Instagram is expanding its ‘broadcast channels’ to launch worldwide. Here’s how they work and what that means for musicians.
In February, Meta began rolling out its broadcast channels feature on Instagram. The feature started with a test run available to a handful of creators in the US, expanding gradually to include more creators. Now the company is launching broadcast channels globally, enabling creators worldwide to reach fans with the feature.
So what are broadcast channels, and how do they work? Broadcast channels are a public “one-to-many” messaging tool enabling creators to invite all of their followers in and share text, video, and photo updates. Only creators can send messages in broadcast channels, and followers can react to content and vote in polls.
When creators gain access to broadcast channels, they can send their first message from their Instagram inbox, and their followers will receive a one-time notification to join the channel. Anyone can discover the broadcast channel and view the content, but only followers who choose to join the channel will receive notifications when there are updates.
Followers can leave or mute a broadcast channel at any time, and they can control their notifications from creators by going to a creator’s profile and tapping the bell icon before selecting “broadcast channel.” Notifications will default to “some,” but they can be changed to “all” or “none.”
Followers will not get any notifications about a broadcast channel other than the invitation notification unless they add the channel to their inbox. Once a channel is added to their inbox, it will appear among other message threads. Notifications will be turned on and function like any other chat.
Once a broadcast channel is live, creators can encourage their followers to join by using the “join channel” sticker in Stories or by pinning their channel link to their profile.
After joining a channel, followers can react to content and vote in polls, but they cannot send messages. They can share links to their favorite broadcast channels to encourage friends to follow and join.
In addition to broadcast channels launching globally, creators can invite other creators (or fans) to participate in their broadcast channel with the Collaborators function. This feature allows creators to invite special guests or collaborate easily with other creators.
New features to improve broadcast channels will roll out in the future, like adding moderators, a dedicated channels tab in the inbox, and much more.
