Instagram apologizes for Creed “Higher” recommendation glitch

Instagram told CNN it looked into repeated suggestions of Creed's 1999 hit "Higher" on users' Stories and found the song was being recommended to more people than intended. A spokesperson said the company is continuing to investigate while engineers work on a fix. CNN first reported the comments. The track was the lead single from the album Human Clay and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Users posting on X in August and September 2026 described seeing the song on unrelated posts and joked that Creed was paying Meta or that they were uncovering a conspiracy. Communications specialist Pamela Ross told CNN it appeared every time she posted anything to her Story, such as a dinner plate or her cat, and said she is not following or listening to Creed. Instagram normally bases music recommendations on past song choices and the content of uploaded photos or videos. Some users also flagged Soulja Boy's "Turn My Swag On"; Instagram said that recommendation is not a bug and the song is actually popular on the platform. No factual dispute appears in the record over Instagram's account. The company has not said why the song was over-recommended. The investigation is ongoing. Rated coverage was limited to left-leaning outlets; no center or right-rated headlines appear in the record.