TikTok And Musical.ly Combine To Create New Global Short-Form Video Platform

TikTok and Musical.ly, two of the world’s fastest-growing short-form video apps, announced on Thursday that they have merged to create a new global app in a push to expand their audience.

TikTok, a short-video sharing platform, and Musical.ly, a karaoke app, have become one giant platform, sporting a new logo, an updated user interface, and greater capabilities for video creation under the TikTok name. The new app will combine elements of both apps with a feed that "highlights the users' community," the company said in a press release.

Its new "For You" feed will show users a personalized list of videos recommendations based on their preferences. The app also comes with a "reaction" feature that allows users to react to friends' videos directly from their phone. Its interactive gesture filter will now include a funhouse mirror camera effect. Several "VR-type filters," that are activated by blinking, and "green screen-like" background effects will also be made available.

"TikTok, the sound of a ticking clock, represents the short nature of the video platform," said Alex Zhu, co-founder of Musical.ly and Senior Vice President of TikTok, in the release. "We want to capture the world's creativity and knowledge under this new name and remind everyone to treasure every precious life moment. Combining Musical.ly and TikTok is a natural fit given the shared mission of both experiences..."

The new TikTok app is available for users to download in the App Store or Google Play stores. Those who already use Musical.ly will get TikTok when they update the current app, the company said.

The merger announcement comes after Musical.ly's closed its standalone live-streaming app Live.ly in June. According to Tech Cruch, that decision was a result of Chinese company ByteDance's acquisition of the video-sharing app for around $1 billion in 2017.

Musical.ly, which is particularly popular among teens in the U.S., has around 100 million users, according to Tech Crunch. Meanwhile, TikTok, which was created in 2016, claims 500 million active monthly users.