In Latin America, Instagram and Facebook users will now be able to add music to the stories they upload on the social network. In a press release, Facebook’s executives announce how are the new features.
Latin America has a strong musical ecosystem, and we are happy to bring these new functions to more people.
Alvaro de Torres, Facebook executive
The service will be available in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Uruguay, Paraguay, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Nicaragua. By adding this option, the company is looking for people to find new ways to express themselves through music on Facebook and Instagram.
Among the features that users will have available are music stickers in Stories and other creative tools such as Lyrics, Lip Sync Live and the ability to add songs to the Facebook profile.
“Special moments are usually associated with music, and now people can add their favorite songs to the moments they share on Facebook and Instagram,” said Alvaro de Torres, Business Development and Partnership Leader with Music Publishers in Latin America.
How to add music to your videos on Instagram?
From today, users of the social network can add songs to photos and videos on Instagram Stories.
Instagram or Facebook users have to open the camera from one of these applications, and select a photo or video from the gallery, touch the sticker icon and add the Music sticker.
After selecting a Story, you can decide which part you would like to highlight and add the name of the artist and the name of the song. If the song has the available lyrics, it will automatically appear. Touch the icons to change the animation and style of the text, and move the letter across the screen, rotate it, or change it in size as you would do with a regular sticker.
“We have partnered with local labels, music publishers and societies throughout Latin America to ensure that the songs people love most can be added to their photos and videos, through an extensive catalog of millions of songs by national artists and international,” said Álvaro de Torres, Business Development and Partnership Leader with Music Publishers in Latin America.
What is Lip Sync Live, the new feature of Facebook?
Facebook will also have a new option for everyone who has a singer inside: Lip Sync Live. This new option allows users to interpret and double songs live on Facebook. Lip Sync Live has a wide variety of music genres available for users to make recitals that they can share with friends in real-time while following the lyrics of the songs.
To create one, users will select the “Lip Sync Live” option when starting a Live on Facebook. After choosing a song, they can also add a description and customize the video with filters or a background. During the broadcasts, the friends of the users will see the name of the artist and the song that appears in the video. They will also be able to touch the screen directly to follow the singer or musical group on Facebook.
In Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, the option of setting a song in the User Profile will also be available. Those who visit the profile may add the song to their profiles or follow the page of the singers or music groups.
Latin America, one of the regions with the highest streaming consumption
Since Despacito broke the playback records on YouTube, Latin America confirmed its importance in the music industry. The analyst Mark Mulligan of the MIDiA Research consultancy pointed out at the time the potential of the region to create musical hits. The consumption of Latin American videos makes Mexico and Brazil the second-largest markets for the Vevo streaming platform, after the United States.
However, the economic situation in Latin America has meant that the region does not take full advantage of the potential. Unlike the United States and Europe, Latin American users prefer content that is available for free.
Streaming platforms such as YouTube and Spotify have contributed to the creation of Latin American hits. YouTube has already reached a level of maturity with the number of users, so currently, its challenge is to promote interaction on the platform.
Therefore, Latin America is an important market for Facebook when trying these new functions that, also, could compete with YouTube in the consumption of content.