[March 04: Potential workaround] Music won’t play on Instagram story? Lot of users facing ‘no sound’ or ‘music not playing’ issue

This story is being continuously updated….new updates are being added at the bottom…..

Original story (from 2019) follows:

It was back in June last year, Instagram announced a new feature for its users. The new functionality allowed users to add a soundtrack to their Instagram story. Here’s how the Facebook-owned company explained the feature in their official announcement:

When you tap to add a sticker to a photo or video in Stories, you’ll now see a music icon. Tap on it to open a library of thousands of songs — you can search for a specific song, browse by mood, genre or what’s popular and tap the play button to hear a preview. When you’ve selected your song, you can fast-forward and rewind through the track to choose the exact part that fits your story

The feature also lets you choose a song before capturing a video. All you have to do is to launch the camera app on your device, then under the record button, swipe to access the newly-added ‘Music’ option. The next steps involve searching for a song, selecting the part you like, and finally recording a video with the part of song you selected playing in the background.

Given that hundreds of millions of Instagram users use the Story feature, the new functionality to add a song to Stories was welcomed with open arms. There was, however, a caveat: this new feature wasn’t available worldwide initially. Here’s what the Instagram announcement said about it:

The music sticker is now available as part of Instagram version 51 in select countries, and the ability to choose a song before capturing video is available on iOS only, with Android coming soon…….. we’re working hard to bring it to the global community in the future

It’s been close to three quarters since the feature was launched, but not all Instagram users are able to access it. There have been complaints regarding this all along, with some complainants saying one of their or their family member’s account has the feature, but other doesn’t.

Take a look at some Reddit threads from last year:

No Music Sticker? from Instagram

why i don’t have instagram music? from Instagram

Instagram music isn’t available in my region… but I’m in America? from Instagram

And if you look at recent reports, the situation remains the same. In fact, the language in some of the reports suggests the feature was there but it was pulled. Here are some latest tweets:

@instagram suddenly, when I post a photo in stories, the Instagram music I select is not playing. I select the music, I choose my 15 second segment, it uploads, but it’s then SILENT. I’ve tried different music. SILENT. I have been doing this daily with no issues. Any ideas?

— Terry Timber (@timber_terry) February 26, 2019

Is anyone else having problems with adding music to their Instagram stories? I can add a song but I won’t hear anything.

— Loving Him Was Red ?? (@TaylorSlaysGame) February 26, 2019

Music broken on our @instagram story! Anyone else having troubs?

— SENIORITY Senior Pictures Nashville (@SENIORITYPHOTO1) February 26, 2019

@instagram have you stopped music feature fir stories on Instagram? #instagram #story #music

— shaun (@shauntyagi) February 26, 2019

@instagram please fix the music in stories! ???

— Irina Liakh (@IrinaLiakh) February 26, 2019

lol @ instagram blocking music in our stories now…. ?

— ashleigh smith (@ashleighysmith) February 26, 2019

The problem is being reported by users across the devices, so it’s safe to say the issue isn’t specific to a device. Then, as I already noted above, some users have it on one of their accounts, but not on the other, which means unavailability in a specific region is not the issue as well.

Having said that, it’s worth mentioning that not all regions have the feature yet, so it could be possible that some of the complaints are coming to regions that are still not supported.

@Jaclynhill RE your Insta story about not hearing a song. Not all countries have the ability to hear the music, so you get a message saying that Instagram Music is not available in your country. I can’t hear it in Canada. Hope this helps! pic.twitter.com/TcP1cAMpz2

— Dimitra (@PouncingKitty) February 26, 2019

@instagram so when is Austria getting the music feature in stories since literally the whole world has gotten it for like a year now…? not only can i not use it i also can’t hear what other people put in their snaps. all i get is “this function isn’t available in your location”

— tina (@HOLDONFANKS) February 25, 2019

While researching on this issue, I stumbled upon some reports from Spotify users who are facing similar problems. Here’s one such report:

@SpotifyCares I saw another individual contact you after losing their Music sticker in #Instagram and I am now having the same problem. Even doing Share > Instagram Stories isn’t working and has no sound.

— ?gem✨ (@chichitonaru) February 25, 2019

iOS 12.1.4 on iPhone 8, Spotify 8.4.94.812 || using the Share button from within Spotify itself opens Instagram and inserts the cover art for a song, but no audio. First pic is in Insta (the sticker), second is attempting to do it from Spotify. pic.twitter.com/lMkoRdpZJx

— ?gem✨ (@chichitonaru) February 25, 2019

I definitely do. I’ve also deleted and reinstalled, logged in and out, etc. This is likely more of an Instagram-side question, but does sharing music have anything to do with having a personal account vs. a business account?

— ?gem✨ (@chichitonaru) February 25, 2019

While Spotify’s Twitter help account suggested the user to take their case up with Instagram, I found a Spotify forum discussion from last year about same issue where Spotify confirmed they are looking into the matter. Here’s what the original complainant had said:

When I try to share some song I don’t see the Instagram Stories option, can you help me?

And here’s what a Spotify forum moderator confirmed earlier this month:

We are currently working with Instagram to make this option available for everyone soon!

As you can see, aside from normal users, even companies like Spotify are in touch with Instagram over issues related to this feature, but we haven’t come across any response from Instagram yet. However, rest assured, we’re tracking the situation closely, and will update the story as and when we have any newsworthy info.

Until then, it would be good if you share your Instagram Music experience in our comments section below, as it will not only give us a more clear picture but also help other users who are affected.

Update 1 (June 14)

Lately, many user are complaining about music sticker missing or disappeared. You can read more about this in our latest coverage here.

Update 2 (Feb 28, 2020)

It appears that the Instagram music not playing on stories issue is troubling a lot of users as of writing this.

Update 3 (March 04, 2021)

Instagram music stories have troubled a big chunk of users at multiple occasions. There has been random events where users, while trying to upload music stickers as their stories, were prompted with an error that restricted them to effectively use this feature.

Well, till the time Instagram steps forward and clears the air on this matter, we have a workaround to save your day.

Instagram Business accounts appears to be the primary victim of these incidents and so, the first step is to try basic troubleshooting techniques of re-installing and updating Instagram app to the latest version.

Users can then try to switch accounts from Business to either a Personal or a Creator’s account. Creator accounts seem to be the next best option as the two barely has any significant difference. More information here.

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