Here is a quick guide on how to add music to your Instagram videos, including copyrighted content (within the law) and your own unique audio.
How to Add Copyrighted Music to Your Instagram Stories and Reels
It is illegal to add copyrighted music to your Instagram story without permission from the owner of the copyright.
However, you can add music from Instagram’s own in-app library, which saves you the trouble of gaining permission as an individual.
To do this, there are a few simple steps to follow to get this music onto your reels and stories.
Hit the plus button from your homepage to create your post. Select either Reels or Story. If using Reels, an option called audio will appear in your toolbar. Click it, and the music library will be open for you to search for your track. If using Stories, make your image or video and then click through to post. Once you are looking at the preview of your content, click the Stickers button at the top of the screen. The stickers menu will open, and an option called Music will appear in the first few options. Click it, and the music library will open.
With Reels, fans can add music either before or after they have recorded the video, dependent on whether the action on camera will be accompanied by—or related to—the music.
The other options for both Stories and Reels are to record the video, or take the still image, then add music after.
You cannot add copyrighted music using the in-app library to Posts or IGTV, therefore users hoping to do this will have to gain permission for the music before adding it to their content before upload.
How to Add Original Music to Your Instagram Story
Some people will, rather than using the in-app library, wish to use their own music in their Story or Reel.
The best way to do this is to get your songs added to the Instagram in-app library, which does require a middle man.
There are various distribution centers for music that will send your music to Instagram on your behalf, such as Record Union, Discokid, CD Baby and RouteNote.
The other way to do this is to simply record your video with your music playing in the background.
If you do this, your audio will become available in the in-app library for you to reuse, but also for others to find and include in their own videos.
How to Add Music to Your Instagram Posts
Adding music to Instagram posts is a lot less simple, as Instagram does not let you do this in-app.
Instead, fans will need to create their own content outside of the app in order to add music via third-party tools, which can then be uploaded.
As previously mentioned, you must not use copyrighted music without permission, and Instagram guidelines make clear how they will react to misconduct in this way.
According to Instagram’s guidelines, “the greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be limited,” meaning short bursts of tracks are less likely to be penalized on the platform.
By using an app like Audio Jungle or Incompetech, you can find royalty-free music that will be permissible on Instagram.
After getting your music, you can then use another third-party app like Tempo or Add Background Music To Video, which is also compatible with your iTunes library.
Another way to include music and share to Instagram is through TikTok, which has its own in-app music library and it can be added easily through the Sounds button within the content creation stage.
