How to Add Music to an Instagram Post and Story

Learn how to add music to an Instagram post and story.

Table of Contents

Quick Answer:

Add music to an Instagram post or story:

Proceed to upload a feed post or story.

Select the required video or image for your post or story. After selecting, Instagram will take you to the editing screen.

Now, you have to tap the music icon, which will open Instagram’s music library:

For a post with videos: Find the music icon at the screen’s bottom.

For a post with images: If Instagram takes you to a screen with suggested songs at the bottom, tap the “Browse” button to open the music library, otherwise tap “Add music” on the caption screen.

For a story (video/image): Find the music icon at the top of the screen.

Browse Instagram’s music library to find a suitable song. You can also use the search bar at the top to manually search for a song with its name.

Tap on whichever song you want to add to your post/story.

Set the duration and timing of the song as you like. You can also add subtitles of the song’s lyrics.

Tap “done” at the top-right corner.

Finish and share your post/story as usual.

Adding music to Instagram posts and stories can bring an engaging, lively touch to your content. Below is a detailed guide on adding music to both your Instagram story and posts.

Also Read: How to Switch to Personal Account on Instagram?

How to add music to an Instagram post

Some time ago, Instagram only supported adding music to video posts. However, the platform recently updated the feature, allowing users to add music to posts containing images, videos, and both.

You can add music to Instagram posts containing:

a single photo,
a single video,
multiple photos,
multiple videos,
a mix of photos and videos.

You can add music to Instagram posts with multiple images or videos the same way you add music to posts with a single image or video.

However, the steps to add music to posts with images varies slightly compared to posts with videos. Let’s understand how to add music to an Instagram post with images first:

A. Adding music to Instagram post (Photos)

Step 1. Start by uploading a post

Open Instagram on your phone and tap the “+” icon at the bottom-middle of the screen to make an upload. Doing so will open your device’s gallery.

Before you select any content, tap “POST” from the upload options at the bottom to ensure you’re uploading a post, and not a story or reel.

Now, select the photos you want to upload. You can select to upload:

a single image, or
multiple images (up to 20 per post).

Once you’re done selecting the content, tap “Next” in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2. Tap the music icon

When uploading a post with photos, Instagram may prompt you to add music to the post by itself.

In this case, it will show you some suggested songs below the post.

You can select from the suggested songs or tap “Browse” to open and search Instagram’s music library for additional songs.

If you don’t see this screen, you can add music to the post when adding captions. Here, the music option appears below the “Tag people” option (see the image below).

Tap “Add music” to open Instagram’s music library and find a suitable song.

Step 3. Choose a song:

Once you’re in the music library, you will see songs divided into two sections: “For you” and “Browse.”

The “For you” section contains songs Instagram suggests for you. While the “Browse” section offers additional songs, categorized into themes and genres like “Birthday” and “Pop.”

You can play each song’s demo by tapping the play button to the right side of that song.

You can also use the search bar at the top of the screen, which says “Search music,” to search for more songs. A song can be searched with both its name and the artist’s name.

Once decided, tap on the song to add it to the post.

Remember, you can only add one song to a post, whether it contains a single image or multiple.

Step 4. Time the song on your post:

Once you select a song, Instagram will prompt you to adjust its timing on your post.

Here, you’ll see a music reel with a horizontal scroll bar.

Slide the scroller forward (–>) to skip ahead in the song and backward (<–) to rewind. It allows you to adjust the song with more precision compared to the slider above it (see below).

The slider bar displays the song’s full duration, letting you skip forward or rewind to any point in the track. Tap and hold the tiny white slider and drag it along the slider bar to adjust the timing.

Tip: Use the pink dots on the slider bar to select the song’s most popular starting points.

So, if you’re unsure which part of the song to choose for your post, the red indicators are a great starting point. Simply, drag the slider over one of the pink dots, then use the scroller for precise adjustment.

Another adjustable feature is the song’s duration. Since images don’t have limited durations like videos, they can host the song for as long as possible.

However, Instagram allows a maximum of 90-second duration, which is set to 30 seconds by default. Tap the circle with a “30” inside it on the left side of the slider bar to adjust the song’s total playable duration. Tap “Done” to confirm.

Once you’re done adjusting the song, tap the blue tick in the top-right corner to proceed.

Now, complete your post as usual by adding captions, tags, and hashtags, then tap “Share.”

Also Read: What does the Instagram error “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” mean & how to fix it?

B. How to add music to an Instagram post (Videos)

Adding music to an Instagram post with videos is pretty much the same as posts with images. However, there are some nuances in the process. Here’s how to add music to Instagram post with videos: