Using Instagram Reels for Musicians
Jump in and build your music brand fast using the newest tool on social media
In today’s digital music’s landscape, competition is fierce and the newsfeed is often fully flooded across all platforms.
Social media has given musicians a way to reach out to their audiences but with so many platforms with high traffic, it’s been difficult to stand out.
Recently, Instagram has added a new music marketing option with a new feature called Reels.
This tool (much like tiktok) allows you to create very short-timed 15 second video using stories.
Reels could be considered a direct response to the growing popularity of TikTok — which has surged in popularity over the last 12 months.
TikTok generated “the most downloads for any app ever in a quarter” in Q1 2020, according to Adweek.
And TikTok’s core demographic is rapidly changing. While once dominated by Gen-Z users, Millennials now make up a greater share of TikTok’s user base than ever before — making the platform a much more attractive proposition for advertisers.
The benefits right now are
- Excellent to improve your reach and engagement.
- Reach a new audience and introduce your music to a new fan base.
- Ride the trend of a new tool that’s getting all the focus
- The tool gives a significant push to have users browse and share Reels more often.
- You can discover trends in any industry by watching the Reels featured on that explore page
- Instagram Reels has its own version of the For You page: the new Reels Explore Feed. You can find the Reels feed on the Instagram Explore Page.
- Instead of only seeing Reels from accounts you follow as you scroll, you will see Reels from popular and trending accounts on Instagram.
Let’s dive into What Reels is and how to use it..
What is Instagram Reels?
Instagram users can record and edit together 15-second video clips set to music and share them to their Stories, Explore Feed, and the new Reels tab on a user’s profile.
Your video can be viewed by anyone, as long as your account is public, it will appear in anyone’s reel feed based on their interests and other videos in their explore grid.
Get your music used as a sound.
Once you create a reel with your own audio, it can be used again by others on the platform. Just click the audio file and see how many people use it on their own Reel.
Motivate your followers to use your music in the background of their reels, for dancing videos, roller skating or any other trends.
Also motivate your audiences to use your music for lip-syncing by creating Reels encouraging them to do it.
• Whenever someone makes a video using your music or song, for its reference your song will be mentioned there by Instagram music catalog or there will be your profile’s link given.
The Algorithm
While the Reels algorithm hasn’t been locked down yet, it feels similar to the TikTok For You page. It’s likely influenced by who you already follow, what content you interact with, and where you’re located.
As you’re scrolling, you may notice some Reels have a “Featured” label above the caption.
Music
You can see other videos using a particular piece of audio by clikcing at the audio link at the bottom of any reel. This allows you to jump on a trend as it’s happening by creating a Reel using that sound.
Users can also select music from a huge library or use their own audio.
On top of selecting and adding music, there are a number of handy video editing tools to explore. A video countdown timer, the option to adjust your video’s speed, and a library of video effects to choose from.
How to Create a Reel Video
- Open the Instagram Stories camera and find the Reels icon.
- You can select your audio by tapping the music icon, add text, filters, choose a speed and even clip your video.
- There’s even a self timer to help you get the video shots you need. Choose how long your clips will be by selecting the stopwatch icon.
- Timer: here users can select the duration of the desired length for your video; the timer will start before recording start and will automatically end the video at your set time limit between 3 to 15 seconds.
- You can zoom in and out just by sliding the thumb up and down, just like you normally would do.
- Choose an effects or AR filter from the scroll at the bottom of the screen
- Either hold down the record button to capture footage or upload video footage from your camera roll. You can sing along with any instrument you will be playing.
- You can start and stop recording multiple times during your 15-second video by pressing and holding the record button.
- Once you’re happy with the result, you can edit your video clips. You can use the draw and text tools and select from a number of Instagram Stickers.
- Along with these features, you can add media from your mobile gallery, something Tiktok won’t allow you to do, so that’s definitely a plus! You can scrub through your whole video just by swiping across the screen and can also spectate your reel by pressing that back arrow.
- When finished, you can edit the cover photo with a video thumbnail or add a cover from your camera roll.
- Share it: You can share the Reel to your Stories, Explore Feed, and the new Reels tab on your profile.
- Use hashtags in your description: The caption can contain trendy and relevant hashtags too.
Hashtags you can start with as a musician:
Add these tags to the description of your Reel just like a regular post to increase your traffic by showing up on the explore page for that tag.
be sure to tag us up: #avaliveradio so we can see your Reels..
#Reel #Reels #reelsinstagram #reelitfeelit #newsingle #newmusic #musicproductionlife #musicstudio #songwriters #songwriters #singersongwriter #musicfeature #originalmusic #musicdaily #firstrelease #newmusicalert
Written by Jacqueline Jax
Instagram Music marketing Course
Enjoy How to Videos on this topic and so much more in my Musicians Marketing Course on udemy. This course updates weekly with all the latest tricks of the trade..
