Guest Column: How Viral Instagram Reels Are Reshaping The Way Brands Choose Music

There was a time when brands treated music as an accessory to advertising,  a catchy jingle in the background, a Bollywood hook for recall, or a celebrity-led soundtrack attached to a big-budget television campaign. Music supported the story, but rarely was the story.

That equation has changed dramatically in the era of Instagram Reels.

Today, a 15-second audio clip can shape consumer conversations, revive forgotten songs, launch unknown artists into the mainstream and influence how brands communicate with younger audiences. In the process, viral Reels have fundamentally transformed the way marketers choose music for campaigns.

The shift is not merely technological; it is cultural.

In the attention economy driven by short-form video, audiences no longer consume music passively. They participate in it. A trending audio track is no longer just heard — it is recreated, danced to, lip-synced, memed, remixed and endlessly repurposed across millions of videos. This behavioural change has forced brands to rethink what makes music commercially effective.

The modern advertising soundtrack is now judged less by traditional composition standards and more by one critical question: Can people create with it?

That single shift has changed everything.

Brands today are increasingly selecting songs based on social momentum rather than conventional popularity charts. A track trending on Reels often carries more marketing value than a song dominating radio or streaming playlists because it already comes with audience participation built into it.

For advertisers, that is marketing gold.

When users voluntarily create content around a piece of music, the song transforms into cultural currency. Every dance trend, transition video, meme format or creator challenge effectively becomes free amplification for the brand attached to it. Music has evolved from a passive emotional layer into an active engagement engine.

This is precisely why marketers are now closely monitoring Instagram audio trends before finalising campaign soundtracks. Creative teams are studying viral sounds with the same seriousness once reserved for celebrity endorsements or television ratings.

Interestingly, this evolution has also democratised music discovery in unexpected ways.

The dominance of polished Bollywood soundtracks in brand campaigns is gradually giving way to a more diverse sonic landscape. Regional tracks, indie musicians, slowed-and-reverb edits, folk-inspired hooks and creator-generated remixes are increasingly finding space in mainstream advertising because social media audiences respond to authenticity more than perfection.

A Haryanvi beat, a Punjabi lyric, an Assamese folk fusion or a Tamil independent track can suddenly become nationally recognisable if it catches momentum online. For brands targeting Gen Z and digitally native consumers, cultural relevance often matters more than scale.

This is why companies are no longer asking only, “Who composed the song?” They are asking, “How are people using this sound online?”

In many ways, the audience itself has become the new music curator for advertising.

At the centre of this transformation lies the creator economy. Influencers and content creators now play a direct role in shaping commercial music value. Once a creator trend gains traction, brands rush to align themselves with the associated sound before the moment fades. Campaign timelines have become shorter, reactions faster and music strategy more agile than ever before.

The rise of Reels has also sparked a surprising revival of nostalgia.

Older songs and archival catalogues are experiencing massive resurgence because short-form platforms thrive on familiarity and emotional connection. A retro Bollywood track from the 1990s or early 2000s can suddenly become viral through memes, transitions or aesthetic edits, introducing it to entirely new generations of listeners.

For music labels, this has transformed legacy catalogues into powerful digital assets. Every trending Reel creates new monetisation opportunities through streaming spikes, licensing deals, branded integrations and user-generated content. Songs that were once considered dormant intellectual property are now driving measurable digital revenue.

This explains why companies like Saregama are thriving in the creator economy. Nostalgia is no longer just emotional memory — it is scalable business strategy.

However, the rise of viral music marketing also presents new challenges.

Virality is unpredictable. Trends move rapidly and often disappear within days. Brands now face pressure to remain culturally relevant without appearing opportunistic or disconnected from their core identity. Chasing every trending sound can dilute brand messaging if not handled carefully.

Music licensing has also become more complex. As branded content increasingly integrates viral audio, conversations around copyright ownership, royalties, fair compensation and creator attribution are becoming central to the business of digital advertising. The industry is still adapting to a landscape where music can spread globally within hours through user-generated content.

Yet despite the uncertainties, one thing is undeniable: Instagram Reels has permanently altered the relationship between music, culture and marketing.

Brands are no longer simply buying songs. They are buying participation, internet behaviour and emotional relatability. The success of a campaign today often depends less on how loudly a brand speaks and more on whether audiences choose to engage with its soundtrack voluntarily.

In the short-form video era, music is no longer background noise.

It is the campaign language itself.

And increasingly, the next big advertising strategy may not begin in a corporate boardroom or an expensive studio session — but in a viral Reel created by someone with a smartphone, a trending sound and perfect timing.

(Jyotsna Koundal Joshi,Head of Strategy & Analytics at JioSaavn)