Instagram Stories has surpassed 400 million daily active users, the company confirmed today — up from the 250 million users it said it counted last June. For comparison’s sake, predecessor Snapchat last reported 191 million daily active users, meaning that Instagram’s base is now more than twice that tally. The flagship Instagram platform counts 1 billion users.
At the same time that it shared the impressive milestone, Instagram announced the ability to add music to Stories. Now, users can browse a growing library of thousands of songs according to mood, genre, or popularity — and then fast-forward or rewind through a track to find the part of the song that they want to feature. A new Music Sticker can be accessed by tapping the Sticker button in Stories. Another option, currently exclusive to the iOS app, enables users to launch songs before recording Stories.
When Stories with music are being viewed, a tappable sticker will appear onscreen bearing the song’s title and the artist’s name. Music in Stories is currently available in select countries, Instagram says, with a global rollout coming soon.
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Instagram opted to incoropate music into Stories given that it’s a major part of the platform, with 45% of the community following a verified music account. Furthermore, three of the five most-followed accounts on all of Instagram are musicians, the company said.
