how to add music to instagram post

Adding music to your Instagram content makes the video much more interactive and engaging while building retention among viewers.

Gone are the days when you could create a piece of content, publish it online and cross off the task from your to-do list. Today, with content creation being the centre of the business and creator economy, there's a need to be unique and different in your approach so the audience gets hooked to your content.

In this article, we're going to talk about all there is to know about adding music to Instagram—be it static posts, IGTVs, reels or stories—through different methods while answering your most pressing questions on the topic.

Table of contents

How to Add Music to an Instagram Story
How to Add Music to an Instagram Reel
How to Add Music to IGTV and Regular Feed Videos
Best Apps/Editors to Add Music to an Instagram Post
Where to Get Music for Instagram Videos?
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Let's dive into it!

How to Add Music to an Instagram Story

Instagram stories need to be visually appealing, but adding music is essential to amp up its impact. It enhances your graphics and compels the audience to stick around for a while more.

Once you've got the graphics ready, you can directly add music from the Instagram app through the music sticker. Follow this simple step-by-step process:

Go to your Instagram profile, and click on the "+" button in the top right corner.

Choose "Story" from the list of options.

Select the video you want to add music to from your camera roll. Click on the sticker icon on the top of the screen.

Tap on the "Music" sticker.

Choose your preferred tune from the list while browsing through the recommended options or searching for your own from thousands of songs. Click on the play icon if you want to hear the music before selecting it for your video.

Once you select the music track, you'll see a prompt to adjust the part of the music you'd like to take up for your video. Use the slider to select the exact portion you want.

You can also choose how you want the music sticker to appear on your stories—as the song name or as lyrics in different fonts.

And with this, you've successfully added music to your Instagram story for your audience to enjoy!

How to Add Music to an Instagram Reel

The Instagram reel is the new kid on the block, and everyone is raving about it—for all the right reasons. It's fun, both as a creator and consumer, and the way Instagram is pushing reels on the platform is giving more exposure to brands and creators.

Trending and catchy music are prominent features of a successful Instagram reel, and the process of adding music to your reel is fairly similar to that on TikTok. Unlike stories, you can also adjust the volume of the original audio and the music you've chosen on the platform.

Here's how you can add music to your reels on Instagram:

Open your profile and click on the "+" icon at the top right. Choose "Reel" from the list of options.

Add your video from the camera roll or record one using the camera feature. You can also choose from a range of various filters here to make your videos more engaging.

Once your video is ready, tap on the music icon on the left side of your screen.

Choose from the recommended music choices by Instagram, or search for your preferred track. Use the play button to hear the track before using it.

Once selected, use the slider to adjust the exact part of the music you want to use in your video and click on "Done" in the top right corner. (just like for stories)

Click on the "Preview button" to see your video with the music.

Click on the microphone icon at the top if you want to add a voiceover to your video. Tap on the music icon at the top to adjust the volume levels of your added track and original sound from the video.

Once you're satisfied, click on "Next" at the bottom right.

Choose your cover from the video frames, or add one from your camera roll. Add an exciting caption and find relevant hashtags—and you're ready to take your reel live!

How to Add Music to IGTV and Regular Feed Videos

While Instagram allows adding music to stories and reels, unfortunately, it's not the same with other video formats like regular feed videos and IGTVs.

If you want to add music and sound effects, it's best to use an online video editor like VEED and source music from free sites like Mixkit or pay for a music library subscription on Soundstripe if you regularly post videos on the platform.

Let's look at how you can add music to your videos through VEED's online editor:

Upload your video, drag-and-drop or enter a YouTube URL for the video you want to add music to.

Go to the "Upload" tab and click on "Upload Audio" to choose the track from your device.

Click on the audio in your video timeline to reveal audio editing tools (adjust volume, clean audio, speed up, slow down, duration or replace audio).

(Optional) Customize your video. Besides adding audio, you can also add subtitles automatically, resize your video, add text, progress bars, and more. You can also resize your video for all Instagram post sizes with a click of a button using VEED's canvas resize.

Once you're satisfied with the video, click on "Export" in the top right corner to download and share your video on Instagram!

Best Apps/Editors to Add Music to An Instagram Post

Everyone's purpose for creating content is different. Some might have budget restraints and need a free tool to do some basic edits and tweaks, whereas others may create content for a living and need something that gets the job done seamlessly.

Good thing, we've done the legwork for you and compiled a list of tools to add music to your Instagram videos that are fit for different kinds of creators on the platform. Let's get to it!

Instagram's In-App Editor: Best for Creators on a $0 Budget

If you're a creator who's creating content on Instagram for fun, or you're a new business with a low budget and want to start small, or you're simply someone who wants to get done with it quickly—using Instagram's in-built editor is best for you.

From adding filters and shooting videos within the app to adding music and playing around with captions—Instagram's editor can be used for simple and fast editing.

Why it's great

Free tool

Access to trending audio with thousands of tracks to choose from, and listen before using

Perfect for a quick and seamless process for simple videos that don't require much editing

Cons

In other aspects, the in-app editor is basic. You might feel limited by the few features it has to customize your video inside the Instagram app.

You can only adjust the volume of the music added for Reels. Music added to Stories cancels out the original audio entirely.

Pricing: Free

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Mojo App: Best for Professional Animated Stories for Instagram Highlights

Your Instagram profile is a direct ticket for creating the first impression, especially if you're a business or a solopreneur or coach selling their services online.

If you want to present yourself better in your Instagram bio section's highlights and tell your visitors more about what you do, offer, and will be offering soon like products, or events then the Mojo app is perfect for you!

Here's how you can add music to Instagram videos with Mojo:

Download the Mojo app on your mobile. Open, and click on "Story."

Click on "+" in the bottom right corner, and tap "Media."

Choose the video you want to add music to from your camera roll. And click on the pencil icon in the bottom right of the video.

Tap on "Music" and choose from the tool's list of free music or upload your own from the tracks saved in your files.

Use the slider to adjust and pick the exact portion of music you want to use in your video.

Once you're satisfied with the music, click on "Done" in the top right corner of the app.

You can also customize your videos with colors, formats, duration, or layout as per your preference. However, many of these might require an upgraded version of the app.

Why it's great

Free version is quite powerful, but the paid one unlocks more templates and features if you're looking to create advanced videos.

Videos look super professional with fun animations and mockups of phone and web browsers, making your content engaging and interactive.

You can do it all from just your phone, no need for a laptop or PC.

Allows adding of custom fonts and customizing stories with brand colors to make videos on-point and consistent with your branding.

Cons

You can only edit and create Instagram stories with the free version.

No volume control on the music. (And if there was, we could not manage to find it in the user interface).

Very small audio library that feels like your typical free music library, nothing special.

The free version is very basic, so you might need to upgrade to enjoy advanced templates and features.

You can only use the app on mobile, which can result in a major eye strain if you choose to edit more than just stories.

The more you use the app, the more mobile storage it takes up.

Pricing

Free

$9.99 per month; $39.99 per year

InShot App : Best for Quick On-The-Go Edits

If you don't want to edit your video online and would rather have a simple editing tool in your phone to edit videos on the go, Inshot is for you. It's suitable for both—a $0 budget creator and a content creation pro because the tool offers a host of features ranging from free to paid.

Here's how you can add music to Instagram videos with Inshot:

Download the Inshot mobile app. Open it and click on "Video" under "Create New."

Choose the video(s) you want to add music to. Click on the music icon from the menu options above the video timeline.

Click on "Tracks" to choose from Inshot's sound library or import it from your downloaded tracks (or on "Record" if you want to add a voiceover).

You can also extract audio from another video to add to your current video.

Once you pick your audio, use the music timeline to edit the track's duration or cut it to the exact portion you want to use in your video. Next, click on the tick icon on the right, and your music will be added.

Click on the share icon to save it to your camera roll.

Why it's great

Free version is great for basic edits like adding music, trimming, splitting, resizing, adding text, etc.

The app is relatively easy to figure out and navigate as a beginner.

Affordable pricing—full year is $14.99 at the time of writing this article.

Cons

Free version is pretty basic, so you might need to upgrade if you like it or want access to advanced filters and effects.

Watermark is automatically added to every video unless you upgrade.

You can only use the app on mobile, which can cause significant eye strain if you want to use it for regular editing.

Repetitive advertisements on the editing screen and in-between downloading filters and effects can be distracting and annoying.

Takes up a lot of phone storage.

Pricing:

Free

$3.99 per month; $14.99 per year

VEED's Online Video Editor : Best for Content Creators Who Make All Kinds of Social Media Content for a Living

If you want to edit your videos properly on a desktop without having to download or navigate through a complicated tool or software, VEED's online video editor is here for you!

It's best for you if you make a lot of content for yourself or your clients as a social media manager, online course creator, or podcaster. The editor lets you quickly create professional-looking content without wasting time learning clunky, expensive and storage-consuming tools.

You can add music to your videos in as quickly as 5 minutes while enjoying other basic and advanced features like trimming, cutting, adding automatic subtitles and more.

Why it's great

According to our own audience, it's very intuitive to use and needs little to no tutorials to find your way around.

You can upload your own audio and adjust the volume, speed, and duration.

The cleaning audio tool is excellent for cleaning up background noise from your audio or music (amazing for podcasters and voiceover content).

Great to do more than just add music to your videos—add subtitles, text, resize, add filters and effects, music visualizer and more. You can even make a lyric music video with the subtitles!

It's a desktop editor, great for editing different elements of your video without having to strain your eyes (and thumbs) on a tiny screen.

Easy to upload videos using just a YouTube URL.

Simple to resize videos with a click of a button for all major social platforms.

Allows organization of videos into folders for quick access.

Collaboration tools enable sharing and commenting on videos for easier reviews, edits and approvals with clients (or bosses).

Brand kit lets you add your logo, brand colors, and fonts for easy editing access on every video for consistency.

Cons

Desktop editor is a pro but also a con. The mobile version is not yet usable unless you have an iPad. But the VEED startup team is working hard to make a better mobile experience in the future.

No templates (yet).

Free version is basic but good enough if your needs are not advanced.

Pricing

Free

Paid plans start at $12 per month ($144 annually) or $24 per month ($288 annually)

Where to Get Music for Instagram Videos?

If you're not adding or editing your music from Instagram's in-app editor, you can use external, third-party editing tools as mentioned above.

However, Instagram bans videos with unlicensed music. So, it's best to use an in-app library or a reliable source to get music.

We've compiled a list of sources you can get music from, while ensuring you're not violating the platform's rules and can still add the music you want to your videos.

Soundstripe

With its library of over 6,000+ royalty-free songs, Soundstripe is a great tool to enjoy a range of music tracks spanning genres and moods. The platform releases new tracks every week and allows advanced filters to search for the right music for your video. It also allows direct integration with Adobe Premiere Pro and Twitch to make your editing process seamless across platforms.

What's better is Soundstripe provides a range of 70,000+ stock video clips if you want to add exciting shots and transitions to your video—truly providing a wholesome experience that goes beyond choosing music for your videos.

Pricing: $12.50 per month; $149 per year

Audio Jungle

If you're looking for royalty-free music, sound effects, music kits and even source files for different purposes, AudioJungle is a great choice. It has a vast audio library with over 1700,000 tracks and sounds for different budgets and requirements. Every week, you also get access to a featured section with hand-picked songs and tracks by the team so you can pick up trendy sounds for your videos.

Pricing: Every track has its own pricing; starts from $1

Artlist.io

As one of the most versatile platforms, you can find audio for possibly every purpose you need on Artlist—weddings, commercials, presentations, games, applications, cinema and many more. You can also find your preferred music through innovative search filters like instrument type, genre, mood, and video theme, making the process much more targeted.

Every week, the platform features a selected list of the most popular tracks. This way, you can also keep a check on what's trending and pick a fairly popular music track for your videos.

Pricing: Free trial, then $16.60 per month; $199 per year

Soundtracks by Loudly

How about along with getting access to high-quality royalty-free music, you could also create your own music through AI-powered technology? Well, Loudly helps you achieve just that.

With over 25M+ creators as regular Loudly users, the platform allows you to pick or customize music for your video content projects. According to them, you can't find a perfect fit for your video based on existing audio tracks—best to create a tailor-made sound specifically designed for the video.

It's an innovative tool backed by AI but with a powerful human touch that lets you create customized tracks in under five minutes.

Pricing: Free trial, then starts at $11 per month billed monthly or $9.99 per month billed yearly

Mixkit

If you're looking for a no-hassle, easy way to source free music, sound effects and video templates for your videos, Mix kit is a great choice. It has a carefully curated library of audio tracks and effects from some of the best creators worldwide—with new tracks added every week.

You don't need to sign-up or give credits to use the music. Simply download the high-quality music track, and use it in your videos—it doesn't get simpler than this.

Pricing: Free

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Post a Music Video on Instagram Using TikTok

TikTok is one of the most popular video-sharing platforms on the internet and is easy and free to use. It has a huge library of licensed music tracks you can use to post your video on TikTok and then easily share it to Instagram (with the music).

Here's how you can create a music video on TikTok, and then share it on Instagram:

Open the TikTok app and tap on the "+" icon at the bottom of the screen.

Press the "Sounds" button from the menu bar and search for the song you want to add to your video or pick from the recommended music list.

Press the record button to create your video within the app, or upload one from your camera roll.

(Optional) Use other customization features like filters and texts to enhance your video further.

Add a caption and some relevant hashtags to your video, and hit "Post."

Go to your TikTok profile. Navigate to the video you want to share on Instagram, and press "Share."

Select the Instagram icon, and click on "Feed" to publish your video as you normally would.

How to Post Music Legally to Instagram

The best way to post legally and platform-accepted music on Instagram is to use the platform's in-built music library, royalty-free audio from credible sources, or copyright music by clearly crediting the artist in the caption.

How to Post Videos With Music on Instagram Without the Music Sticker

Add music to your Instagram story as you normally would by using the music sticker. Once you have selected your track, use the standard music name sticker and pinch it to the smallest size. Drag it to the top of the screen till it goes off-screen, and the music will continue to play while the sticker goes invisible.

How to Get the Music Sticker (what if the sticker disappeared)?

If you don't see the music sticker on your Instagram stories, or you used to, but now it's disappeared, try these fixes:

Update your app from the app/play store.

Log out of your profile. Delete the app, and reinstall it.

If you have a public profile, switch to a personal profile. Delete and reinstall the app.

Connect to a VPN for a country where Instagram music is available.

Final thoughts

Instagram is a visual-only platform, but if you want to get creative and take your videos to the next level—add interactive and themed music to your videos. This will get you a greater reach, higher engagement and also more love from the audience.

Use this article to add music to your Instagram videos through your preferred method while ensuring the use of legally accepted music from the right sources to give your videos the exposure they deserve.

Tired of taking forever to figure out a tool and make and edit great-looking videos? Sign up, and use VEED's online video editor to create and share a video you're truly proud of!