Instagram Reels: music and copyright
This page so far covers what music providers say about Instagram. Instagram's own rules on music, muting and appeals are still being checked against its help pages and will be added once they have been read.
Instagram Reels questions, answered
- Free music you can't use on YouTube
Music that is free inside one app is usually licensed for that app only. TikTok and Meta say so in their terms, SoundCloud forbids reuse unless the uploader allows it, and YouTube disowns "royalty-free" channels.
- How to start posting Instagram Reels
You need to be 13 or older. Reels can run to 20 minutes, but Instagram won't recommend one over 3 minutes to new audiences. A free creator account adds insights and shows what you can monetise.
- Safest music for Shorts, Reels and TikTok
On YouTube, use the Audio Library or the in-app sound picker. On Instagram and TikTok, use each app's own library inside the app. For one source across all three, subscribe to Epidemic Sound.
- How to appeal an Instagram music removal
Dispute from the notification Instagram sends you. Meta may restore the Reel itself, pass you to the rights owner or have its staff review it. A country-only block cannot be appealed.
- Instagram music copyright: what gets muted
Meta lets rights owners mute, block or remove a Reel that uses their music without permission. Long, music-heavy clips are the most likely to be limited. Meta's Sound Collection is licensed for its own apps.
- Can you repost TikToks to Shorts and Reels?
Only if the music is yours to take with you. Music added inside TikTok or YouTube is licensed for that platform alone, and a visible watermark from another app makes a video ineligible for TikTok's For You feed.
- Music licences for Instagram and TikTok
Epidemic Sound, Artlist, Envato and Bensound name Instagram and TikTok in their own pages. NCS and StreamBeats are built around YouTube and Twitch. None of them can stop a platform from muting a video.
Music sources that name Instagram Reels
These sources name Instagram Reels in their own licence or help pages. A source missing from this list may still allow it. Its pages just do not say so. The full comparison has every source.
| Note | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Artlist Safest list | Subscription | Paid subscription | The Social plan clears 1 Instagram and 1 TikTok account. |
| Bensound | Free library | Free with a credit, or from $9.99 a month billed yearly | Recommends 60 seconds of music or less on TikTok. |
| Envato | Subscription | Paid subscription | Allowed if you turn off remixing and stitching. |
| Epidemic Sound Safest list | Subscription | From $8.99 a month | The Creator plan links one account per platform. |
| Free Stock Music | Free library | Free with credit, or a paid licence from the artist | The FAQ names YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, X and Vimeo for monetised use with credit. |
| Pixabay Music | Free library | Free | Pixabay's FAQ names Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and gives the same dispute route as YouTube. |
| Uppbeat Safest list | Subscription | Free with a credit, or from $6.99 a month billed yearly | Clear on Instagram and TikTok, Uppbeat says. On TikTok, keep the music under 60 seconds or the video may be muted. |