How to Put Music on Facebook

Adding music to your Facebook content gives it instant energy and can make the difference between a post that gets scrolled past and one that stops someone in their tracks. This guide walks you through every way to add a soundtrack to your Facebook presence, covering Stories, Reels, posts, and even your personal profile in clear, easy steps.

First, Why Does Music on Facebook Even Matter?

In a sea of content, audio is a powerful tool for grabbing attention and setting a mood. A well-chosen track can instantly make your content feel more professional, emotionally resonant, or part of a trending conversation. A survey by Meta found that ads with music-based sound performed better 86% of the time. While you may not be running ads, the principle is the same: audio strengthens your message.

Think about it:

• It Sets the Tone: An upbeat pop song adds excitement to a travel video, while a gentle acoustic track makes a simple photo feel nostalgic and heartfelt.
• It Boosts Engagement: Using trending audio in your Reels can significantly increase your reach, plugging your content into an existing conversation that people are actively seeking out.
• It Creates a Vibe: Music communicates personality. A thoughtfully curated song on your profile or Story tells your audience something about you or your brand without you needing to say a word.

Sound adds another layer to your storytelling, and on a platform like Facebook, effective storytelling is what drives connection and growth.

How to Add Music to a Facebook Story

Facebook Stories are the most common and flexible place to add licensed music. The process is built right into the Story creator, giving you access to a huge library of popular songs. It's fast, easy, and completely safe from a copyright standpoint.

Step-by-Step Guide for Stories:

1. Open the Facebook App: From your main news feed, tap on the “Create Story” button at the top.
2. Choose Your Visuals: Select a photo or video from your camera roll, or capture something new using the Facebook camera.
3. Find the Music Sticker: Once your photo or video is on the screen, tap the Sticker icon on the right-hand menu (it looks like a square smiley face). This will open up a tray of options like polls, GIFs, and location tags.
4. Select the Music Sticker: Tap on the sticker labeled “Music.” This will open Facebook’s music library.
5. Pick Your Song: You can browse through categories like “Popular,” “New Releases,” or by mood. If you have a specific song in mind, use the search bar at the top to find it by title or artist.
6. Customize the Music: Now for the fun part. After selecting a song, a timeline of the track will appear.
   • Drag the slider left or right to choose the exact 15-second clip you want to feature. Many songs will automatically suggest the chorus, but you can pick any part you like.
   • Tap the icons above the timeline to change how the music appears in your Story. You can display the song’s lyrics (which animate in sync with the music), showcase the album art sticker, or use a small, simple sticker with the song title.
   • You can also tap the color wheel to change the color of the sticker or lyrics to better match your visual.
7. Place Your Sticker and Share: Drag the music sticker or lyric block to where you want it to appear on your Story. You can resize it by pinching in and out. When you're happy with it, tap “Done,” and then “Share” to post your Story.

How to Add Music to a Standard Facebook Post

This is where things can get confusing. You can’t add background music to a simple text or photo post in the same way you can with a Story. However, Facebook does have a feature that lets you share what song you’re listening to, which then links to the artist and music.

This is less about setting a mood with audio and more about sharing your taste or tagging a song you love. Here’s how it works:

1. Start a New Post: Tap the “What’s on your mind?” field as you normally would.
2. Tap “Feeling/Activity”: This icon is an emoji face, usually found in the menu below the text box. If you don't see it, tap "Add to your post" to expand the options.
3. Go to “Listening To”: In the activity list, scroll down and select the musical note icon next to “Listening to.”
4. Search for Your Song: Type in the song title or artist you want to feature and select it from the results.
5. Add Your Text and Post: Facebook will automatically add a line of text like “ - is listening to [Song] by [Artist].” You can add your own text, photos, or videos to the post as usual. Once you publish it, the song link will appear with your content.

How to Use Music in Facebook Reels

Reels are one of the most powerful content formats on Facebook, and audio is their engine. Using trending music can get your Reel in front of a much larger audience. The process is similar to Stories but with more focus on syncing video clips to the sound.

Step-by-Step Guide for Reels:

1. Start a Reel: From your news feed, tap the “Reel” button in the create post section at the top of the app.
2. Tap the Audio Icon: Before you even start recording or uploading, look for the “Audio” icon (a musical note) in the right-hand menu.
3. Choose Your Music: Just like with Stories, you can browse trending songs or search for a specific track. Tap on a song to preview it. Once you find one you like, tap to select it.
4. Select the Song Segment: A timeline will appear, allowing you to scrub through the song and select the segment you want to use for your Reel. This is important for timing specific clips to the beat or a key lyrical moment. Tap “Done” when you have your clip.
5. Create Your Video: Now you can either record clips directly in the app or upload pre-recorded videos from your camera roll. The music you selected will play in the background as you record, helping you get your timing right.
6. Edit and Share: Add text, effects, and captions as needed. When you share the Reel, the song will be officially tagged, and people who tap the audio will see other Reels using the same track, including yours!

How to Add a Song to Your Facebook Profile

Want to give your profile page a little personality? You can add a music section and even "pin" a favorite song that will appear right under your name. It’s a great way to express yourself and share what music is currently inspiring you.

Step-by-Step Profile Guide:

1. Go to Your Profile: Navigate to your main Facebook profile page in the app.
2. Find the Music Section: Scroll down on your profile past Friends and Photos until you see a tab or box labeled “Music.” Tap it.
3. Add Songs: This will open an empty music section. Tap the “+” icon in the top right corner. Search for songs or artists and tap “Add” next to any songs you want to add to your Profile's music library.
4. Pin a Song to Your Profile: After adding songs, go back to your Music section. Tap the three dots (...) next to any song in your list. A menu will pop up with an option to “Pin to profile.” Select it, and that song will now be featured at the very top of your profile page for all your friends to see (and listen to a preview of).

A Quick Note on Copyright and Vexing Your Videos

The "why can't I use this song?" question is a common source of frustration. Here’s the simple breakdown:

When you use the official Music Sticker in Stories or the Audio feature in Reels, you are 100% safe. Meta has licensing agreements with labels and publishers for the music in their library. They've already handled the legal side for you.

The danger zone is when you edit a video outside of Facebook, add a popular copyrighted song to it, and then try to upload it as a regular video post. Facebook’s algorithm will likely detect the unlicensed audio and may:

• Mute the audio in your video.
• Block the video from being seen in certain countries.
• Take the video down entirely and issue you a copyright strike.

For brands and creators who need more flexibility, the best option is to use a royalty-free music service like Artlist or Epidemic Sound. These platforms offer massive catalogs of high-quality music you can legally use in any content after paying for a subscription, giving you peace of mind.

Final Thoughts

Whether you're making your Stories more dynamic, creating an attention-grabbing Reel, or just pinning your favorite track to your profile, adding music is one of the simplest ways to make your Facebook content more engaging. The key is knowing which feature to use for the right situation, from the official stickers to the Reel audio library.

Once you’ve started producing all this great content packed with killer audio, managing your posting schedule can quickly feel like a full-time job. We actually built Postbase to solve this exact problem. Creating is fun, but endlessly switching between apps to publish Reels, Stories, and videos is not. Having a simple, visual calendar where you can plan and reliably schedule all your video and photo content in one place means you spend more time creating and less time on the administrative drag that saps your creative energy.