Instagram's new sonic identity is already upsetting users

Instagram announced a new sonic identity for its Reels section yesterday, via a dedicated post showcasing the project and the final sound. Comprised of one single sound and a soundtrack, the team apparently tested "a variety of different sounds" until they landed on something "simple and iconic" to accompany Reels of all kinds.

As brands are becoming more multi-sensory (these audio logos are a great example), we can expect to see auditory branding more often, and we are totally in for it. Audio is a great way of cementing your brand in people's minds or ears). And indeed, Instagram has promised to roll this strategy out across its platform, presumably with other sounds and soundtracks being released in time. The problem? People think they haven't landed on quite the right vibe here. See the project below and read on for more.

The sound starts with a kickdrum (to symbolise creativity), and then sort of vibrates until it ends a second later. But, as people have said in the comments on the post, it sounds an awful lot like a juddering 'error' sound.

"OHHH so that's why the end of this reel i downloaded had this sound lmao i thought it was a downloading error," said one user. And another agrees, "This gives me really strong "fatal error" warning message vibes".

It really does sound like that. As with all design, context is everything – and this kind of sound has definitely been heard as an error message on digital devices (which is of course where Instagram lies). Hear how it compares to traditional Windows error noises below.

The frequency of which you'll hear the sound is to be taken into account – if this is to be played at the end of every Reel a user watches, it would be easy for any sound to get irritating. One user highlights this issue, stating "to hear this all the time would not be pleasant," asking them to "please reconsider". To be fair to Instagram, in this case it would have been hard for any audio to have worked – though I do think the descriptions of "jarring" are accurate for the sound itself.

A major challenge for the Instagram team, as described in the Instagram post, was making a soundtrack that could fit in with Reels of all types "from serious to inspiring to funny". While I think they've nailed two out of three, I'm not sure I can imagine this soundtrack fitting with a serious, tragic, sad, nostalgic or wistful Reel.

Instagram isn't the only brand to be going multi-sensory this week, see Mastercard's haptic logo , which we think is (mostly) genius.