Instagram's new feature allows fans to add a song to their profile

Music becomes crucial to people's carefully crafted online identities

If you are not a subscriber of The Fanbase Builder, join the hundreds of artists, creators, and music industry executives who receive it for free.

Let’s dive into today’s topic:

---

Instagram's new feature allows fans to add a song to their profile.

Music becomes crucial to people's carefully crafted online identities.

Why it matters

Instagram's new feature allows people to add a song to their profile. The concept is 'borrowed' from MySpace, where this was well-known for users back in the early 00s.

The new feature is significant for artists as it introduces music as a prominent element of a fan's bio and profile, making songs crucial to people's carefully crafted online identities. Music as a symbolic benefit of social approval and self-expression. It also provides another avenue for word-of-mouth music discovery.

Generated with SDXL using the prompt ‘millennial crafting a self-portrait in lego’.

How it works

Instagram launched this feature by letting pop star Sabrina Carpenter showcase a new song on her profile.

• People can add a song to their profile by visiting their Instagram profile page and selecting Edit Profile > Music.

• All tracks available in Instagram's library of licensed music can be selected.

• People are asked to select a 30-second snippet of their chosen song to feature on their profile

• The selected song remains on the profile until it's removed or replaced.

• The feature is currently available only on mobile devices.

After testing this feature on my personal profile (which I admit is quiet), I found it works seamlessly.

Go deeper

In addition to this feature, Instagram is launching a Spotify integration for music discovery, similar to what TikTok has been offering for nearly a year. Like TikTok's integration, this simple integration creates new opportunities for artists to move their followers from Instagram to Spotify.

Yes, but..

While these new features are exciting, Instagram still needs to catch up to TikTok in terms of its direct impact on music discovery and fan engagement. For example, look at TikTok's Global Songs of the Summer editorial, which highlights emerging artists taking a global stage.

Take action now

Artists can leverage Instagram's new ‘song on profile’ feature by adding one of their tracks and encouraging fans to do the same.

Go deeper by creating a campaign around it, such as running a poll on Stories to ask followers which song they should pin to their profile.

Your thoughts

Further reading

• Instagram is adding a Myspace-like ‘song on profile’ feature (The Verge)

• Sabrina Carpenter gets Short n’ Sweet with Instagram (Music Ally)

• How an artist brand benefits fans (The Fanbase Builder)

• Instagram Launches Spotify Integration for Music Discovery (Swipe Insights)

• Converting TikTok users to Spotify listeners (The Fanbase Builder)

• People discover music through social media (The Fanbase Builder)

• TikTok's UK & Ireland and Global Songs of the Summer 2024 Revealed (TikTok Newsroom)