{"id":3084,"date":"2017-02-02T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T12:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/musical-ly-strikes-the-right-chord-with-teens-to-the-tune-of-40m-mau-and-counting\/"},"modified":"2017-03-01T15:23:26","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T20:23:26","slug":"musical-ly-strikes-the-right-chord-to-the-tune-of-40m-mau","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/musical-ly-strikes-the-right-chord-to-the-tune-of-40m-mau\/","title":{"rendered":"musical.ly strikes the right chord \u2013\u00a0to the tune of 40M MAU"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2016, Twitter killed Vine<\/a>\u00a0just as standout live streaming app, Meerkat,\u00a0was declared officially finished<\/a>. Despite the deaths of these once-hot digital companies (R.I.P. Vessel<\/a>), short-form clip creation is very much alive at musical.ly<\/a>, the world\u2019s \u201clargest creative platform\u201d and \u201cinstant lip sync\u201d app turned social network. Shanghai-based musical.ly debuted in the App Store in 2014 and has been winning ever since. Today, with over 133 million registered users and 40 million MAU[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and an estimated $500 million valuation[2]<\/a> \u2013 musical.ly is changing the\u00a0way teens communicate with one another\u00a0(roughly half of teens and preteens in the U.S. use\u00a0the app[3]<\/a>), while sending shockwaves through the music industry.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1yo0HICl2jc<\/a><\/p>\n

musical.ly\u2019s momentum shows no signs of slowing as it creates value by giving users a suite of simple creative tools, sticky\u00a0feedback mechanisms, and a\u00a0powerful\u00a0network for distribution. The app also creates value for music labels by offering\u00a0coveted access to a large and targeted\u00a0cohort\u00a0of young people\u00a0(64 percent of U.S. users are\u00a013-24)[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"musical.ly<\/a>
Source: Equities.com; musical.ly user growth – Sep 2015 to Nov 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People First<\/strong><\/h2>\n

musical.ly gives people tools to create 15-second videos\u00a0paired with songs. Users\u00a0can share videos, engage, and discover content through an engaged and thriving community currently growing at a clip of 13 million new users each month[5]<\/a>. What makes musical.ly so great? The product starts with people at its core. In 2015, the musical.ly team invested in what they call \u201ccommunity work\u201d, talking to users of the app to find out\u00a0ways to make it better,\u00a0more useful and engaging \u2013 and came up with improved editing capabilities,\u00a0a leaderboard, and \u201cBFF\u201d (Best Fan Forever) badges which borrow some of the\u00a0best features of today\u2019s most popular social sites.<\/p>\n

\"Musical.ly-Report\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Musers” Hit the Big Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n

People using musical.ly are not \u201cusers\u201d; they are \u201cmusers\u201d \u2013 and they are very loyal and increasingly obsessed with the platform. musical.ly rewards its musers \u2013 and keeps them coming back \u2013 by promoting and displaying \u201cpopular\u201d videos within the app, helping them\u00a0gain a greater following and increased viewership. In fact, musical.ly has already acted as a launchpad for its first \u201csuperstar\u201d, 13 year-old Jason Sartorius, who boasts 11M fans and recently signed a contract with United Talent Agency[6]<\/a>. musical.ly gives its musers the chance to express themselves in powerful and creative ways and, in some cases, the opportunity to hit celebrity status overnight.<\/p>\n

\"BB-fea-musically-no-hed\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Music Labels Love it, Too<\/strong><\/h2>\n

musical.ly has also found ways to unlock value for the music industry. Musers engage in what some are calling the \u201csecondary consumption[7]<\/a>\u201d of song clips, where primary consumption is streaming and downloads and secondary consumption is sampling or discovery of those songs through short-form video clips (like the ones on musical.ly). For some labels, song promotion\u00a0on musical.ly\u00a0has\u00a0led to a direct increase in streams and big bumps in sales: Aaron Bogucki at music label Republic said that he saw an 11 percent increase in streams for one musical.ly promotion and a 182 percent boost in sales for another song, \u201cOh My Love\u201d. Warner Music was the first label to sign a deal<\/a> with musical.ly to allow its library of music to be licensed for the platform, demonstrating that the company is taking a much different and more collaborative approach with the industry than some of the popular music technologies\u00a0that precede it (e.g., Napster, Pandora).<\/p>\n

Capturing Value Through its Large Audience<\/h2>\n

musical.ly\u00a0is working to quickly capture value from its fast-growing and engaged userbase. Users currently spend more time in the app per session than they do on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat and 11 million new videos are shared on musical.ly each day[8]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"161101173132-musically-users-gx-780x439\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In June 2016, musical.ly launched its first follow-on app, live.ly<\/a>, a product focused on live streaming. Only 3 months after launch, live.ly was said to have amassed over 4.6 million MAU on iOS, surpassing an\u00a0estimated 4.3 million MAU for Twitter’s live streaming app, Periscope. live.ly focuses more on interaction between people and immediate streaming as musical.ly has seen\u00a0more recent growth in the app coming from\u00a0“other kinds of videos”<\/a>. musical.ly has already seen significant crossover between its core app and livel.y, which is currently testing a virtual gifts business (musical.ly investor\u00a0Hans Tung points to\u00a0Tencent’s $200 million market cap, with a meaningful revenue stream\u00a0from virtual goods in\u00a0online games and e-commerce<\/a>).<\/p>\n

musical.ly continues to experiment with\u00a0ways\u00a0to monetize its highly engaged “muserbase”, launching test campaigns with\u00a0brands like\u00a0Coca-Cola and Lionsgate. As ads are integrated into musical.ly’s product, will users remain engaged, or will the product feel too commercial? And, as musical.ly considers the long-term viability\u00a0of its business, will the platform prove to be valuable not just to tween-targeting brands but to mainstream advertisers, as well?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> TechCrunch<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> TechCrunch<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> VICE<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Billboard<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Tech in Asia<\/a><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> VICE<\/a><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Trending Family<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

musica.ly was one of the hottest apps of 2015 and 2016 \u2013 and hasn't left the App Store Top 40 ever since. Are its 15-second videos a one-hit wonder, or are they here to stay?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1196,"featured_media":3092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[620,483,93,482,442,1073],"class_list":["post-3084","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-mobile","category-digital-music","category-live-stream","category-music-industry","category-video","category-virtual-gifts"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/digital-winners-losers\/","yoast_head":"\nmusical.ly strikes the right chord \u2013\u00a0to the tune of 40M MAU - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/musical-ly-strikes-the-right-chord-to-the-tune-of-40m-mau\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"musical.ly strikes the right chord \u2013\u00a0to the tune of 40M MAU - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"musica.ly was one of the hottest apps of 2015 and 2016 \u2013 and hasn't left the App Store Top 40 ever since. 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