How to add background music to carousel posts on Instagram

What’s New on Instagram Carousels?: Instagram now allows users to add background music to carousel posts, making photo-based storytelling more immersive. This feature bridges the gap between static images and videos, helping creators boost engagement. Music plays as users open or swipe through the carousel, enhancing mood without converting posts into Reels.

Why Background Music Matters: Adding music helps set the emotional tone of your carousel. Whether it’s travel, fashion, or storytelling content, audio increases recall and engagement. Instagram’s algorithm also tends to favour richer, interactive posts, meaning music-backed carousels may gain better visibility and audience retention in crowded feeds.

Create a Carousel Post: To begin, open Instagram and tap the plus icon to create a new post. Choose the standard “Post” option and select two or more photos from your gallery. Arrange them in order, apply filters if needed, and proceed to the editing screen before sharing.

Add Background Music: On the final editing screen, tap the “Add Music” option at the top. Browse Instagram’s licensed music library or search for a specific track. Preview songs, select a preferred segment, and confirm. The chosen music will now attach to your entire carousel post.

How Music Plays for Viewers: The selected audio plays when users open or swipe through the carousel. It does not auto-play loudly in the feed, ensuring a smooth browsing experience. Viewers can tap the music icon to see the track name, artist, and explore similar audio on Instagram.

Best Practices for Using Music: Choose music that matches your content theme and brand voice. Avoid overly loud or distracting tracks for informational posts. Trending audio can boost reach, but relevance matters more. For businesses, subtle background music works better than lyrics-heavy tracks that compete with visual messaging.

Who Should Use This Feature?: This feature benefits creators, brands, journalists, and businesses alike. Travel, lifestyle, fashion, and event coverage gain the most impact. By adding music, carousel posts feel more dynamic and story-driven, helping creators stand out without shifting fully to video-first formats.

Join our WhatsApp Channel to get the latest news, exclusives and videos on WhatsApp