Social Network launches its first ever official community

Instagram announced the launch of a new official community on its service dedicated to only music and musicians which will be under the handle @music.

This represents the first time the company will ever create a dedicated account devoted to a single subject, says the Facebook-owned social site in a blog post.

The idea was borne out of activity on Instagram itself, as one-quarter of the most popular accounts are from musicians or music related.

“The music community is — and always has been — an important part of Instagram. For the past four years, we have become the home for artists big and small — a place where people across the musical spectrum come to share stories, reveal their creativity and connect directly with fans,” Founder and CEO Kevin Systrom wrote.

The new @music community will be headed by Instagram music editor Alex Suskind and will cover a very wide range of topics related to music, including all types of artistes, both up-and-comers as well as intruments, studio sessions, concerts and so on.

Instagram also says there will only be six posts per week on this account and they will be grouped into series designated by specific hashtags.

The “community” aspect aims to get @music followers to participate actively not just in the comments section, but also with a new music-themed monthly hashtag project, says the company.

The @music community kicked off its launch yesterday with its first feature on Questlove. Unlike many Instagram posts, which are mostly just a simple video or photo and quick comments, the community contributions will involve long-form content.

Instagram affirmed that it didn’t intent to lauch any other verticals at this time or run ads on the @music account. Rather, the company said, @music is an expansion of Instagram's long-running editorial function.