How do you add music to your story

Instagram Stories are easy to make, but they can require a lot of thought if you want to make them truly entertaining. Thankfully, Instagram offers a number of tools to help make your stories as fun as possible.

Maybe you've got some great photos or videos and some cool filters and stickers to layer on top, but your story is still missing one important factor—music. Instagram offers a selection of tunes from its own library and your favorite music streaming services, like Spotify(Opens in a new window), SoundCloud(Opens in a new window), and Shazam. Here's everything you need to know about music and Instagram.

Add Music in Instagram

You can add music directly to your story using Instagram’s library. Tap the plus (+) icon at the top of the app, then scroll to Story on the bottom navigation bar. You can also long-press Your Story and tap Add to Your Story or swipe to the right to open your camera, then select Your Story after the photo or video is captured. 

At the camera screen, snap your photo or video. You can also swipe up to see your photo library, then select what you want to add. Apply whatever filters or special effects you want. When you're ready to add a tune to your story, tap the Sticker icon and then tap the Music sticker.

At the Music screen, browse through the different sections and genres to find a tune. You can also use the search field at the top of the screen to search for particular music by song, artist, or album. Spot a song you like? Tap the Play button to hear a short clip.

When you're ready to make a selection, tap the song you want in your story. You will have the opportunity to scroll through the song and decide what sound clip (up to 15 seconds) will play over your story. Move the slider bar until you find the section you want added.

Some songs offer multiple images from which you can choose, so tap the music thumbnail to change the image. Some even offer lyrics that appear on the screen as the music plays. When you're happy with the image you've chosen, tap Done and the song is added to your story in the form of a sticker.

Once you've finalized your music selection, the song appears as a sticker in your story. You can choose where the sticker will be placed in your story by moving it around the screen with your finger. Change the size of the sticker by pinching or expanding two fingers. Use two fingers and twist to change the orientation of the sticker. 

Don’t like the look of your sticker? Double-tap it to return to the previous screen, where you can change the appearance of the sticker. Tap Done to return to your story.

If you’ve recorded a video, you can do even more with your sticker before you post the story. Hold down on it and you’ll be able to pin the sticker to a specific person or object in the video. This means the sticker will move along with the object as it moves in the video.

When you're done tweaking the music, tap the Your Story icon to publish your story with music. Alternatively, if you want only specific people to see it, you can either tap Close Friends to send it to a custom group of people, or tap Send To and select which users should get it.

To view your story, tap the Your Story icon. Your story appears with the music automatically playing. Tapping the song label pauses the music and brings up a window at the bottom through which you can save the music or send it to another person on Instagram. Your followers can view your story and play the music in the same way.

Add Music From the Spotify App

You can add music to your Instagram story by grabbing it from the Spotify app. With a song playing in Spotify, tap the ellipsis icon and choose the Share option. Tap Instagram and you're taken to your Instagram story, where your selected song appears with its cover art. You can add text, stickers, and other effects to your story. Tap the Your Story icon to post the story with the song you selected. 

Once your story has been posted, it will serve as a link back to Spotify. Tap the Your Story icon in Instagram to view it. Anyone who views your story can tap Play on Spotify, and then Open Spotify to launch the song in the app.

Add Music From the SoundCloud App

Share a song from the SoundCloud app to your Instagram story by selecting a song and choosing Share. Select Stories to import the song and its associated image into Instagram. 

Once the story has been published, it will serve as a link back to the song on SoundCloud. View the story, tap Play on SoundCloud, then select Open SoundCloud to open the song in the app. 

Add Music From the Shazam App

While Shazam is primarily used to analyze and identify songs you’re already listening to, you can also get the app to play music and send it to Instagram. Open the app and allow it to recognize a song that is currently playing. 

Tap the song in Shazam, then tap More and Share. Tap the Instagram option to send the song and its artwork to the Instagram app. After the story has been published, you can travel back to the Shazam app through Instagram. To do this, open the story in Instagram and tap the Open Shazam button to play the song in the app.

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