Wow, what a cool and original idea coming out of IG, it's been a while since something like this has happened.
Today, Instagram announced a new feature that lets users add multiple music tracks to their Reels, giving you the ability to add a variety of soundtrack elements within a single clip.
As you can see in these example screens, a single Reel can now contain up to 20 tracks, with tracks being able to be layered and combined to fit different phases of your clip.
Technically, you can do the same thing with TikTok's video editor, CapCut, but it's not designed for the same type of multi-track mixing.
This allows users to double tracks to create entirely new versions of songs to DJ, or even switch suddenly when the focus of the reels changes, or crossover between old and new versions of a song to reflect the passage of time.
There are lots of creative ways to apply this, and it's sure to spark new audio trends within apps.
Additionally, other users will be able to use the same audio you've created in their clips, and users will also have access to the full list of tracks they've added (last two frames above).
It's a good addition and, as mentioned above, an interesting and mostly original concept from the Instagram team, who seem to have taken most of their inspiration from TikTok in recent years.
This isn't necessarily a criticism — TikTok has clearly captured the zeitgeist and it would make sense for them to copy it — but it's nice to see IG take a fresh approach to an important trend, and we'll no doubt see more of the same coming.
