Live.ly

Not to be confused with Lively (company) or Lively.
Live.ly
Original author(s)
Developer(s)
    • Musical.ly Inc. (2016–2017)
    • ByteDance (2017–2018)
    • TikTok (2018–present)
Initial releaseiOS
July 24, 2016
Android
September 12, 2016
Final release
August 2, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-08-02)
Preview release
May 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05)
Operating system
SuccessorTikTok
TypeLive streaming
LicenseProprietary software with terms of use

Live.ly (pronounced "Lively", stylized as live.ly) was a social media live-streaming service headquartered in Shanghai, with an American office in San Francisco, California. The app was launched in June 2016 by Musical.ly and officially released globally at VidCon in July 2016.[1] On the platform, users could stream live videos for others to watch.[2] Viewers could send chat messages that the live streamer received and read in real time. Additionally, users had the option to send virtual gifts, which could be converted into real-life currency for the live streamer.[3] Users could also live-stream to their main Musical.ly account.

In 2016, Live.ly had over 40 million active users.[4]

ByteDance Ltd. acquired Musical.ly Inc. on November 10, 2017, and merged it with TikTok on August 2, 2018, leading to the shutdown of Live.ly in June 2018.[5][6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference AndrewWallenstein2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Roof, Katie (27 May 2016). "Musical.ly launches live.ly for live streaming". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. ^ Perez, Sarah (13 June 2018). "Musical.ly kills its standalone live-streaming app Live.ly". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  4. ^ Manavis, Sarah (15 May 2018). "Live.ly is the latest place for adults to extract money from kids online". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  5. ^ Spangler, Todd (13 June 2018). "Musical.ly Shuts Down Live.ly, Will Merge Live-Streaming Into Main App". Variety. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  6. ^ Kundu, Kishalaya (August 2, 2018). "Musical.ly App To Be Shut Down, Users Will Be Migrated to TikTok". Beebom. Archived from the original on October 5, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.