How useful are the new Instagram and Facebook Reels updates for artists?
Image Credit: Instagram
Meta says new Reels updates mean making content on Instagram and Facebook is easier for creators, letting them sync Reels to music and more. How can creators like musicians best use the tools?
Changes to Reels on Facebook and Instagram are coming. With video such a huge part of social media consumption now, any tools that make creation easier are welcome for creators, including indie artists who handle their own social media promotion.
So what’s changing, and will it be useful for creators? For artists, updates to Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels offer more opportunities to get creative with promoting music content. Let’s explore.
A Facebook Reels on desktop update
Creators will be able to use desktop to make Reels, editing, scheduling and publishing them in-browser through Creator Studio.
New tools will let creators edit down their longer videos into Reels on desktop. Say you’re an artist with a recording of your latest concert – cutting that down into short shareable clips should now be a lot easier.
Voiceovers for Facebook Reels and more
Creators can now narrate over the top of videos with a voiceover tool for Facebook Reels.
There’s also new text-to-speech tools too. You can also choose a digital voice to read out any text you have in your Reels.
Learn how to sync Reel to music on Facebook
New Sound Sync feature lets you match up your videos to the beat of a song.
This is valuable for musicians creating content. Sync up your video clip with your music for a professional looking Reel.
If you’ve used RouteNote to put your songs on the Facebook and Instagram sound libraries, you can pick your own song to use as a soundtrack!
Add Stickers to Instagram Reels
The latest update lets creators add Stickers like polls, quizzes and emojis to Reels, just like you already can on Stories. Meta hope this will encourage more interaction with Reels as opposed to passively scrolling through different content.
Instagram Reel templates
You can now use other Reels as a template for your own Reel. Templates let you match the format of a clip, resulting in a more professional looking Reel.
If you’re struggling to get started making video content – something that’s expected of artists nowadays – this is a great place to start.
Adding audio to Instagram Reels
You can now import your own audio straight into your Instagram Reel. Import Audio lets you add audio from your device’s camera roll.
For artists, that could mean adding a clip of an acoustic cover of one of your songs, or an explainer of how you made a track.
Longer Instagram Reels
Over on Instagram, Reels are now officially 90 seconds long. This means artists can showcase more of their new release, for example.
It’s no secret that Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is chasing TikTok’s growth by focusing on short video creation. Most of the new updates closely copy TikTok video tools.
As always for artists, using whatever new tool a social media platform has launched is a clever strategy as the algorithmic overlords will notice and reward you with better exposure.
Learn everything you need to know about using Instagram as an artist here.