Now you might be thinking that Instagram Reels is rolling out to more countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Currently, Egypt is the only one that can lay claim to it.
This announcement is a bit different, and it’s taken 3+ years for Facebook to bring this to more countries worldwide. Facebook and Instagram users in the MENA region are now able to use Music on Stories. Both my friends Gazan (Qatar) and Moey (UAE) have confirmed it from their own Instagram accounts.
Previously, those who tried to access it did it using VPN and/or location changers. Neither of them will be required anymore.
Music Sticker on Facebook/Instagram
Did you ever view someone’s stories, only to see “Instagram Music isn’t available in your region”? Not any more. You just need to follow these steps:
- Simply open the camera on the Facebook/Instagram app and start recording or snap a photo. Or you can select a photo or video from your gallery.
- Tap the Sticker icon and add the Music Sticker.
- Select your preferred song, then select which part you would like to highlight on your Story and add the artist’s name and track title. If the song has lyrics available, they will automatically pop up.
- Tap through the icons to change the animation, text style and move the lyrics around, rotate or resize it like you would a normal Sticker.
Users can easily search from a library of songs and choose the one that best fits their mood. When I tapped the Music sticker, it automatically showed a few music tracks from Middle East artists. There are even two special collections like “Arabic Party” and “Essential Khaleeji”, likely to celebrate the rollout of this new sticker.
Users can also respond to some stickers with music from the library, and then share their favourites to their own Stories.
We’ll take these as baby steps towards the grand scheme of Reels being made available beyond just Egypt. To ensure you can start using Music, make sure both apps are updated on iOS and Android devices.
