Instagram has confirmed that a flaw in its music recommendation system caused Creed’s 1999 hit “Higher” to be suggested far more often than intended, turning the post-grunge anthem into a persistent soundtrack for users’ Stories and posts (regardless of the content.) or users music taste.
Carmeb on X shared that they “Posted on Instagram about how Instagram always tries to make me add Higher by Creed to my stories and it turns out it’s happening to other people. I feel like I’m uncovering a big conspiracy. Theo algorithms want us to love creed”
For weeks, users reported that whether they were uploading a photo of a cat, a sunset, a car, or nearly anything else, “Higher” kept appearing among the suggested tracks. This sparked jokes and mild conspiracy theories online. One user typed on X in August, “I can’t prove it but pretty sure Creed is paying META to suggest their song ‘Higher’ on all Instagram Stories.” Others said they felt like they were uncovering an algorithmic obsession or an accidental promotional campaign.
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, looked into the complaints and recognised the issue. A spokesperson told CNN that the company “looked into this and found that this song is being recommended to more people than intended.” The engineering team is examining the root cause and working on a fix, though the company has not detailed the specific technical problem.
In a lighter moment, the same spokesperson mentioned, “That song is always recommended to me too!!” when discussing the Creed suggestions. Music recommendations on Instagram typically draw on signals such as songs a user has previously selected and visual information from the photos or videos being shared. In this case, those usual factors apparently did not limit the song’s reach as expected.
“Higher,” the lead single from Creed’s multi-platinum album Human Clay, was a defining radio-rock track around the turn of the millennium. It peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the band’s signature songs. Its (forced) resurgence on Instagram has given the track a new, if unintended, moment in the spotlight more than 25 years later.
Instagram hasn’t announced a timeline for a fix, but the company says its engineers are actively addressing the problem. In the meantime, many users keep encountering the song.
Have you noticed this bug when sharing on Instagram? and if you had it your way what song would you force everyone to listen to?
