Instagrammers can now add licensed music to their stories

Popular photo sharing social network Instagram just announced its latest milestone: more than 400 million people are using its "stories". But the most interesting thing is that there’s also a new feature for those people to play with: music. Indeed, instagrammers can now add music to their stories.

This is the first fruit of Facebook’s licensing deals, including Universal Music in December 2017, Sony Music in January 2018, and Warner Music in March 2018, as well as independent licensing agency Merlin, Beggars Group, PIAS and InGrooves the same month. Those deals covered the use of music in user-uploaded clips on Facebook, but also on Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Oculus VR.

An official blog post says:

After capturing your photo or video, you can add music by tapping the sticker button and selecting the music sticker. On iOS, you can also select a song before capturing your photo or video by swiping to the Music format in your camera. Search for a specific song, browse by mood, genre or what’s popular. Fast-forward and rewind through the track to choose the exact part that fits your story. When friends see your story, the song will play automatically. They’ll also see a tappable sticker with the song title and artist name.

Instagram says that the ‘Music in Stories’ is available in “select” countries with a global rollout pegged for “the future”. According to "Music Ally" the feature is launching in Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the US.