Instagram now lets you evoke emotion by adding music to your posts

We all know the power music can have from watching movies. A simple switching up of a soundtrack can completely sway a viewer to experience different emotions even when watching identical footage. In fact, research shows us that music has as powerful an effect on our brains as cocaine.

So it’s no accident then, that Instagram is harnessing this power by allowing users to add a music track to their ordinary posts in the feed. Skeptics could say that it’s just yet another way that Instagram is trying to keep up with rival social media app TikTok which has used music right from the start.

In order to access this in Instagram, simply create a post in the usual way. On the page where you write the caption, there is an added option to add music. You can choose a segment of between 5 and 90 seconds of the song to use, providing additional atmospheric elements to your post.

Music is a huge part of expression on Instagram, and we’re excited to provide the ability to add music to Feed photo posts, like you can with Reels and Stories. No matter which format works best to tell your story, you can now add a soundtrack to your favorite photo moments to bring them to life.

– Instagram

I’m not entirely sure how useful this new feature will be for most people. However, for musicians and bands, it will be a fantastic addition. Imagine, you can now post those backstage images and have a portion of your music playing at the same time. A little like MySpace actually!

For photographers, well I suppose it will enhance the whole story-telling aspect a little further. I always wanted to be a foley artist when I was a kid. Maybe I’ll start experimenting with that now as an accompaniment to my Instagram feed!

What do you think? Will you be using this new feature?