As an artist, using Instagram to share your music and build a fan base is essential. One great way to connect with your audience is to add lyrics to your Instagram stories. Adding lyrics to your Instagram stories can help create an interactive experience for your followers and can even help increase engagement on your page. Now more than ever, music discovery happens across platforms, not just on streaming services or radio stations. We discover and listen to music sometimes on Instagram without even knowing it! As a music lover, being able to share lyrics to your favorite songs on your Instagram stories is also practical. So for both artists and music lovers, here is everything you need to know about how to add lyrics to your Instagram story.
1. Sync your lyrics with Musixmatch
If you’re an artist looking to get your lyrics synced with the music on your Instagram story, you first need to sign up for Musixmatch. Musixmatch is a platform that allows users to search for and share song lyrics and is the official partner of Spotify for licensing and syncing lyrics to their platform. If your lyrics are already uploaded to Musixmatch, then you’re all set! If you want your lyrics to scroll in real time on your Instagram story, you have to make sure you upload and sync them on the Musixmatch platform. Check out our article on how to become a verified artist on Musixmatch and add and sync lyrics to Spotify. All the songs synced on Musixmatch will appear on Instagram stories!
2. How do I add a song to my Instagram story picture?
Once you’ve synced your lyrics with Musixmatch, it’s simple to add a song to your Instagram story. Upload a photo or video to your story and then click on the sticker icon in the top right corner. You’ll see a menu pop up of different elements that you can add to your story.
Click on the music icon and you’ll see a drop down menu where you can search for the song or artist you want. You can even browse playlists of songs based on specific genres or moods. You can preview the songs by pressing the play button on the right hand side of the song title. Once you’ve selected a track, it will appear on your story in one of the default settings: either just the still image of the song cover or the scrolling lyrics. You can also drag and drop the cover photo or text to be anywhere on your screen. To delete the song you chose and pick a new one, just drag it to the bottom of the screen and a little trash can will appear.
Pick the excerpt you want from the song by scrolling left and right on the playback bar at the bottom of your screen. Then choose the display settings of the lyrics from the menu just above. By tapping on the different Aa letters, you can choose between a couple different fonts and scrolling styles to display the lyrics. You can even choose the color of the lyrics using the rainbow wheel icon at the top of the screen. Make sure that your lyrics are synced correctly in real time with your song by using Musixmatch. If not, it won’t be properly synchronized!
It’s that simple! It’s easy to add lyrics to your Instagram story and it can really add a dynamic element to your visuals, making your tune more than just background-music.
3. How do you add subtitles to Instagram stories?
Some Instagram accounts have more functionalities now like adding captions directly in stories or reels, while others still don’t have access to this feature. If you want to add subtitles to Instagram stories but don’t have the captions feature, you can use the basic text function, the icon all the way left in the right corner. However, this text will be static and doesn’t yet have any scroll function.
Want to know how to create subtitles if you don’t have the captions function? It’s best to use another application to create your video and then upload it to Instagram. Check out MixCaptions, Kapwing, and Kaptioned to easily add subtitles to your Instagram stories. These services are all available as a mobile app for android and for mac, available in both the Google play store and the app store.
4. Can you add custom audio to Instagram stories?
Like the captions function, some Instagram accounts now have a voiceover functionality when it comes to making reels. Unfortunately, this does not yet exist for Instagram stories. To add custom audio to your Instagram story, you will need to use a third party app like one of the ones mentioned above. Or, you can always record your story live and play the audio you want out of your phone speakers.
5. Grow your fanbase by adding lyrics and more
So now that you know how to add lyrics to your Instagram story, it’s time to put the wheels in motion! Adding lyrics can really help boost engagement with your followers and grow your fanbase. For singer songwriters especially, sharing your lyrics allows you to add more depth to your artistic universe. For some fans who listen to your music, it could give them more insight into the meaning behind the songs or help to clarify what you’re singing about!
Want to get even more creative with your Instagram stories? Incorporating polls, questions, and quizzes into stories can allow followers to directly interact with you. Include links to your music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal. You want to make it easy for people to click and listen to any music you’ve released. Additionally, you can use stories to provide exclusive content to your followers. This may be in the form of sneak peeks of upcoming songs, or just simple behind-the-scenes content.
Another way to boost engagement is to use Instagram Live. Live videos allow followers to connect with you and your music in real time! You can even host Q&A sessions about your new album or telling the story behind that song that everyone has been listening to. Overall, you should use stories to update your subscribers on your recent projects and get them excited about upcoming releases.
After you’ve mastered how to promote your music on your Instagram stories, try sending your tracks to professionals in the music industry through Groover. Groover is an innovative platform that allows independent artists to get directly in touch with influencers and media, labels, playlist curators, publishers, and more, with guaranteed feedback in 7 days. Check it out now ⬇️
