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How to Add Song Lyrics on Instagram Story & Reels (With or Without the App)

James Hogan
James Hogan updated Nov 12, 25

Adding song lyrics to Instagram Stories and Reels is a fun way to express yourself, highlight a favorite song, or promote your own music. Instagram offers a built-in tool for this, though it has some limitations, and many creators use editing apps for more customization.

In this guide, you'll learn how to put lyrics on Instagram:

  • As a fan: Share favorite song lines on Stories or Reels.
  • As a music creator: Sync your own lyrics using Musixmatch for automatic display.
  • As a content creator: Enhance videos with advanced styling and effects using editing tools.

We'll cover Instagram's built-in tool, adding lyrics without music, and editing apps for full creative control.

instagram video with lyrics
In this article
    1. How to Add Lyrics on Instagram Story
    2. How to Add Lyrics to Instagram Reels
    1. Why Use Filmora to Add Lyrics to Instagram Story/Reels
    2. How to add lyrics on Instagram Story or Reels
    1. Important Limitations:
    2. Spotify vs Instagram Built-in Music Sticker:
    3. How to Add Lyrics in Instagram Story from Spotify:

Part 1. How to Add Lyrics to Instagram Story/Reels Using Built-in Tool

Instagram displays lyrics via its official partnership with Musixmatch, which ensures words are accurate and legally cleared. Music creators can submit lyrics via Musixmatch to appear automatically on Stories and Reels, boosting engagement.

For quick and simple lyric additions, the built-in music sticker gets the job done. Follow the steps below to put lyrics directly into your Instagram Story or Reel:

How to Add Lyrics on Instagram Story

Step 1: Open Instagram, tap the Plus button, then choose Story to create an IG Story. You can easily slide right to create a Story, too.
Step 2: Capture or select a media from your gallery.
Step 3: Tap the smiley sticker icon and select Music.
create a new instagram story
Step 4: Search for a song and select your favorite part of the song.
Step 5: Choose a lyric text style with your preferred look.
Step 6: Pinch to adjust the lyrics' size and position, and share them by tapping Your Story or Close Friends.
add lyrics to instagram story

How to Add Lyrics to Instagram Reels

Step 1: Open Instagram and tap the Plus button, then choose Reel.
Step 2: Choose a video from your phone gallery, or you can impromptu shoot a new one.
Step 3: Tap the add music icon and search for a song you like.
select music for instagram reels
Step 4: Use the slider to choose your favorite part of the song for your Reel. If lyrics are available, they will appear, and you can select your preferred style.
Step 5: Make some adjustments to align the lyrics on your Reel, then tap "Next" to post and share.
add lyrics to instagram reels

Part 2. How to Add Lyrics to Instagram Story/Reels Without the Music Sticker

While Instagram's built-in music sticker is fast and simple, it also comes with limitations — like missing lyrics for some songs, and restricted styling options.

You might want to explore external editing methods if:

  1. 🎵 The lyrics aren't available for your selected song
  2. This often happens with remixes, cover songs, or indie tracks that aren't supported by Instagram's music sticker.

  3. 🎨 You want more control over how the lyrics appear
  4. Instagram only offers a few preset lyric styles. If you're aiming for specific fonts, custom animations, or color schemes, you'll need more flexibility.

  5. 🎬 You want a more polished and professional look
  6. Transitions, graphic overlays, synced text effects, and animated captions can elevate your video far beyond the limitations of the built-in sticker.

In these cases, a video editing app like Wondershare Filmora can be a game-changer for adding song lyrics to your Instagram Story or Reels. The Filmora mobile app offers an impressive AI Captions feature that makes this process incredibly easy.

ai captions feature in filmora
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Why Use Filmora to Add Lyrics to Instagram Story/Reels

  • Word-for-Word Sync: You can manually time each line or word of your lyrics to match the music perfectly.
  • More Customization: Filmora lets you fully control font styles, colors, sizes, animations, and placement of your lyrics beyond Instagram's built-in tool.
  • Creative Effects and Transitions: Add extra flair with visual effects and transitions to make your video stand out.
  • Auto Highlight Lyrics: Want a karaoke-style effect? Use Filmora's Auto Highlight feature to emphasize each lyric in sync with the music.
  • Auto Translate: If you plan to use translated lyrics, Filmora can also auto-translate them.
  • No Limitations on Song Choice: You're not restricted to Instagram's music library. Use any audio you want for your video.

💡Tip: Tip: Filmora also supports desktop editing if you prefer working on a bigger screen. The desktop version offers a wide range of stylish text templates and visual effects that are perfect for creating eye-catching lyric videos.

DJ Music Party Pack Title
DJ Music Party Pack Title
Music Lover Pack Title 02
Music Lover Pack Title 02
Music Sonic Wava Title 04
Music Sonic Wava Title 04
Music Festival Invitation
Music Festival Invitation
Music Artist Pack Title 04
Music Artist Pack Title 04
Retro Vlog Title
Retro Vlog Title

No need to worry about compatibility—Filmora works smoothly on both iOS and Android. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use Filmora's AI Captions to add lyrics to your videos for Instagram.

How to add lyrics on Instagram Story or Reels

Step 1: Open the Filmora app on your mobile. Tap New Project, then import the video you want to use for your Instagram Story or Reel.
Step 2: If your video doesn't have background music yet, tap Add Music and choose Import. Then, pick a song from your Files or iTunes library to use as the background track.
import music to video in filmora
Step 3: Tap on the video track in the timeline and select AI Captions. From there, you can adjust a few key settings:
  • Language: Choose the language of your video.
  • Bilingual Captions: Enable if you want captions in two languages.
  • Audio Source: Select the audio you want Filmora to analyze.

Under AI Packaging, you can also enable:

  • Auto Highlight: Automatically emphasize each word as it plays for a karaoke-style effect.
  • AI Emoji: Add matching emojis based on the mood or meaning of the lyrics.

Once everything's set, tap Generate. Filmora will analyze the audio and create synced lyrics for your video in seconds.

enable ai captions to add lyrics
Step 4: Preview your video to ensure the lyrics are perfectly synced. You can customize the caption templates, font, color, size, and animation as you like. This is where you can truly make your video lyrics unique and boost the visual appeal!
customize the lyrics on video
Step 5: After you are satisfied, save and export your video from Filmora. Then, upload it to your Instagram Story or Reels as you normally would!
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Part 3. How to Put Song Lyrics on IG Story from Spotify

If you're listening to music on Spotify and want to share a cool lyric moment, you can post the lyrics directly to your Instagram Story. It's quick and easy, letting you highlight specific lines from your favorite songs.

sharing song lyrics Instagram

Important Limitations:

  • No background music playback: When shared via Spotify, the Story will display the lyric card, but the audio won't play. Followers can tap the “Play on Spotify” button to listen to the full track.
  • Line limit: You can select up to 5 lines of lyrics per Story. Longer lyrics will require multiple Stories or an alternative method.
  • Formatting: The lyric card uses Spotify's preset style, so font, color, and animation cannot be customized.

Spotify vs Instagram Built-in Music Sticker:

Feature Instagram Music Sticker Spotify Share
Background music playback ✅ Yes ❌ No
Lyric length Full song Up to 5 lines
Customization (font/color/animation) ✅ Yes ❌ No
Song selection Instagram library Spotify catalog
Artist submission required Optional ✅ Musixmatch sync needed for lyrics

How to Add Lyrics in Instagram Story from Spotify:

Step 1: Open your Spotify and play the song. Make sure the one you want to share is a song that has lyrics available.
Step 2: At the bottom, tap the Show Lyrics to expand the lyrics view.
Step 3: Tap the Share icon, then select the specific lines you want to post, usually up to five lines.
open the song lyrics on spotify
Step 4: From the share options, tap Instagram Stories. You'll be redirected to Instagram with a lyric card on a custom background.
Step 5: Before posting, you can personalize it by adding stickers, text, or GIFs. When you're ready, post it to your Story or share it with your Close Friends list.
Step 6: Once shared, your followers can tap Play on Spotify to listen to the full song directly in the app.
share song lyrics from spotify

Conclusion

Now you've learned different ways on how to put lyrics on IG Story and Reels. We've covered three main methods: using Instagram's built-in music feature, sharing directly from Spotify, and editing your video with tools like Filmora for more creative control.

For those who crave full customization, Filmora is a highly recommended choice. Its AI Captions feature makes synchronizing lyrics effortless. At the same time, it also allows you to truly elevate your content beyond the basics.

Experiment with these different methods to find what best suits your creative vision and helps your Instagram posts truly resonate with your followers!

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💬 FAQs About Lyrics in Stories or Reels

  • Q1: Why are the lyrics in my Story or Reel out of sync?

    Lyric timing issues often occur due to differences between the song version you're using and the version in Instagram's library. Streaming remixes or edited tracks can also cause misalignment. To fix this, ensure you use the exact version recognized by Instagram, or use editing apps like Filmora to manually adjust the timing of each line or word.

  • Q2: Are there limitations on the number of lyric lines I can display?

    Yes. When sharing lyrics directly from Spotify or Instagram's built-in music sticker, only a limited number of lines (usually up to five) can appear on your Story at once. For longer lyric passages, consider splitting them across multiple Stories or using a video editing app to create custom lyric overlays.

  • Q3: Do lyrics appear for all countries and regions?

    No. Some songs may be restricted in certain regions due to licensing agreements. If you don't see lyrics for a track, it may be unavailable in your country. You can still add lyrics manually or use editing tools to ensure your audience sees them regardless of location.

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