Instagram has introduced a long-requested feature: users can now share Spotify songs to their Stories with embedded audio previews.
Highlights
- Spotify Audio Previews Now Available: Instagram users can finally share Spotify songs to Stories with embedded sound previews, moving beyond the previous static format.
- Improved Music Discovery: Viewers can listen to short audio snippets of shared tracks without leaving Instagram, reducing friction between music sharing and streaming.
- Strengthened Spotify-Instagram Partnership: The update follows the recent Spotify-to-Instagram Notes integration, signaling deeper collaboration between the two platforms.
- Part of Meta’s Bigger Music Strategy: This rollout aligns with Meta’s broader goal to enhance music discovery across its apps, including WhatsApp Status and Instagram Notes.
- New Creative Tools: Instagram also introduced fresh Story and Reels fonts, including a limited-edition typeface inspired by Rosalía’s handwriting with interactive, hand-drawn symbols.
- Competitive Response to TikTok: By making music sharing more seamless and expressive, Instagram aims to rival TikTok’s stronghold on music trends and discovery.
Announced earlier this week, this update marks a shift from the previous static format—where users could only see song details and album art without hearing any sound—unless they clicked through to Spotify.
A More Seamless Music Sharing Experience
With this update, viewers of Instagram Stories can listen to a short snippet of the shared track directly within the app. This change reduces the friction that previously existed between music discovery and social sharing.
Users no longer need to leave Instagram to hear what a recommended song sounds like, potentially making music sharing feel more organic and engaging.
Although the addition may seem minor, it aligns with Instagram’s broader strategy to increase in-app engagement and tap deeper into music discovery culture, an area where platforms like TikTok have seen significant success.
Part of a Broader Music-Focused Rollout
The Spotify audio preview feature follows another recent music-related update: Spotify-to-Instagram Notes integration, launched just weeks earlier. That feature allows users to stream short Spotify song clips within Instagram Notes, giving friends a glimpse of their current listening mood.
Together, these back-to-back rollouts suggest a strengthening partnership between Spotify and Instagram and signal Instagram’s intention to compete more directly in the social music discovery space.
Expanded Creative Tools: New Fonts and Personalization Options
In addition to audio sharing, Instagram is also rolling out new fonts for Stories and Reels, starting with a limited-time font inspired by singer-songwriter Rosalía’s handwriting.
Users who type special characters like :-), ***, or <3 will unlock hand-drawn symbols created by Rosalía, adding an interactive layer for fans looking to personalize their posts.
These creative additions reflect Instagram’s ongoing efforts to offer more expressive tools for creators and everyday users alike.
Against TikTok and Other Social Platforms
This enhanced music-sharing functionality appears to be part of Meta’s larger strategy to integrate music discovery across its platforms.
WhatsApp Status, for example, already allows Spotify previews, and Instagram’s latest updates bring it closer to matching TikTok’s influential role in music trends.
By reducing barriers to music engagement within its apps, Meta is positioning itself to capture more of the social music-sharing audience, while giving artists and creators new ways to promote tracks and drive streaming engagement.
