bad idea right?

Is pairing music with posts always a good idea? Or is it sometimes a bad idea?

Aug 14, 2023

Raise your hand if you’re still saying Twitter (instead of X), tweet (instead of post), retweet (instead of repost)… you get the idea. Guilty here 🖐️. It’s going to take some time to get used to this new post-Twitter social media world. But, if you’re really missing blue bird, Elon Musk plans to auction off a bunch of memorabilia. BBC News has more.

In today’s newsletter:

bad idea right? Is pairing music with posts always a good idea? Or is it sometimes a bad idea?
Social Snack: Threads gets more accessible
Supersonic: Celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop

bad idea right?

… is the name of the song from Olivia Rodrigo that helped launch a new feature on Instagram — a soundtrack on carousel images. This is just the latest step by the Meta-owned app to compete with TikTok and YouTube, and to transition from a photo-first app to a video and entertainment platform.

But the song title also made me wonder — is pairing music with posts always a good idea? Or is it sometimes a bad idea?

Whenever a new feature launches, it’s good to take a step back and look at your strategy. There are also a few other things to consider before hitting “play.”

FYI: The Background

The ability to add music to social media posts has become more and more popular, thanks in large part to TikTok, which has been known to launch careers (like Lil Nas X) and turn audio into viral trends. And it’s what pushed Instagram to get into the music biz.

In June 2018, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced Instagram was no longer just a photo-sharing app, and the company introduced music in Stories. Then in August 2020, Instagram introduced Reels, with music and audio. In November 2022, it added music to in-feed posts. This carousel update is the latest step in becoming more of an entertainment app.

Four Things to Consider

1/4 How Long Will it Take?

Adding an element — like music — to a post takes much longer than just creating photos and posting. You have to spend considerable time finding a song that matches the vibe you’re trying to convey. And the trend with many Reels is to change images/videos on the beat. This can add considerable time to editing a post. Options: You can use Reels templates (or CapCut templates for TikTok).

**But whatever you do, make sure to take note of how long it takes you to create a post with music. And then pair that with the outcome of the post to see if the input matched the output (aka, did it support your social media goals?). If not, you may want to use music more sparingly.

2/4 You May Not Have Access to the Good Stuff

Personal and creator accounts have access to the full audio library. But if you have a business account on Instagram (and TikTok), you may be prohibited from accessing the viral, trending tunes you hear on so many great posts. According to Meta: “This is because our agreements with rights holders are intended to enable personal, non-commercial uses of music.” So, be very careful of copyright infringement. To be safe, access sounds and audio in the commercial audio library.

Other options: You can use anything labelled “Original audio.” And according to Instagram expert Jenn’s Trends, the “Entrepreneur” category of business accounts does have access to popular music. She’s not sure why, but why ask why?!

3/4 Consider The Platform

TikTok is a video-first app. Yes, you can create carousel and text-based posts there, but the majority of content is video. That means audio is always on, because there is no reason to turn it off; you’re expecting to hear something on every post.

Instagram is very different. Because it started as a photo-first app, you may not have your audio turned on all the time. And I often find when I do turn the audio on, the feed can be an odd experience because you might scroll through multiple photos before you hit a video.

For this reason, I likely won’t invest a lot of time adding music or audio to Instagram carousel posts. And if you remember from the last newsletter, Instagram is prioritizing DMs and Stories because that’s where they say teens are spending most of their time.

4/4 Experiment, But Don’t Get Swayed by the Trends

It’s really common on TikTok to see everyone jumping on trending audio and adapting it for their use. Some of the “experts” on there will even go as far as to tell you that if you use a certain sound or song, your post will go viral. I’ve tried this a few times, but I’ve never seen it convert (there is never an “easy” way to go viral).

And honestly, I follow lots of TikTok influencers who never use music. They share stories, or talk about the news, culture, trends, etc. They don’t lip sync or participate in any trending audio.

So, yes, experiment with music and sound. But ultimately, you need to consistently create compelling content that speaks to your audience (and in the most efficient way!). If music and trending audio help you do that, great. If not, don’t worry — you don’t work for the platforms, remember?!

🍟 SOCIAL SNACKS 🍟

Threads Gets More Accessible

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri recently announced a group of updates for the Threads app, including the ability to add alt text to images and videos. This is something that accessibility experts have been asking for since the launch of the new Instagram app. (FYI: Alt text is the description that you add to images and videos; it’s helpful to those who are visually impaired and use screen readers).

I’m still waiting to see the Alt text option appear on my Threads (it’s supposed to appear in the bottom left-hand corner). I last tested it on Sunday afternoon, and still nothing. So don’t worry if you don’t see it yet. Apparently, you can also activate an alt-text badge on images and videos. The Platform Image Accessibility website has more info.

ICYMI

TikTok adds new required labels for AI-generated content [Social Media Today]
X is ‘close to breakeven’ says CEO Linda Yaccarino [CNN]
YouTube launches new Shorts creation tools [YouTube Blog]
Pinterest posts a holiday marketing overview [Pinterest Blog]

Supersonic

Friday, Aug. 11, marked the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop music. The social media feeds were buzzing with videos, photos, and graphics celebrating this milestone. Below are a sample of some fun posts.

And for your listening pleasure, here are a few of my favourite way back playbacks: