How to Find Trending Sounds on Instagram Reels (and Go Viral!)

Introduction

Want your Instagram Reels to go viral? Then you need to be using trending audio. But how do you find trending sounds? And how do you even know which audio is currently taking off? Don't you worry, we got you. Let's dive in.

Manual Search

The first is by Manual Search. Now, this method of finding trending sounds can take a little bit of time, but I mean, if you're already spending an hour every day scrolling through Reels, it should be no problem. 

All you need to do is open up Instagram and scroll the Reels Explore page. You'll know the song is trending when you see this little “Trending” arrow beside the song. When you click on the song, you'll see where the audio comes from, how many Reels have been made with it, and all the Reels that have used it.

If you like this sound, I'd recommend saving the audio so that you can come back to it later. Or, if you're ready to film, just click the "Use Audio" button and you'll be able to automatically use the audio in Reels.

Later’s Reels Trends Blog

The next way, which is our personal favorite – no bias, of course – is by bookmarking Later's Instagram Reels Trends blog. This blog post is a massive timesaver. Instead of manually searching for Reels, you can refer to Later's weekly Reels Trends blog post. 

Each week, our team of social media experts updates the blog with the top Instagram Reels trends. They also talk about how you can incorporate them into your strategy, so you can easily come up with how to incorporate the reel with your niche. You can find the link to that resource in the description.

Instagram’s Weekly Trend Reports

The third way to find what's trending is Instagram's weekly trend reports. If you're not following the @Creators account on Instagram yet, do yourself a massive favor and just give them a follow.

Every Friday, they share the top Instagram Reels trends, and they also share a ton of general Instagram tips, including facts about the algorithm and Instagram hacks.

TikTok Trends

The fourth way to find what's trending on Instagram is ironically on TikTok. What's trending on TikTok may not necessarily be trending on Instagram Reels, but it's still worth a look. At Later, we've actually spotted that TikTok trends appear on Reels weeks later.

I recommend taking a look at TikTok's Discover page to see what's trending there. However, if you want to jump on a trend that might be a little bit more niche, I'd recommend using the search bar on the Discover page on TikTok. All you need to do is enter “Trending Sounds” and from there, you can click the filter button at the top right and filter to this week. This will bring out videos from creator accounts that focus on sharing the top trending sounds and they'll usually also share how you can use these sounds. 

Once you find a TikTok trend that you love and want to try on Reels, make a note of the song and artist and search for the audio on Instagram to see if it is featured in any Reels.

Repurposing TikToks for Instagram Reels

For example, we wanted to re-purpose this TikTok for Instagram Reels. I may note that the original sound came from Netflix and the main line of the TikTok, “I did not have time for this”. I then went to Reels, typed in hashtag #IDidNotHavetTimeForThis, and was actually able to find the audio. 

And good news, the audio was also trending on Reels and had around 16,000 Reels featuring it, meaning that it was a great opportunity to jump on the trend and get featured on the Reels Explore page.