensed for users to add to their content. This is the only 100% safe way to use popular, commercial music within the app.

The Business Account Limitation

You may have noticed that Instagram Business Accounts have a severely limited music library filled mostly with generic, unknown tracks. This is because license agreements for commercial music often do not extend to business use (i.e., advertising or promotion). Creator and Personal accounts have access to the full, popular music library.

To get around this, businesses should:

• Create Original Audio: Use voiceovers, employee interviews, tutorials, and behind-the-scenes chats. This is a powerful branding tool anyway!
• Use Royalty-Free Music: This is a massive category of music that you can license for commercial use. Services like Epidemic Sound, Artlist, and Soundstripe offer huge libraries of high-quality music for a monthly subscription. You can legally download their tracks, add them to your videos using Method 2, and post without worrying about copyright strikes.

Bonus Tip: Use The Music Sticker in Instagram Stories

While this isn't about importing your own audio, many people searching for this topic also want to know how to add popular music to their Stories. This is done through a sticker, not by uploading your own audio file.

How to Do It:

1. Create a new Story using a photo or video.
2. Tap the sticker icon (the smiley face in a square) at the top of the screen.
3. Select the "MUSIC" sticker.
4. Browse or search for the song you want to use from Instagram's library.
5. Once you select a track, you can choose which 15-second snippet to play.
6. You can also customize the sticker's appearance - some songs offer scrolling lyrics, while others just show the album cover or a simple title card.

This is the only way to add commercially licensed popular music to your Stories legally and without risking video takedowns.

Final Thoughts

Importing your own sound into Instagram is a straightforward process that instantly elevates your content. Whether you're recording a simple voiceover directly in a Reel or mixing complex audio layers in a professional editing app, creating original audio helps you build a distinct brand voice and sets you apart from the crowd.

Once you've crafted that perfect video with unique audio, the next big challenge is consistently planning and distributing it across all your social platforms. We built Postbase specifically for the modern content creator, with a video-first approach that makes scheduling Reels, TikToks, and Shorts feel effortless. I use our visual content calendar to see my entire weekly strategy at a glance, and our reliable, shorts-friendly scheduling means I never have to worry if my content will post correctly.