Adding Music To An Instagram Story Without A Sticker: 5 Easy Ways

Adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker is attainable with simple tricks. Here are 5 easy ways to solve when the music sticker doesn’t appear. More importantly, this guide will help you fix the underlying issues to get Instagram’s built-in music sticker back on track.

Is Adding Music To An Instagram Story Without A Sticker Possible + How?

Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has evolved in many ways, including its music feature. With the built-in music sticker, users can easily add music to videos, static photos, profiles, and stories. All you need to do is tap the music sticker, browse songs, select one that fits your content, and trim a specific segment you like to add.

However, sometimes the music sticker on Instagram may not show up, hindering you from sharing engaging and dynamic content. So, how to add music to your Instagram story when it doesn’t show up?

If you find yourself stuck in this situation, don’t worry. Here are some simple ways to add music to Instagram stories without the music sticker.

Adding music from Spotify to Instagram stories

Adding your favorite song from Spotify to Instagram stories is easy peasy. 

Here’s how to do it:

• Step 1: Open Spotify and navigate to the song you want to add.
• Step 2: Tap the ellipsis sign at the top right of the screen.
• Step 3: Tap Share.
• Step 4: Tap the Instagram Stories icon. This redirects you to the Story Creation tab on Instagram.
• Step 5: Make changes you want, like adding a filter, resizing, or moving it around wherever you want.
• Step 6: Tap Your Story to share the song.

The song will be shared to your Instagram story, however, it won’t play directly there. Instead, the song’s cover art in the story will take users tapping it to Spotify.

Fact: 70% of Instagram users watch Stories daily, according to Social Pilot. Thus, sharing music from Spotify to your Instagram stories can be a great way to promote your songs. 

Adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker from SoundCloud

Similarly, you can add music to an Instagram story from other music streaming services, like SoundCloud. 

Follow these instructions:

• Step 1: Open SoundCloud and go to the song you want to add to your Instagram story.
• Step 2: Push on Share.
• Step 3: Select Instagram Stories. This takes you to the Story Creation tab on the Instagram app.
• Step 4: Make edits like adding a filter, resizing the song’s cover art, or changing its position. You can also add other stickers and hashtags to your story.
• Step 5: Finally, choose Your Story to publish it.

It’s also important to note that the song won’t directly play on the story, but it works as a clickable link that sends users to SoundCloud, where they can actually listen to it.

Adding music from Shazam to Instagram stories

Shazam is popularly known as a music recognition tool, but you can also share your favorite music from this app to Instagram stories. 

Below I outline all the steps to do it:

• Step 1: Open Shazam and find a specific song.
• Step 2: Tap the ellipsis icon in the bottom right corner.
• Step 3: Tap Share.
• Step 4: Select Instagram Stories. Now you’ll be redirected to the Instagram app. 
• Step 5: In the Story Creation tab, you can edit the size and position of the song’s cover art. Feel free to play with filters, location stickers, hashtags, etc.
• Step 6: Tap Your Story to share the music with your followers.

Like songs shared from other platforms, music from Shazam won’t play directly on your Instagram story. Instead, when your followers tap on the music sticker, they will be sent to the song on Shazam. 

Adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker from Apple Music

Adding music to Instagram stories from Apple Music works like those platforms. Songs shared from Apple Music don’t play on Instagram stories, but you can click on the cover art to listen to them on Apple Music. 

Here’s how to add songs from Apple Music to your Instagram story without a sticker (for iPhone users):

• Step 1: Open Apple Music and go to your favorite song.
• Step 2: Tap the three-dot icon, then tap Share.
• Step 3: Tap Instagram, then Apple Music will automatically add the song to your story draft. 
• Step 4: Make necessary changes as you wish.
• Step 5: Tap Your Story to share the song with your followers.

Adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker using third-party video editors

If you prefer adding music that directly plays on your Instagram story, read on. Numerous third-party video editors can be used to add custom music to videos for Instagram stories. They also offer free video editing functionalities, royalty-free tracks, and more.

Below are my favorite apps and why I love them. 

• CapCut: CapCut is a wonderful video editing tool that lets you add music to Instagram stories for free with ease. What I love about CapCut the most is its never-ending free trending templates with original and remix songs of all genres. CapCut offers free versions for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. You can also upgrade to the Pro version for more diverse music tracks and advanced features.
• Inshot: Inshot is a powerful, easy-to-use video editor and maker with an intuitive interface. You can download it from the App Store, Google Play, or AppGallery to add custom music and sound to your Instagram videos. The app is available at no cost and supports a wide range of social media platforms including Instagram. 
• Canva: Canva is popularly known as a graphic design tool, but did you know you can also use Canva to edit videos and add music to Instagram stories? Canva can do basic video editing works and it has various free and paid music. Canva also integrates with an AI music generator called Soundraw. It allows you to generate the perfect AI music track for your visuals without worrying about copyright infringement issues.

Tip: In case you don’t have access to the Instagram music library, refer to Meta’s Sound Collection for royalty-free music to ensure you don’t mistakenly use copyrighted songs.

Why Doesn’t The Music Sticker Show Up? 5 Reasons + How To Fix

There are some underlying causes behind why you cannot find the music sticker on Instagram. This part helps you define the reason and gives some handy fixes to solve the root problems.

Get the music sticker back to add music to Instagram stories without extra apps. No more need for the guide on adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker.

Instagram music is unavailable in your region

The Instagram music sticker is only available in certain regions and countries due to copyright issues. If you are from an unsupported region, you won’t be able to add music with the music sticker.

How to fix it?

Use a VPN to connect to a server of a supported country for Instagram music, such as the US, UK, or Canada. 

Business accounts can’t add copyrighted music to Instagram stories

If you are using a business account, you may be restricted from sharing copyrighted songs to Instagram stories.

How to fix it?

Change it to a creator account or switch back to a personal account. 

Your Instagram app version is outdated

Another common reason why you cannot find the music sticker is that you are using an old Instagram app version. 

How to fix it?

Go to Google Play or App Store to update the app.

Instagram cache files are corrupted

Instagram’s corrupted cache files can cause certain features to not function properly, including the music sticker. 

How to fix it?

• On iOS: Delete Instagram and reinstall it.
• On Android: Go to Settings > Apps > Select Instagram > Storage > Clear cache.

Your Internet connection is out

Another reason why you cannot find the music sticker might be due to a poor internet connection. 

How to fix it?

In this case, you can try to switch to cellular data if you are using Wi-Fi and reopen Instagram to see if it works again.

Adding Music To An Instagram Story Without A Sticker Or Lyrics Visible

If you want to add music to your Instagram story without visible stickers or lyrics showing on and blocking your visual content, you can hide it with several simple steps.

Here is how to hide the music sticker on your story:

• Step 1: Do as you usually do to create a story on Instagram.
• Step 2: Tap the music icon.
• Step 3: Browse the music list and tap the song you like.
• Step 4: Tap the circle slash icon under the music sticker to switch to Music Only. This will hide the cover art and lyrics of the song.
• Step 5: Tap Done, then select Your Story to publish it.

Pro Tips To Make Compelling Instagram Stories With Music

Now that adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker is no longer a challenge for you. It’s time to get some pro tips to take your Instagram stories to the next level with music.

Add a song playing continuously across your Instagram stories

Suppose your followers watch your stories and get surprised by the seamless experience when transitioning through multiple slides. This is where this pro tip comes in handy.

You can follow either of the two methods below to get a song playing continuously across your Instagram stories:

• Method 1: Inside the Instagram app, tap the + icon to create stories. Browse your camera roll, tap and hold for 1-2 seconds to select multiple photos, then tap Next > Separate. Add the same song to all slides and trim it into different continuous parts. You can enable the lyrics for easier trimming. 
• Method 2: Use a video maker, add a song to a long video first, then split it into several 15-second clips. Then upload videos to your stories. This creates a seamless experience for your followers when watching your stories slide by slide.

Enable lyrics on your stories

You can add lyrics to Instagram stories easily using the built-in lyrics feature, provided that lyrics are available for this song. 

Here’s how to add lyrics to Instagram stories:

• Step 1: Create a story as usual.
• Step 2: Add a song using the music sticker at the top right of the screen.
• Step 3: Tap the Aa symbol to enable lyrics. You can swipe left or right to change the text format or tap on the color wheel to adjust the color.

Previous post: 5 Easy Steps + Tips For Adding Temperature To An Instagram Story (2025)

Conclusion

Songs can bring an emotional spark to your content. If the music sticker isn’t available on your Instagram app, I hope this complete guide to adding music to an Instagram story without a sticker can help. More than that, try my fixes to get this feature back so that you can unlock the true power of Instagram’s built-in tools. Follow GDT Agency for more pro tips and conquer the platform with us.

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