Audio and music can improve engagement in your videos and give users a reason to follow you, but knowing where to start is sometimes difficult. In this guide, I'll show you five ways to add music to your videos on iOS and Android.

1 Instagram - For Posting Your Video

If you're posting Instagram Reels, I recommend using the Instagram app to add music to your videos. You can access several popular songs along with some less commonly used ones. It also doesn't take too much time.

Here's how to add music to your videos on Instagram (you can do so on both iOS and Android):

1. Open the Instagram app and go to the + icon at the bottom of your screen.
2. Select Reel and choose the video(s) you want to use.
3. Tap Next.
4. Select the audio icon. Choose the song you want to add to your video.
5. Tap Done, edit your content, and publish it.

If you want to learn more about Reels, check out our full Instagram videos guide. You'll learn about how long your videos can be, how to see who liked your content, and much more.

2 CapCut - Quick and Easy

As great as Instagram is for publishing videos, the obvious drawback is that you can only use the above steps to post content on that platform. If you want to share your videos elsewhere, CapCut is a great alternative that you should take a look at. I've used CapCut to create videos on YouTube, and you can use it to post on TikTok and many other apps.

Follow these steps to add music to your videos in CapCut:

1. Go to Edit and select New project.
2. Choose the videos you want to add to your project. Then, select Add.
3. Tap Audio at the bottom of the next screen and then select Sounds.
4. Choose the music you want to add to your video. You can listen to the preview and select the + button.
5. Tap the music clip to change the song duration, volume, and anything else that you think needs adjusting.
6. When you're ready to export your video, select the icon with a line and upward-facing arrow. CapCut will then export the video to your camera roll.

CapCut's free version is more than good enough for most users, but if you're a big video editor, you may want to upgrade. See this guide about whether it's worth upgrading to CapCut Pro if you're thinking about doing that.

Download: CapCut for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

3 Premiere Rush - For Adobe Creative Cloud Members

If you're already an Adobe Creative Cloud member, I recommend looking at Premiere Rush. You can easily add music to your videos on iOS and Android with even a free plan, and you'll find plenty of tracks plus a variety of editing effects. Whether you want to edit vertical short-form videos with Premiere Rush or create long-form content, these tips will get you the results you want.

1. Select Create New Project, choose Videos, and pick the clips you want to import.
2. Give your project a name and then select Create. Within a few seconds, Premiere Rush should populate your new project. Once it has, tap the + button.
3. Select Audio.
4. Expand Soundtracks and choose the song you want to import. If you see a star in a purple circle, you'll need a premium subscription. However, you can use everything else.
5. Press Add when you've found the song you want to import. You can tap the play icon for a preview to ensure that the track fits your video's mood.
6. Line up the audio with your video. You can use the scissor icon to cut the audio and move it to your trash if it's too long.
7. When you're happy with how everything looks, tap the icon with the arrow in the top right-hand corner before selecting Export.

As you edit more videos, you may want to choose from different video editing apps. I suggest looking at the differences between Premiere Rush and Premiere Pro to make a better choice.

Download: Adobe Premiere Rush for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

4 iMovie - For iPhone Users

iMovie was the first-ever video editing software I used, and if you have an iPhone, it's an easy way to add music to your footage. You can add both videos and still images to your project, making it great for posting short-form social media videos and even full-length content for YouTube. iMovie is completely free to use for Apple devices.

Here's how to add music to your videos with iMovie:

1. Select Movie under Start New Project, choose the media you want to import, and select Create Movie.
2. Tap the + icon and select Audio.
3. Tap Soundtracks or My Music, depending on your preference.
4. Download the track you want to add and then select it to play a preview.
5. If you like the song, tap the + button.
6. Tap the audio on your timeline to change the sound and cut any sections if needed.
7. Select Done and export your video when you're happy with everything.

If you want to make your videos look more impressive in iMovie, you can use the Mac app and learn how to speed up or slow down videos using iMovie on your computer.

Download: iMovie for iOS (Free)

5 InShot - An Alternative for iMovie

If you don't have an iPhone (or you simply don't like using iMovie), InShot is a viable alternative. The app is available on iOS and Android, and you can add tracks to your videos even with the free version.

Follow these instructions to do that:

1. Select Video. If needed, allow access to your camera roll.
2. Choose the video clips you want to add to your content by tapping them and then selecting the tick icon.
3. Wait for InShot to import your footage. When it's done that, select Music at the bottom of your screen.
4. Select Music again.
5. Pick your preferred song and download it. Select Use if you liked it enough when previewing.
6. Edit the volume and clean up your footage before exporting.

If you want to make more complex edits with InShot, check out this guide on how to edit your videos with the InShot mobile app.

Download: InShot for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

If you use music with InShot, you need to add the song and musician info if you're going to share your video publically—you can copy this from the app. You'll also have the InShot watermark on your videos unless you upgrade to the paid version.

Regardless of whether you have an iPhone or Android device, it's very easy to add music to your videos. Social media platforms, like Instagram, often let you include music from within the app. However, you can also use third-party tools. The best tool is whichever one you enjoy using the most, but each of these will do the job you're looking for.