FACEBOOK OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES INSTAGRAM REELS HERE IN AUSTRALIA
THE FEATURE COULD POTENTIALLY BE RIVAL TIKTOK
Last month, Instagram officially announced that they will be launching Instagram Reels, a new video feature in their social media app that could compete against TikTok. Today, Instagram Reels, the short-form video feature is launching across 50 countries around the world, including Australia, U.S. and other key international markets such as India, Brazil, France, the U.K., Germany and Japan. Instagram Reels builds on the familiar short-form creative video content and allows Instagram users to create and post, 15-second videos using a new set of editing tools that include options like a countdown timer, music and AR effects.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, said the plans for Instagram Reels have been in development for a while now, and the launch today of the new feature comes at an opportune time. In order to compete with the reigning short-form video social media platform, TikTok, Instagram understands the importance of utilising music in helping Instagram Reels to succeed. The company’s deals with major music record labels enables them to offer a variety of musical content, which means Instagram Reels users’ sound won’t be removed due to copyright issues.
“We think it’s really important to honor the rights of the music labels — and that’s one we’ve been working on for years now,” said Vishal Shah, Instagram’s head of Product. “We’re launching Reels now in countries where we have rights. We think that the catalog is quite deep and it has some unique content that you can’t really find, at that depth, in other platforms.”
In addition to music rights, Instagram Reels could be easily accessed via the Instagram camera. To create a new Reel, app users will just have to select the option at the bottom of the Instagram Camera feature, next to the Story feature, and the Reels editing tools will pop up on the left side of the screen. Instagram Reels will be displayed in a new dedicated tab on user profiles. If they’re published to Instagram Stories, they’ll disappear in 24 hours.
