Snapchat's new Sounds lets users songs with their Snaps and Stories

Snapchat on iPhone
Snapchat on iPhone (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Snapchat has a new feature that lets people put music to their Snaps and Stories.
  • If that sounds similar to TikTok, that's because it is.
  • The feature debuts with an exclusive preview of Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco's new song.

Snapchat is still a thing and it's getting a new feature today. Sounds, as it's known, will let users put music to their Snaps and Stories, according to a report.

Only available for those using iPhones according to Variety, the new feature debuts with an exclusive – a preview of Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco's new song "Lonely." The song itself won't go live until later today.

With Sounds on Snapchat, users of the iOS app worldwide can add music to their Snaps (pre- or post-capture) from a curated catalog of music. Snapchatters can add music before recording video by selecting the Sounds tool (with the music notes icon) on the right-hand side of the Camera screen and choosing a track from the Featured Sounds list. Alternately, they can select a track from the Sounds tool after taking a Snap.

Snapchat's parent company, the unimaginatively-named Snap, has signed agreements with labels that will allow it to use actual songs, similar to how TikTok allows people to put songs over their videos. Those agreements include big names in the music space, as well as independent labels.

Snap now has multiyear agreements with major and independent music publishers and labels, including Warner Music Group, Merlin (including its independent label members), NMPA, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Kobalt and BMG Music Publishing. Notably missing from Snapchat Sounds for now is Sony Music Entertainment.

Snapchat is also said to be testing a feature that will allow users to create their own sounds and then add them to Snaps.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.