Musical.ly has officially come to an end as of Thursday, August 2nd. Users will now be transitioned to TikTok, a comparable short-form video-sharing app owned by Chinese internet giant Bytedance. This decision to merge Musical.ly’s audience with TikTok follows Bytedance’s acquisition of Musical.ly in November 2017 for a reported sum of up to $1 billion.
All existing Musical.ly user accounts, content, and followers will be seamlessly transferred to the new TikTok platform, as confirmed by the company. Bytedance has stated that TikTok boasts 500 million active monthly users globally, leading to the decision to unite Musical.ly and TikTok into a single entity.
In June, Musical.ly ceased operations of Live.ly, its live-streaming companion app, and advised users to transition to Cheetah Mobile’s LiveMe, a similar app that received a $50 million investment from Bytedance.
Musical.ly initially served as an application that allowed users to record themselves lip-syncing to songs and audio clips. It quickly gained popularity, particularly among tween and teenage girls in the United States. In an effort to expand its appeal as a social-video platform, Musical.ly updated its features and formed content partnerships with Viacom, NBCUniversal, and Hearst Magazines Digital Media to produce original short-form series.
Bytedance, the company behind TikTok, stated that the upgraded app combines the best elements of both TikTok and Musical.ly. It includes a feed that showcases content from a user’s community and provides personalized video recommendations based on their viewing preferences.
Alex Zhu, co-founder of Musical.ly and senior VP of TikTok, expressed that merging the two platforms was a natural fit, as they share the common goal of creating a community where everyone can be a creator.
Bytedance also announced that TikTok will introduce new creator programs to offer technical support, performance insights, and guidance on growth strategies.
Upcoming features for TikTok include a “reaction” feature, allowing users to respond to their friends’ videos, as well as enhanced creative tools like interactive gesture filters and “fun-house mirror camera effects.” Additionally, greenscreen-like background effects will be introduced.
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