Imagine stumbling upon a talented artist whose sonic vibes align perfectly with your own. Eager to embark on a collaborative venture, you pitch the idea—only to discover they don’t have access to Instagram Music.
It’s a familiar and frustrating hurdle that many of us have encountered. If you’re a music aficionado like me, then you understand that the journey of collaborative creativity often comes with its fair share of highs and lows.
So, in this blog post, we’ll shed light on the challenges posed by the unavailability of Instagram Music. Tune in now to see our 7 easy fixes so you can get things going within 5 minutes!
Why does it say “can’t collaborate because they don’t have access to Instagram music”?
Here’s a quick rundown of the usual culprits whenever the collaboration feature fails because you can’t access Instagram music.
- You have an outdated Instagram app
- The collaboration feature is unavailable in your region
- Instagram is malfunctioning because of bugs and glitches
- You’re using original audio in your post
- You don’t allow others to tag your account
How to Fix “Can’t Collaborate Because They Don’t Have Access to Instagram Music”
The solutions below address the error message “can’t collaborate because they don’t have access to Instagram music” error message. Plus, these methods will also unlock this feature if it’s unavailable in your app.
FIX 1. Change your Instagram account type
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 7 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 35 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
You can’t collaborate with one another if you don’t have access to Instagram music because it’s essential for this feature to work. However, fixing this problem can be tricky since various factors can cause this to happen.
One such factor is your selected account type, which can cause an error preventing you from accessing your music. Often, this issue will occur when users use or switch to a business account on Instagram.
When this happens, you can only fix it by reverting to a personal Instagram account. However, it’s important to note that the opposite may occur, so you might need to switch from personal to business, personal to creator, or business to creator.
Step 1: Go to Instagram. Note: Sign in using your login information if you haven’t already. |
Step 2: Tap your Instagram profile icon. |
| Step 3: Open the hamburger menu (triple horizontal lines).  |
Step 4: Click “Settings and privacy.” |
Step 5: Click “Business tools and controls” |
Step 6: Click “Switch account type” |
| Step 7: Select an account type and check whether it fixes the issue.  |
FIX 2. Stick to songs from the Instagram Music Library
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 25 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
Sometimes, the collaboration will fail, not because you don’t have access to Instagram music. Instead, this problem can occur if you select an original audio or recording you created that isn’t from the platform’s music library.
Doing this as an artist makes sense since you want to share your work and introduce your music to others. However, it’s important to note that the audio option on Instagram reels doesn’t let you upload original music.
Thus, playing your music in the background as you record your reel is the only way around this limitation. Of course, we don’t recommend this for the collaboration feature because you must use audio from Instagram’s music library to make it work correctly.
FIX 3. Change your Instagram privacy settings
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
Changing your Instagram account’s privacy settings is essential if it’s causing the collaboration feature to work. In particular, collaborations will fail when the other person can’t tag your account, resulting in the music malfunctioning.
Thus, an error pop-up will appear telling you that the other person “can’t collaborate because they don’t have access to Instagram music.” Fortunately, solving this issue is easy since you only need to reconfigure your account’s privacy settings.
The collaboration feature should work without issues once you allow others to tag your Instagram account. You have control over who can tag you on Instagram, whether it’s everyone or only your followed accounts.
| Step 1: Go to Instagram. Note: Sign in using your login information if you haven’t already. |
| Step 2: Tap your Instagram profile icon. |
| Step 3: Open the hamburger menu (triple horizontal lines). |
| Step 4: Click “Settings and privacy.” |
Step 5: Click “Tags and mentions.” |
| Step 6: Allow tags and mentions from other accounts.  Note: You can set this permission to work only on people you follow. |
FIX 4. Log out and sign back in
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 25 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
Similarly, app errors can cause the collab feature to malfunction, proving it’s not always because you don’t have access to Instagram music. Sometimes, it might happen due to a faulty app or an error during your initial sign-in.
An excellent solution for this problem is to log out of your Instagram account so you can sign back in afterward. This method is reliable against minor bugs and errors, but it might not be effective against more complicated root causes.
Here’s how to do it:
| Step 1: Go to Instagram. Note: Sign in using your login information if you haven’t already. |
| Step 2: Tap your Instagram profile icon. |
| Step 3: Open the hamburger menu (triple horizontal lines). |
| Step 4: Click “Settings and privacy.” |
| Step 5: Scroll to the bottom and click the logout option.  |
Step 6: Click Save to keep your login information. Note: This step isn’t necessary, but doing so will make your sign-in faster. |
| Step 7: Click “Log out” to return to Instagram’s sign-in screen.  |
Step 8: Select your account to sign back in. Note: If you didn’t save your login information, you must re-enter them to log into your Instagram account. |
FIX 5. Clear Instagram’s app cache
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 7 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 35 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone |
Speaking of app errors, accumulating cached data can make your Instagram malfunction. It’s especially true when the temporary data the app stores in its cache storage becomes corrupt.
Cached data, by default, should improve device performance. Yet, it may have the opposite effect once it turns corrupt, explaining why you keep getting the “can’t collaborate because they don’t have access to Instagram music” error message.
Clear your Instagram’s app cache by following these steps:
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Go to Apps. |
Step 3: Click Manage Apps. |
Step 4: Select Instagram. |
Step 5: Click Clear Data. |
Step 6: Click Clear Cache. |
Step 7: Click OK to delete Instagram’s app cache. |
FIX 6. Update Instagram
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
If you’re sure you’re using a faulty Instagram app, you can update it to its latest version and use it in its optimal condition. Like the previous solutions, the update process will improve the device’s performance.
This action will also fix recurring bugs and errors from the older version of the Instagram app, making this an ideal solution. Here’s how to quickly update your app:
Step 1: Open your device’s default app store. |
Step 2: Go to the search bar. |
Step 3: Type and search for the Instagram app. |
| Step 4: Click Update to download and install Instagram’s latest version.  Note: If you see an Open button beside Instagram, it’s up to date. |
FIX 7. Reinstall Instagram
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 25 seconds |
| Things Needed | Any smartphone A working internet connection |
If updating Instagram doesn’t fix the collaboration error, you can reinstall the app to resolve this issue. This way, you can address any installation problem causing your app to misbehave and its collaboration feature to fail.
This action also ensures you get the latest app version since you’re installing it fresh from your app store. Upon successful reinstallation, you should no longer encounter the error preventing collaboration because you can’t access Instagram music.
| Step 1: Go to Settings. |
| Step 2: Go to Apps. |
| Step 3: Click Manage Apps. |
| Step 4: Select Instagram. |
Step 5: Click Uninstall. |
| Step 6: Click OK to remove your Instagram app.  |
| Step 7: Return to your device’s home screen and open its default app store. |
| Step 8: Go to the search bar. |
| Step 9: Type and search for the Instagram app. |
Step 10: Click Install to reinstall the Instagram app. |
FAQs about the Instagram Collab Feature
This error appears when Instagram’s music library becomes inaccessible for various reasons. It can be due to an app error, incorrect privacy settings, or your current account type.
Instagram won’t let you collaborate with users that don’t allow others to tag their accounts. Additionally, you can’t use this feature if it’s unavailable in your region.
An outdated Instagram app won’t have the option to add music to your posts because it lacks this feature. You must update the app to access all its available features.
The collaboration feature is available once you update your Instagram app to its latest version. You must enable others to tag your account before you can send and receive collaboration requests.
