Musical.ly

"Musically" redirects here. For the word in its adverb form, see music.
Musical.ly
Original author(s)
    • Alex Zhu
    • Luyu Yang
Developer(s)
    • Musical.ly Inc. (2014–2017)
    • ByteDance (2017–2018)
Initial releaseAugust 2014; 10 years ago (2014-08)
Final release
August 2, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-08-02)
Preview release
April 2014; 10 years ago (2014-04)
Operating system
SuccessorTikTok
Available in36 languages
TypeVideo sharing
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.musical.ly Edit this on Wikidata

Musical.ly (pronounced "Musically", styled as musical.ly) was a social media service headquartered in Shanghai with an American office in Santa Monica, California,[1] on which platform users created and shared short lip-sync videos. The first prototype was released in April 2014, and then after that, the official version was launched in August 2014.[2][3] Through the app, users could create 15-second to 1-minute lip-syncing music videos and choose sound tracks to accompany, use different speed options (time-lapse, fast, normal, slow motion, and epic) and add pre-set filters and effects. The app also allowed users to browse popular "musers", content, trending songs, sounds and hashtags, and uniquely interact with their fans.

In June 2016, Musical.ly had over 90 million registered users, up from 10 million a year earlier.[4] By the end of May 2017, the app had reached over 200 million users.[5]

ByteDance Ltd. acquired Musical.ly Inc. on November 10, 2017, and merged it into TikTok on August 2, 2018. At the same time, Musical.ly Inc. changed its name to TikTok Inc.[6]

  1. ^ Lin, Liza; Winkler, Rolfe (November 10, 2017). "Social-Media App Musical.ly Is Acquired for as Much as $1 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
    - "Company Overview of Musical.ly, Inc". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  2. ^ Baig, Mirza M. S. (February 12, 2018). "How did the founders of Musical.ly made $2b in 2016." Medium. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  3. ^ "How a failed education startup turned into Musical.ly, the most popular app you've probably never heard of". Business Insider Malaysia. May 28, 2016. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Dan Rys (June 29, 2016). "Fresh Off a Big Funding Round, Musical.ly Signs Its First Major Label Deal with Warner Music". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  5. ^ Dan Rys (April 28, 2017). "Musical.ly, Apple Music Ink New Partnership, With More to Come". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  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.