It’s Not Just You: Instagram Has Been Pushing Creed’s ‘Higher’ on Everyone’s Stories But Doesn’t Know Why

If you posted a photo of your dog, a dinner plate or a caesar salad to your Instagram Story lately and the app suggested Creed’s “Higher” to go with it, you weren’t imagining things. A company spokesperson told CNN the team “looked into this and found that this song is being recommended to more people than intended.” The company is still investigating, she said, and its engineering team is working on a fix. Her first response, when she was asked about it, was a little less official: “That song is always recommended to me too!” Users have been noticing for weeks. “I can’t prove it but pretty sure Creed is paying META to suggest their song ‘Higher’ on all Instagram Stories,” one person wrote on X in August. In September, another posted that they had found out it was happening to other people and said, “I feel like I’m uncovering a big conspiracy.” A third said Instagram “almost had me this time” with a caesar salad. Instagram is supposed to pick songs the same way it recommends everything else, weighing signals like which songs you have used before and what is in the photo or video you have selected. Nothing about a cat or a plate of pasta should point to a 1999 rock radio staple. Pamela Ross, a communications specialist, said it happened every time she posted anything to her Story, “like a dinner plate or my cat or whatever.” She told CNN, “I’m not following Creed, I’m not listening to Creed. Like what millennial was in charge of this decision?” Instagram’s answer is that nobody was. It was a mistake, and it is being fixed. Creed is not the only song people have been side-eyeing. Some users also flagged Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag On” for showing up more often than seemed plausible. Instagram says that one is working as designed: “The Soulja Boy song being recommended is not a bug, and it is actually popular on IG!” So the Soulja Boy suggestions reflect real demand, and the Creed suggestions were a mistake. If your Story has spent the past few weeks trying to go “Higher,” that was Instagram’s doing, and nothing about your taste put it there.