Middle East social media users to be able to add music to their Instagram and Facebook stories

The feature will be available in the region from Monday

Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion in cash and stock. Reuters

Social networking company Facebook said users in the Middle East and North Africa will be able to use the “music on Facebook and Instagram” feature starting from Monday.

Globally launched in October 2018, the feature allows Facebook and Instagram users to add a song to their photos and videos on their stories – short user-generated multimedia collections that can be uploaded to the users’ Facebook account.

“We see music as a core part of the future of entertainment on Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook said in a statement.

“People have always come to Facebook and Instagram to express themselves and be entertained … we are focused on bringing music into the ways people share, connect and express themselves.”

Facebook's music feature was made available in Egypt, most populous country in the Arab world, shortly after its global launch. The service was an instant success in Egypt, the company said.

The company is working with creators and music partners locally as well as globally to let users “connect and share how they feel through music across the Facebook family of apps”.

To add a song to photos and videos in stories, open the camera on Instagram or Facebook or select a photo or video from your gallery, touch the sticker icon and add the music sticker.

Users can search from a library of songs, choose one and select a part they would like to highlight in their stories. If the song has lyrics available, they will automatically pop up.

The latest feature also allows users to add music to their Facebook profile. The song will be played when people visit their profile and they can also visit the artist's page by clicking on the track.

Founded in 2010, Instagram was bought by Facebook for $1 billion in cash and stock in 2012.

Today, the photo sharing app has more than 1 billion monthly users. Its Stories feature, which was introduced in 2016 to rival a similar service in Snapchat, is used by 500 million daily users.