How to Add Music to an Instagram Story (and Posts)

How to Add Music to an Instagram Story: Quick Answer

Create a Story, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen and choose Music. Search for a song, pick the part you want, choose a style such as lyrics or an album cover, then tap Done and share.

For a feed post, tap Add music on the screen where you edit your photo or write the caption, choose a song and select the part that plays.

How to Add Music to an Instagram Story Step by Step

1. Start a new Story.

   Swipe right from the feed or tap your profile picture with the plus sign, then take or choose a photo or video.

2. Tap the sticker icon.

   It is the square smiley icon at the top of the editing screen. You can also swipe up on the screen.

3. Choose Music.

   Tap the Music sticker to open Instagram's music library.

4. Find a song.

   Search by song or artist, or browse For you, trending and saved songs. Tap a song to preview it.

5. Pick the best part.

   Drag the bar at the bottom to choose which part of the song plays.

6. Choose a style and share.

   Pick lyrics, an album cover or a simple music label, tap Done, place the sticker and share your Story.

If your Story is a video with its own sound, you can lower the original volume in the editor so the song is easier to hear.

Show Lyrics, Change the Style and Make the Song Longer

Lyrics: for songs that support them, choose a lyrics style and the words appear in time with the music. Tap the color circle to change the color.

Album cover or label: tap the sticker style options to switch between the album artwork, a compact label or no visible sticker. You can also pinch to resize the sticker.

Song length: on a photo Story, tap the number (usually 15) on the left of the music editor and choose a longer clip if your app offers it. Many accounts can now choose longer song clips than the old 15-second default. On a video Story, the song plays for the length of the video.

Hide the sticker: some styles let you keep the music but hide the sticker. Otherwise, make it small and move it to a corner.

How to Add Music to an Instagram Post

1. Tap + and choose Post.

   Select one photo or several photos for a carousel.

2. Tap Next.

   Edit the photos as usual.

3. Tap Add music.

   It appears on the editing or caption screen. Search for a song or pick a suggestion.

4. Select the part of the song.

   Drag to choose the clip and tap Done.

5. Write your caption and share.

   The song name appears under your username on the post.

For videos, the music option is part of the Reels editor, because feed videos are published as Reels. Add music there, adjust the volume of the original sound and share.

Can You Add or Change Music After Posting?

Instagram has been rolling out a Replace audio option for photo posts and carousels. Open the post, tap the three dots, choose Edit and look for the music or Replace audio option to add or swap the song.

If you do not see it yet, the feature may not have reached your account. In that case, the only way to add music is to archive or delete the post and share it again with music. Stories cannot be edited after posting, so delete the Story and post it again if you chose the wrong song.

How to Add Your Own Music to an Instagram Story

Instagram does not let you upload an audio file such as an MP3 directly to a Story. These workarounds do the job:

Add the music in a video editor. Put your photo or video and your own audio together in CapCut, iMovie or another editor, export it as a vertical 1080 x 1920 video and upload that to your Story.

Use Reels audio import. In the Reels editor, the audio browser can import the sound from a video in your camera roll. Create the Reel, then share it to your Story.

Record it. Play your music while recording a video Story. Quality is lower, but it works for quick, casual Stories.

Only use music you created or have the rights to. Instagram can mute or remove content that uses copyrighted audio without permission.

How to Share a Song From Spotify or Apple Music

Music apps can share songs straight to Instagram Stories. In Spotify or Apple Music, open the song, tap Share and choose Instagram Stories. Instagram opens with a card showing the song and artwork, and viewers can tap it to open the song in the music app.

Depending on the app and your region, the card may include a short preview of the song or just the artwork and a link. To be sure the music plays, use Instagram's own Music sticker instead.

Instagram Music Not Available? Try These Fixes

Update Instagram. Music features often need the latest app version.

Check your account type. Business accounts have a smaller, licensed music library. Switching to a creator or personal account in Settings usually restores the full library.

Region limits. Music is not available in every country, and some songs are not licensed everywhere.

Restart and clear the cache. Close the app completely, or on Android clear the app cache, then try again.

Song not found. Some songs are not in Instagram's library at all. Try another version of the song or a similar track.

Want to keep a copy of a public Story with its music? The ReelDown Story Downloader saves public Stories, and the Instagram Audio Downloader saves the audio of a public Reel.