How To Add Music To Your Snapchat Messages

The newest Snapchat update might not be a big one, but it's definitely an upgrade. This week, the app company announced that users would be able to add music to Snapchat videos directly from their phone. Previously, any streaming music would stop playing when the Snapchat app opened in order to give the user access to the microphone — but with the update, pairing the perfect theme song with your latest cat-Snap video has become easier than ever. But exactly how do you add music to Snapchat messages?

It's a simple enough process. Prior to sending a message, users should choose a song from a music app like Spotify, Soundcloud, or an iTunes library. Once it's playing, all that's needed is to start recording the video as usual (perfunctory air punches and head-banging are optional). The only drawback might be the volume. If it's not playing loudly enough, it might not register — or the opposite, it might be overwhelmingly loud and drown out any dialogue. But aside from the minor bugs, the new update should run smoothly and allow users to create some seriously awesome videos.

Unfortunately for Android users, the newest update isn't available just yet, but iOS users should see the change right away.

Unlike the message app Dubsmash, any music in a Snapchat video is grabbed directly from the audio and laid over the recording like soundtrack, rather than embedded from an available selection of tunes. And when you're finished recording your video, you still have to exit the app and pause whatever music you were streaming in order to watch the preview (unless you're gutsy enough to just send the video without checking it for awkward background noises first). So it's not exactly perfect yet — but it's definitely a good first step.

A few reviewers have reported some hiccups when trying out the update for the first few times. Tech site The Next Web detailed an issue with the app crashing when trying to add the music videos to their Stories aggregate, and Business Insider reports that there's really no way to control the timing of the music itself, so users are forced to scramble back into the app if they're looking to start recording at a specific point in a song.

The newest update is suspected to be a response to an app by rival startup company Mindie, which allows users to create 10-second music messages by recording a short video and then layering in music from an approved library. Previously, Mindie users were able to post their videos to their Snapchat Story feed, but as of last Thursday, Snapchat had closed down the integration, prompting Mindie founder Gregoire Henrion to lash out at the app company in a statement to Business Insider:

Obviously Snapchat has been afraid of us. ...We grew to over 100,000 new users organically in just a few days when the Snapchat sharing feature was integrated. That's the main reason they shut us down.

In its defense, Snapchat released a statement saying that the cut-off was simply in response to concerns over third-party applications that have, in the past, allowed hackers getting their hands on user photos.

Whatever their reasoning, Snapchat's latest update should go off without any major glitches — and that's a wonderful thing for users itching to start piecing together miniature music videos of their dog pretending to mow the lawn or buy a coffee.

Images: Maurizio Pesce/Flickr; Getty Images (2)