Instagram Reels can feature your music

Want people to use your songs in their Instagram Reels?

Instagram has a short-form video feature similar to TikTok called Instagram Reels, which lives right there within the existing Instagram app. You’re going to want your songs to be there so people can record short “Reels” set to your music. 

CD Baby makes it simple to get your music on Instagram Reels. It’s included with all our distribution as part of our Social Video Monetization service. If we’ve already delivered your music to Instagram for use in Stories, it will be available in Instagram Reels automatically.

Why is Instagram Reels important for musicians?

In many ways, Instagram Reels functions just like the wildly popular TikTok… and that’s a good thing for artists. Why reinvent the wheel when you can add one to the already powerful and speedy Instagram wagon?

The content you’ll see on Instagram Reels is a lot like stuff on TikTok (think dance contests, lip-syncing, pranks, tutorials, and unique mini music videos), and the video creation tools are similar to TikTok too. Reels can be up to 30 seconds long; you have a timer that can be up to 10 seconds longs to get your shots right; and you can trim and delete any clip while creating your Reels. 

And for the first time on Instagram, your content can be “unconnected” — meaning that no matter how big or small your audience is, the stuff you create CAN reach beyond your existing followers to hundreds of millions of Instagram users, based solely on engagement. 

Perhaps more important though is that “user-generated content,” a fancy term for videos other people create using your music, can reach new fans via the same algorithmic processes. All your Reels content will link back to your music catalog or Instagram profile!

Watch this quick tutorial on how to create an Instagram Reel using your music.

Where do Instagram Reels appear?

One of the coolest things about this new short-form video tool is that your Reels can be posted to your normal Instagram feed, to your Stories, AND archived on a profile tab, similar to how your IGTV videos are grouped together. That means your audience can discover your Reels in multiple ways, and potential fans could see your content surfaced algorithmically in the Explore grid. 

Instagram is now a place for ALL your visual content

With the addition of short-form video creation tools and algorithmic surfacing of Reels, Instagram is now a place to put ALL your visual content:

  • Short-form video (Reels)
  • Longer videos (IGTV)
  • Live-streaming
  • Pics and carousels
  • Temporary stuff (Stories)
  • Permanent stuff (Profile)
  • Video ads
  • And more

But, as I said above, part of what makes Instagram Reels so powerful is the way that OTHER people respond to your work, creating their own content using your songs.

The Reels Audio Bundle makes it easy to find and share music

Instagram added a few tools to make it easier for users to find songs to use in Reels:

  • Save and share audio: Users can now save their favorite sounds to their account, so if there are particular songs they like using in Reels they don’t have to keep searching for them. They can also share the page that lists all videos of a particular song via DM to other users, so they can get inspired to create. To save and share audio, follow these steps:
    1. When you find a song or sound you love, tap the audio at the bottom of the Reel.
    2. This will take you to a page showing every video using that audio.
    3. Tap the bookmark button to save or unsave that page. Tap the DM button to send it to another user.
  • Audio browser: Users can discover new music on the Trending and For You sections. To browse audio, follow these steps:
    1. Start a Reel and tap Audio.
    2. You’ll see a browser page with three audio tools: saved audio, Trending and For you.

Claim attribution for your audio on Reels

Instagram allows users to upload original audio on their own, which can sometimes lead to misidentified or entirely unidentified audio being used in Reels. If you come across a Reel with one of your songs that needs attribution, you can now claim it. This will re-title the audio to an official sound recording, and the Reel it’s attached to and all others will be reorganized to the Audio Page for that song.

How to submit an attribution claim for your song:

  • Select Instagram
  • Select “Claim Attribution of Reels Original Audio”
  • Enter your contact information
  • Enter the correct artist, song, ISRC, and the start time of the song to match the Reel
  • Original Audio you would like to claim
  • Provide a URL to the Reel found within the Original Audio page you’d like attributed

Instagram will confirm there is a match and respond to your request as soon as possible.

Important: Instagram will only be able to execute this Attribution switch for you in the event that the Original Audio is an exact match of the official recording in our Audio Library. Any mashups, remixes, or songs with voiceover cannot be replaced right now.

Instagram Reels is currently available in these territories:

Albania Denmark India Netherlands Spain
Algeria Dominican Republic Ireland New Zealand Swaziland
Argentina Ecuador Italy Nicaragua Sweden
Armenia El Salvador Japan Nigeria Switzerland
Australia Finland Kenya Northern Mariana Islands Tanzania
Belgium France Latvia Norway Tunisia
Bolivia French Guyana Lesotho Panama Uganda
Brazil Georgia Liechtenstein Paraguay United States
Burkina Faso Germany Luxembourg Peru Uruguay
Cameroon Ghana Malawi Portugal Venezuela
Canada Gibraltar Mali Puerto Rico Zambia
Cape Verde Great Britain Malta Reunion Zimbabwe
Chile Guadeloupe Martinique Romania
Colombia Guam Mayotte Rwanda
Costa Rica Guatemala Mexico Senegal
Croatia Guinea Monaco Seychelles
Cyprus Honduras Morocco Slovakia
Czech Republic Iceland Namibia South Africa

So, how do you make sure your music is available for them in Instagram Reels? Simple, CD Baby will send your songs to Instagram for use in Reels AND Stories as part of our Social Video Monetization service, which is included with distribution. Be sure you’re opted in!

Get Music on Instagram