Why do songs make my Instagram story blurry?
Many Instagram users have noticed that when they add a song or other audio to their Instagram story, the visuals can become blurry or pixelated. This frustrating issue seems to happen randomly and can diminish the quality of Instagram stories.
There are a few main reasons why adding music to an Instagram story can cause blurriness. The most common causes have to do with file compression, differences in bitrate and resolution between the visuals and audio, errors in transcoding, and problems with Instagram’s audio optimization systems. This article will explore these technical causes in more depth and offer solutions to try to fix blurry Instagram stories.
Copyright Restrictions
Instagram does not have the rights to all music and therefore has restrictions on which songs can be used in posts and stories without being blocked or muted. As stated in Instagram’s help center, “There are some limitations on including music in video posts and in Stories in order to respect music copyrights.” https://help.instagram.com/629037417957828 This means that uploading videos or stories with full-length copyrighted songs may get blocked or have the audio removed.
These copyright restrictions often lead Instagram to compress or alter the audio in posts and stories, resulting in a loss of quality. As explained by Epidemic Sound, “Using too many full-length recorded tracks may limit your ability to broadcast live or lead to muted/partial music uploads.” https://www.epidemicsound.com/blog/how-to-use-copyright-music-on-instagram/ To avoid copyright issues, many Instagram users resort to short snippets of songs, cover versions, or royalty-free music. But this can diminish the audio experience. The restrictions place limits on which high-quality songs can be used in their original form.
File Compression
When uploading videos to Instagram Stories, Instagram compresses the video files in order to reduce file size and optimize for streaming on mobile devices. According to research from Videoproc, Instagram compresses video files that are larger than the recommended dimensions and bitrates. This compression leads to a reduction in video quality and resolution.
The amount of compression applied depends on the size and quality of the original source file. The larger the initial file size and higher the bitrate, the more Instagram will need to compress the video to meet its specifications. This significant compression can result in noticeable quality loss, including blurriness, pixelation, and artifacts.
To avoid heavy compression and quality loss, it’s recommended to export videos at optimal dimensions and encode videos at bitrates suitable for Instagram prior to uploading. Reducing video file size while maintaining visually lossless quality allows videos to be uploaded with minimal compression needing to be applied.
Bitrate Differences
Bitrate refers to the amount of data processed over a certain amount of time, measured in bits per second (bps). Audio and video files contain encoded data, and the bitrate determines the quality – higher bitrates allow for better quality audio and video.
Music files often have a higher bitrate compared to standard video files optimized for Instagram. For example, an MP3 music file may have a bitrate of 320 kbps, while an Instagram video has an optimal bitrate of around 3,500 kbps. This means the music file is trying to process more data per second than the video file was designed for.
When you add a high bitrate music track to an Instagram video, it can cause quality issues. The high bitrate audio crammed into a lower bitrate video container results in a poorer quality video with distorted or muffled sounding audio. There simply isn’t enough bandwidth in the video file to maintain the full quality of the music track.
To avoid quality loss, it’s recommended to use audio with a lower bitrate of 128 kbps or less when editing videos for Instagram. This more closely matches the video bitrate and prevents compression artifacts in the final render (source).
Transcoding Errors
One potential cause of blurry or distorted audio when adding songs to Instagram stories is errors that occur during transcoding. Transcoding refers to the process of converting a media file from one format to another. When uploading to Instagram stories, the original audio file may need to be transcoded into a compressed format optimized for mobile streaming. However, transcoding can introduce compression artifacts, especially when converting between lossy formats like AAC and MP3. These artifacts can manifest as blurry, distorted, or lower quality audio [1]. Even slight generational loss during transcoding can accumulate over repeated conversions, progressively degrading audio quality.
Additionally, some codecs may not properly transcode on certain devices or platforms. For example, TrueHD or EAC audio can trigger internal transcoding errors on Plex media servers [2]. Instagram may struggle to transcode less common or legacy audio formats as well. Using widely compatible codecs like AAC or MP3 can help avoid format-related transcoding issues.
Audio Optimization Issues
One key reason behind blurry audio on Instagram Stories is that Instagram’s algorithm is optimized for video, not audio. As this Adobe article explains, Instagram recommends video at a bitrate of 3500 kbps and AAC audio format. However, while this provides high visual quality, the audio suffers in comparison.
Instagram heavily compresses audio to save on file size during uploads. Their focus is on having video look great, at the expense of having crisp, clear audio. As noted on Quora, “Instagram compresses all uploaded video, aiming to reduce file sizes.” This compression leads to degraded audio quality on Instagram Stories.
So in summary, Instagram’s video optimization works against having optimized, high-quality audio. Their algorithm and compression favors video over audio in Instagram Stories. This fundamental platform limitation makes it difficult to have songs sound perfect in Stories.
Solutions
There are a few solutions to avoid having blurry or distorted music when adding songs to Instagram stories.
First, be selective about the songs you choose. Pick songs that are not overly compressed or noisy. Songs with complex production and layers of effects tend to get distorted when compressed. Opt for simpler acoustic songs or tracks mastered specifically for streaming.
Second, do some editing to the song before uploading it. Using an audio editor, try compressing the song to a lower bitrate like 128kbps. This lower bitrate version may hold up better to Instagram’s compression. You can also try normalizing the volume and reducing any overly loud sections.
Finally, pay attention to the file format. .mp3 and .m4a files tend to work best. Avoid files with DRM restrictions that prevent sharing. And make sure to export the file properly for the correct bitrate and quality settings.
Following these tips will help you add high-quality music that sounds great in your Instagram stories. Take the time to prepare the audio file beforehand, and test it out to ensure it comes through clearly on the platform.
Other Platform Comparisons
When comparing music quality on Instagram Stories to other platforms, there are some key differences.
On Reddit, users report that music on Instagram Stories has better quality than Spotify. This is likely due to differences in compression and bitrates, as Spotify prioritizes smaller file sizes for streaming while Instagram focuses on quality for short video clips.
TikTok is known for high quality audio in videos. As noted on TikTok, music quality on Facebook stories is often reduced compared to TikTok. TikTok optimizes audio for clarity in videos, while Facebook heavily compresses audio for storage and bandwidth reasons.
Overall, Instagram seems to strike a better balance for music quality versus file size than streaming platforms like Spotify. However, dedicated video platforms like TikTok are still superior in providing crystal clear audio. But for short social media stories, Instagram’s audio quality is reasonably good.
Instagram’s Statement
Instagram has acknowledged that users sometimes experience blurry videos or audio issues when adding music to Stories. In an official statement, they provided the following information on the problem and suggestions for workarounds:
Instagram said compression and downsampling of audio files can potentially cause quality issues. When music files are uploaded and added to Stories, Instagram transcodes them to ensure efficient delivery over mobile networks. This process can result in audible artifacts or blurring.
To help avoid quality loss, Instagram recommends users upload high bitrate audio sources, such as lossless files if possible. They also suggest avoiding re-encoding media multiple times before uploading. Using music platforms that cater to social media sharing may provide files pre-optimized for Instagram.
If quality issues persist, Instagram said adjusting audio levels, trimming silent sections, or using different music may help. Their engineers are working to improve transcoding and deliver the best experience when adding songs to Stories.
While acknowledging the problem, Instagram reiterated that some music loss is unavoidable given technical constraints. They recommended contacting the rights holders of any protected content if quality impacts the intended user experience.
Conclusion
In summary, there are a few main reasons why songs may become distorted or blurry when used in Instagram Stories.
The most common factors are copyright restrictions forcing compression and lower bitrates, transcoding errors when uploading, and Instagram’s audio optimization issues.
The key takeaways are:
- Instagram compresses audio to decrease file sizes.
- Lower bitrate audio is more prone to artifacts and distortion.
- Converting between audio formats can introduce audio glitches.
- Instagram’s algorithms optimize audio for speech, not music.
To avoid quality loss, consider sharing short song clips or snippets optimized for social media. Also try using music platforms like Spotify for sharing songs instead.