After Years of Silence, Instagram Stories Finally Have Music in Bahrain

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Manama: Netizens in Bahrain are reporting a significant change on Instagram, with access to mainstream copyrighted music now appearing on stories after years of restrictions.

Several Redditors said they noticed the change on Thursday while browsing Instagram stories, where music that was previously unavailable due to regional licensing restrictions could suddenly be heard. The familiar message stating “music not available in your region” appeared to be absent, allowing users to listen to popular songs featured in others’ stories.

Further checks showed that copyrighted tracks were now accessible through Instagram’s music search feature, marking a notable shift from the platform’s earlier limitation to royalty-free or non-copyrighted audio in certain regions.

Many netizens said they initially believed the development was a temporary glitch, but repeated attempts confirmed continued access to mainstream music from popular playlists.

Instagram and Meta have not yet issued an official statement confirming the change or clarifying whether the expanded music access is permanent. If confirmed, the update would mark the end of a restriction that has been in place for several years and significantly alter how users in the Kingdom create and consume Instagram content.