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2014 - 2018
Musical.ly
“Lip-synced its way into something bigger.”
- Birth year
- 2014
- Shutdown year
- 2018
- Lifespan
- 4 years
- Peak era
- 2016-2017
- Company
- Musical.ly Inc. / ByteDance
- Category
- Social Networks
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What Was It?
Musical.ly was the app where a generation learned to lip-sync to fifteen seconds of a song, with slow motion, time-lapse and filters, then shared the result with followers who called themselves fans of their favourite musers.
Launched in 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, it grew from 10 million registered users to more than 200 million by 2017. Its trending sounds and dance routines set the template for short-form video that much of the internet now runs on.
ByteDance bought Musical.ly in November 2017 and merged it into TikTok on August 2, 2018, moving every account across. The format survived; the name and the pink-and-teal app did not.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Being a "muser"
- Lip-syncing in epic slow motion
- Featured creators and their crowns
- Learning a dance from a fifteen-second clip
The Story
- 2014 Musical.ly launched after an April prototype.
- 2016 The app passed 90 million registered users.
- 2017 It reached more than 200 million users; ByteDance acquired it in November.
- 2018 Musical.ly was merged into TikTok on August 2.
How It Died
ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in November 2017 and merged it into TikTok on August 2, 2018.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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