How to add music to Instagram stories? Many have found Instagram a resourceful social media tool, but many are still a bit skeptical about it. So, maybe the first question is why would you add music to Instagram stories in the first place?

Sure, all social media users, including those in the business circles are aware of the size this platform has. According to the statistics compiled by business growth expert Neal Schaeffer, Instagram is the sixth most popular media platform in the world with one billion users Aevery month! Instagram Stories as such, has 500 million daily users.

Even with those numbers, skeptics, particularly in the business circles points to the fact that Instagram is mainly a photo-sharing platform. But, that is one of the key points too. According to another set of statistics, photos are the most engaging content on the Web, with visual posts producing 650% higher engagement than text-only posts.

And then there is another important fact there. Instagram allows the ability to share video content too. And as you are certainly aware, music in most cases, particularly on social media platforms, plays an important part in video advertising.

But it seems that the number of Instagram skeptics in business circles is diminishing by the day. As Schaffer (above) points out, at least 7 out of 10 US companies are already using Instagram. He also notes that the average number of business posts on Instagram in 2020 was expected to be about 2.5 million stories per week. The reasons for such huge numbers are quite simple. “Users are following their favorite brands, with 80 percent of users following at least one business account.”

Why use video and music content on Instagram?

So, what are the reasons so many businesses have opted to use music-enhanced video content on Instagram? According to Iconosquare, there are the key reasons:

  • Storytelling is the centerpiece of Instagram. From a business perspective, “telling an interesting story is a great way to create an emotional connection with your audience. Sharing visual content is the best way to let your audience know what you’re about and build a relationship with potential future customers and ambassadors. A customer rather than product-centric approach has long been the standard approach in marketing. It’s important to avoid an Instagram feed that pushes products.” Focusing on feeling is key there, and the combination of images and music usually has the best effect.
  • Visual content is essential to any modern marketing strategy. Again the visuals supported by musical content have the better effect. “Using Instagram to test what resonates with your audience visually will help you develop your branding across the board, and you can incorporate the imagery you use on Instagram into your other marketing channels.”
  • Instagram is the perfect opportunity to engage with your community. “Instagram actually has the highest average engagement rate of all the main social channels, beating Facebook and Twitter. In fact, it even has a higher brand engagement rate, which shows the audience on Instagram is more open to branded content than they are on other platforms.”
  • It’s a goldmine of useful feedback and insights. Users are “already publishing pictures of products they buy from you, recording videos, and commenting on each other’s content about your brand. It’s essential to both understand how customers perceive your brand and also to identify brand advocates.”

How to add music to an Instagram story – basic tips

So, from the discussion obvious it becomes clear that videos, particularly videos with music play an important part in making Instagram stories and posts successful.

Technobezz has a quick general guide on how to add music to an Instagram post. Their proposals include adding music from the Instagram app itself and adding it through external software.

These methods allow practically any Instagram user to add music to their Instagram videos. However, the most common and the simplest way to add music to your photos or videos is to use the Stories sticker. BackLightBlog explains how to add music to Instagram posts and stories through this process:

  1. Open the Instagram app.
  2. Press your Story icon (which looks like your profile picture) at the top-left of your screen.
  3. Upload your Story by swiping up to access your Camera Roll or shoot it with the Story camera.
  4. Press the sticker button at the top of the screen or swipe up.
  5. Tap the Music button.
  6. Either type the song you want to use into the search bar or browse via your mood, genre preference, or what’s popular today.
  7. Press the song to add it to your Story.
  8. Then, press Done at the top-right corner of the page.
  9. Move your sticker to the placement you want on your Stories.
  10. Press the “Your Story” button at the bottom left of the screen.

“When selecting a song for your Story, you have the option to listen to a preview before adding it. All you have to do is press the play button to the right of the song.”

They also give details on how you can edit your music sticker and the possible problems you can encounter. It also gives details on how to place a song from Apple Music, Spotify, and Soundcloud in your Instagram story.

how to add music to insta posts

More on adding music to Instagram posts techniques

Specialized tech reporter Christina Bonnington gives some additional tips on how to add music to Instagram posts.

  • On an iPhone, you’ll want to open the Music app, then queue up the song you’d like to play. (Pro tip: Adjust the time bar slider to a second or two before the moment you want.) Then, open Instagram, and tap the camera icon in the upper left to open the Stories composition tab. Now you’ll want to swipe upwards to open Control Center and tap play on the music controls. Next, close Control Center, and tap and hold the record button for your Instagram Story.
  • You can also use Spotify or another third-party streaming app (this process works on an Android device, too). First, queue up music on your device in your app of choice, then use the app switcher to open Instagram. From there, record your Instagram Story while the music is playing on your device.

If you’re uploading a video from your camera roll, you have several other options:

  • Flipagram – If you want to add a photo or video to your Instagram posts, one of the easiest ways is to use the third-party app Flipagram, available for free on iOS and Android. Once you’ve installed the app and created an account, you can choose from millions of 1:30-long video clips of songs, ranging from the ’70s Bee Gees hit “Staying Alive” to recent hits from Khalid or Rihanna. You can also choose to upload a song stored locally on your handset.
  • On Android, you can alternatively try InShot Video and Photo Editor. While there are a wide variety of video editors on iOS, you can also download the free app Pic Music to add music to photos and photo slideshows.

Do-it-yourself or opting for a professional?

While it might sound easy and simple to handle adding music to an Instagram post or video, an important question begs the answer. Will such a do-it-yourself project produce results that are adequate for a business presentation?

Using some other social media to link to, say, a business website is easy. There you probably have professionally designed and professionally prepared content for potential users. But, links are unable to be used within Instagram posts. Still, the main link provided in the user bio can still generate traffic. It’s a good idea to use the clickable link you have in order to direct any potential traffic to the homepage of your company website.

But, for potential customers to go to your profile, it is that photo or video clip with music that should lead them to do it. That is why the importance of making that your music-enhanced photos or videos really work. This is particularly true if you are preparing a specific Instagram ads campaign, or if you want your post to be in the form of Instagram reels. Latter is particularly important because “they can live on your account as long as you want them there.”

There is also a technical aspect to consider. Any business-oriented post has to be of the highest possible quality, and Instagram video posts have another specific. Most of these posts can run only around 15 seconds. And if you have dealt with the making of videos before, you are aware that making brief videos is often much more complicated than making longer ones. This concerns not only the content but the image and music side of the video. They have to be as precise as possible to really work.

We can help

So, when contemplating the question of how to add music to Instagram posts it seems like the best solution is to engage the help of professionals. As with any other similar situation, there are two possible solutions. Enlisting the services of a professional agency or those of one or more professional freelancers.

Of course, the cost of enlisting the services of an agency will most probably be higher than if you opt for one or more freelancers. This is particularly the case if you just want to add one or more Instagram posts to your already existing advertising campaign, for instance.

If in the end, you want to leave the answer to the question of how to add music to Instagram in the hands of a freelance professional, bear in mind that BunnyStudio can be of help in your selection process. We offer a wide selection of carefully vetted video and audio professionals that can possibly resolve your needs when all audio/video posts come into question. And that certainly includes Instagram.