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<ul class="summary-list"><li>As <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>'s future in the US remains uncertain, short-form video-making apps and formats <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-competitors-capitalizing-instagram-reels-youtube-byte-dubsmash-2020-7">have emerged as competitors eager</a> to attract some of TikTok's 100 million monthly US users.</li><li>One such competitor is <keyword id="6370373" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dubsmash">Dubsmash</keyword>, a European-born app for creating lip-syncing videos. The app has been around since 2013, but hasn't reached the same levels of success as some of its rivals.</li><li>The Information <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facebook-snap-held-talks-to-buy-tiktok-rival-dubsmash">reported Wednesday</a> that both <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> and <keyword id="24754" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="snap">Snap</keyword> had "recently" approached Dubsmash about a potential acquisition. The talks went as far as to discuss a pricetag for the app "in the hundreds of millions of dollars," according to the report.</li></ul><p>Facebook and Snap both recently approached a TikTok-like platform expressing interest to acquire it for "hundreds of millions of dollars," <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facebook-snap-held-talks-to-buy-tiktok-rival-dubsmash">according to The Information</a>.</p><p>The app in question is called Dubsmash, a social platform for creating lip-syncing videos that has been around since 2013. Facebook and Snap's interest in a rival video-sharing app comes as TikTok faces off against the Trump administration's threat to ban the app next month.</p><p>Dubsmash and other video-sharing platforms have recently seen boosts in downloads and user numbers as TikTok's 100 million monthly users in the US prepare for a future without the viral app. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-everything-we-know-about-video-app-future-in-us-2020-8">TikTok is currently facing an executive order</a> from Donald Trump that bans "any transactions" as of mid-September with the app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Although <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/can-trump-ban-tiktok-no-legal-experts-cfius-alternative-options-2020-7">it's unlikely a nationwide ban</a> will be implemented, the threat to TikTok has been enough to send users into a panic about where to make videos and find their favorite creators.</p><p>The Information reports that although Dubsmash's acquisition talks with Snap and Facebook occurred in "recent weeks," the discussions are no longer active.</p><p>A Snap spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement, "We admire the team but aren't in active talks to acquire." Facebook cited company policy of not commenting on "rumor or speculation," but confirmed they're not in "active discussions" with Dubsmash. Dubsmash did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.</p><p>Meanwhile, Facebook and Snap have been working on their own features drawing from TikTok's popular format. Earlier this month, Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-reels-tiktok-competitor-short-video-us-launch-explainer-2020-7">launched Instagram Reels</a> in the US, while <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-tiktok-feature-play-music-over-videos-2020-8">Snap started to roll out</a> a music-overlay feature for videos.</p><p>Dubsmash was an early adopter of the audio-based, video-splicing format later made popular by TikTok. As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/the-original-renegade.html">reported by the New York Times</a>, Dubsmash is where some of the internet's most viral dances have originated, before spreading to TikTok and getting picked up by the platform's most popular creators.</p><p>However, Dubsmash has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-competitors-capitalizing-instagram-reels-youtube-byte-dubsmash-2020-7">not seen the same level of success</a> as TikTok, nor rivals like Triller and Likee. Sensor Tower indicates Dubsmash has been downloaded around 2 million times in the last six months, and had only <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/31/dubsmash-songs/">one-third of TikTok's lifetime installs</a> in January.</p><p>Dubsmash was originally founded in Germany, but the app's creators restarted the company from the ground level in 2017, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/31/dubsmash-songs/">TechCrunch reported</a>. Dubsmash established itself in Brooklyn with a team of around a dozen employees, and has raised $20 million from investors — although it's receieved no funding since last year, according to PitchBook.</p>

Facebook and Snap both reportedly inquired about acquiring TikTok rival Dubsmash

<br /> In the last one year or so, if there is something that has gone viral in India is the selfie video app <keyword id="6370373" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="dubsmash">Dubsmash</keyword>. Everyone, from Bollywood celebrities to Indian cricketers and even the politicians have made these videos and released them online, which is why the makers of the app have listed India as one of its top global markets.<br />
<br />
"I can definitely tell you that India would definitely be within our top ten markets globally. Also in terms of activity, it is one of the strongest markets in Asia," Roland Grenke, cofounder of Dubsmash, told ET in a telephonic conversation.<br />
<br />
The app was founded by Grenke, Jonas Druppel and Daniel Taschik, and was launched in November 2014. In a short span of less than 1.5 years, it has expanded its presence to 192 countries, and has had more than 75 million downloads on the Google Play Store.<br />
<br />
Grenke added that even though Indians love Dubsmash, a lot of effort goes into making the sound snippets because of the diversity of Indian culture and languages. The app currently supports around 20 languages, and can be seen gaining popularity in countries like Germany, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Russia.<br />
<br />
Dubsmash is based out of Berlin and employs 21 people from 15 different nationalities. Their team even includes "two and a half" Indians, given that one of them was born in the US but has an Indian background.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://showboxandroidapk.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Dubsmash-Free-for-Android-Photo.jpg"><em>Image source</em></a><br />

India’s love for drama makes it a top market for selfie video app Dubsmash

<br /> When was the last thing you heard about Snapchat being the coolest thing to do? Seriously, you couldn’t have been more wrong about this! That either means you don’t know about <keyword id="6370373" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="dubsmash">dubsmash</keyword>, or you have stopped watching the new apps that are setting the smartphones on complete laughter mode. After all, dubsmash has gone viral in the recent times, and the videos generated using this app are super hilarious!dubsmash? Any average person with some penchant for <keyword id="52355" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="humour">humour</keyword> will dig dubsmash. That means, almost every smartphone user who has access to apps can use this.<br />
<br />
The universality of dubsmash has not only given vent to scores of talents, famous or not-so-famous, giving them a window to showcase their own talent to themselves, and also to the world. Now, wouldn’t this world be a better place if we stop taking ourselves so seriously, and stop for a moment to share laughter and fun times with friends, even at our own expense?Dubsmash is all about searching for your favourite line from a wide range of films, Hindi or Hollywood or even music videos and lip syncing to create a hilarious effect. Founded by German developers Jonas Druppel and Roland Grenke and Daniel Taschik, dubsmash has been so far downloaded by more than 10 million users worldwide!dubsmash believes in ‘good things come in small packages!’<br />
<br />
AIB that took the entire film fraternity come together to laugh and let laugh, dubsmash is about laughing—at self and others too!dubsmash big time. And the result of this newfound love is simply enjoyable to say the least. If you have not watched Priyanka Chopra – Ranveer duo, Sonakshi and Salman’s show, and Alia Bhat shrieking like a child while the beautiful Shruti Hassan impersonate Gabbar Singh with quirky expressions, you are truly missing some genuine fun in life.<br />
<br />
Chulbul Pandey, this is your chance to do it. And if you do it extremely well, the world may even get to watch it when you upload it to the net!favourite dialogue like ‘hum to madira nahi peete hai ji…’ of Sridevi from Chaalbaaz, and lip sync it to your heart’s content while recording your expression simultaneously. Once the 10-12 sec video is done, just share this pure joy with anyone you like!dubsmash fever which has been more than addictive. This is somewhat narcissistic too, in keeping with the actors’ professions!<br />
<br />
dubsmash is pretty hard to analyze right now. Today, it is just feeding a fever that was more like the ice bucket challenge or the blue and black or gold and white dress challenge that even got the celebrities involved and broke the Internet while the challenge lasted.<br />
Dubsmash has been around since the last couple of months and those videos are nothing else but pure joy.<br />
<br />
Kollywood and Tollywood (Tamil and Telugu) have also given into the new-found addiction. dubsmash has recently found way into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s den too! A youth successfully dubsmashed a bit of Modi’s style of statements on ‘desh’.<br />
<br />
dubsmash exists for the next 100 years. But for a country that is plagued with more problems than solutions, dubsmash is easily one of the most entertaining ways of keeping oneself amused. And film actors or politicians are not an exception to this. Who knows, in the coming days, you may even hear someone dubsmashing minister Smriti Irani or Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a comic relief!<br />
<br />
The only hope towards sanity is humour, and none other than Bollywood knows it well. Hope the rest of India also takes a break and has a hearty laughter.<br />
<br />
(Image credits: economictimes.com)

Dubsmash: From Berlin to Bollywood,
lip-syncing has gone viral like never before

<br />
<br /> If you haven’t heard of an app called <keyword id="6370373" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="dubsmash">Dubsmash</keyword>, you are missing out on a lot of fun in life. Lip syncing while famous songs and dialogues run in the background is surely a fun pastime.<br />
<br /> It seems like our <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> celebrities are not in a mood to miss out on this fun app. With the Dubsmash fever running high, we have enjoyed some really cool snips by celebrities.<br />
<br /> The latest celebrity to have joined the bandwagon is none other than <keyword id="6354526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Alia-Bhatt">Alia Bhatt</keyword>.<br />
<br />
The cute actress, who is riding high on commercial and critical success ever since her first movie, can be seen lip syncing on the vintage Polo ad in her Dubsmash video.<br />
<br />
In the video she is seen along with her best friend Akanksha Ranjan, daughter of Anu and Shashi Ranjan from the Indian Television Academy,<br />
and the video has already gone viral. Thanks to the cuteness it comes loaded with!<br />
<br />
You can have a look at the video here.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4">
	
		
			<br /><br />
		
		<p>
			<a href="https://instagram.com/p/2OaPwVDFvR/" target="_top">Omg! This video is so cute and funny!😂😍 #aliabhatt @aliaabhatt @akansharanjan</a></p>
		<p>
			A video posted by Alia Bhatt FC!💕 (@aliabhattobsessed) on</p>
		<time datetime="2015-05-03T15:41:01+00:00">
			May 3, 2015 at 8:41am PDT</time>
	
</blockquote>
<br /> In the past, we have seen several actors, like <keyword id="106133" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ranveer-Singh">Ranveer Singh</keyword>, Priyanka Chopra and <keyword id="62210" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonakshi-Sinha">Sonakshi Sinha</keyword> making Dubsmash videos.<br />
<br />
We loved when Sonakshi Sinha acted like a total badass and mouthed the famous dialogue of her father Shatrughan Sinha.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4">
	
		
			<br /><br />
		
		<p>
			<a href="https://instagram.com/p/2uxGa7ldK7/" target="_top">Found one of dads dialogues this is too cool!!!!! A #dubsmash a day, keeps the boredom away... And you entertained 😜 #badass #shotgun #mereapne #chhenu #dialoguebaazi #crazy #fun</a></p>
		<p>
			A video posted by Sonakshi Sinha (@aslisona) on</p>
		<time datetime="2015-05-16T05:16:25+00:00">
			May 15, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT</time>
	
</blockquote>
<br />
The role-reversal cum movie promotion by Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra also left us in splits.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4">
	
		
			<br /><br />
		
		<p>
			<a href="https://instagram.com/p/2JFygRF8wj/" target="_top">Two much dysfunction in one dubsmash!! @priyankachopra</a></p>
		<p>
			A video posted by Ranveer Singh (@ranveersingh) on</p>
		<time datetime="2015-05-01T14:06:03+00:00">
			May 1, 2015 at 7:06am PDT</time>
	
</blockquote>
<br />
All videos are fun to watch, but we can safely say that grumpy Alia takes the cake.<br />

What makes Alia Bhatt grumpy?

<p>Ever wonder how celebrities like <a href="https://instagram.com/p/09gp4lCYns/">Kevin Hart</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/p/4vc3HDDKAm/?taken-by=caradelevingne">Cara Delevigne</a>,&#xa0;and <a href="https://instagram.com/p/1ol5IGhRhf/">the Kardashian sisters</a> create their perfectly timed lip sync videos?&#xa0;</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">They're all using an app called </span><a href="http://www.dubsmash.com/">Dubsmash</a>,&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">an app that lets you record videos of yourself lip syncing to&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">sound clips ranging from pop songs, to famous movie lines, to viral YouTube videos.&#xa0;<span>More than 3 million posts have been uploaded to Instagram using the hashtag #Dubsmash, some of these coming from celebrities.</span></span></p><p>Check out Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara using the app to dub a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpL6_0OBuA">goat-inspired YouTube edit of Taylor Swift's hit song "Trouble."</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p><div><div></div></div><p>&#xa0;</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In March, Rihanna used the app to tease the release of her latest hit "</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-jokes-nyse-down-glitch-better-have-my-money-2015-7">B---- Better Have My Money</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">," </span><a href="http://mashable.com/2015/03/26/rihanna-bbhmm-dubsmash-app-r8/">Mashable reported</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>Unlike other social media apps, Dubs are not shared within the app itself. Instead, users can send them as messages to friends and upload them as videos on a number of platforms, such as Vine, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.&#xa0;</span></span></p><h2><strong>How to use Dubsmash&#xa0;</strong></h2><p><strong>First, open the app and select the audio you want to use for video. </strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You'll see lots of trending categories, such as "Chick Flicks," "Popular TV," and "Rap."</span></p><p><span>For my video, I selected the "Chick Flicks" category.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Next, you'll see a list of different audio clips.</strong> Tap the play icon on the left-hand side of each title to listen to the clip.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Once you've decided on the perfect clip, tap the title once.</strong>&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I chose "On Wednesday, we wear pink," an infamous line from the 2004 movie "</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/">Mean Girls</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">."</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>This is where you'll record your video.</strong> Position yourself in front of the camera and prepare to film.</span></span></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Once you're ready, t</span></span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>ap the "Start" button at the bottom of the screen to begin.</strong> You can use the audio waves at the top of the screen as a guide to perfectly time your recording.&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>&#xa0;</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>When you're done recording, the app will play your Dub back to you.</strong> If you didn't quite nail it, tap the "X' in the upper left-hand corner to try again. </span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you're pleased with your work, <strong>tap the "Next" button to share your creation.&#xa0;</strong><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This will give you several options for sharing your Dub. You can send Dubs to your friends through Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, or as text messages.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I chose "Save to Camera Roll," so I could upload my Dub as a Vine.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></span></p><p><strong>Here's a look at the finished product.&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></strong></p><p>&#xa0;</p><div><div></div></div><p>&#xa0;</p><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></strong></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/brittany-wright-kitchen-instagram-2015-6">This photographer got 100,000 Instagram followers by arranging food in a very particular way </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JoYm9sdTozzUVSYKE7t-XmgkOhIafM-C" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

People are completely obsessed with Dubsmash, the lip sync app that's taking over your Instagram feed

<p class="source"><span>Noam Galai/Getty Images; John Phillips/Getty Images for TechCrunch</span></p><p class="caption">YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, left, and TikTok global head Alex Zhu.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>YouTube is reportedly planning to launch a shortform video-sharing feature before the end of 2020 designed to rival the viral platform TikTok, The Information reports.</li><li>The feature, called "Shorts," will live as a feed inside the existing YouTube mobile app, meaning users can make use of YouTube's licensed music and songs.</li><li>TikTok, which is just over two years old, is nearing 2 billion downloads worldwide. The app has exploded in popularity and influence, especially as a launchpad for memes and Generation Z culture.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>YouTube reportedly plans to launch a shortform video-sharing feature inside its mobile app by the end of 2020 in an attempt to make a dent in the surging popularity and impact of TikTok.</p><p>The feature is called "Shorts," and will live within YouTube's existing mobile app, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/youtube-plans-shorts-to-rival-tiktok">according to The Information</a>. It seems the feature will mimic to concept of TikTok: a feed of super-short videos that act as an alternative to longer vlogs and clips that appear on YouTube.</p><p>With <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-nears-2-billion-installs-coronavirus-2020-3">nearly two billion downloads</a>, TikTok has become the go-to launchpad for memes and internet culture since it was launched by Chinese-based company ByteDance <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">in September 2017</a>. When TikTok debuted in the US just under a year later, it became the next best thing for creators yearning for a replacement for Vine since Twitter shut it down in 2016.</p><p>But Shorts may be able to pose a real threat with its roots tied to YouTube, the most popular video-sharing platform in the world that's been around for more than 15 years. Because Shorts will exist inside YouTube's app, users will be able to harness the established platform's extensive library of licensed music and soundtracks when making videos. It also means that YouTube won't have to convince users to download another app onto their phones to use Shorts, and  creators who have built up millions of subscribers on their existing YouTube channels won't have to convince their fanbase to migrate over to another app for more content.</p><p>US-based companies and startups have made several attempts at their own apps to take on TikTok, but none have been able to reach the level of popularity that TikTok has achieved and is continuing on which to build. The only similar platform to have found comparable success in the US is Musical.ly - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">which ByteDance acquired in 2017</a>, then shut down a year later to merge into TikTok.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-launched-tiktok-competitor-called-lasso-2018-11">Facebook released a TikTok competitor</a> in November 2018 named Lasso, but little has been heard from the app since its debut. Vine's cofounder launched an app called Byte in early 2020, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/byte-app-download-numbers-vine-popularity-tiktok-competitor-2020-1">has seen some initial succes</a>s in download numbers but has yet to birth any internet stars or viral memes. Triller, advertised as a music-discovery app, <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/10/24/tiktok-rival-triller-funding-round/">is banking on partnerships</a> with major music labels to rival TikTok. Although lip-syncing app Dubsmash has been instrumental in launching some TikTok-famous dances - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/the-original-renegade.html">notably, the "The Renegade"</a> - it has only around one-third of the US downloads of TikTok, according to Sensor Tower data <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/31/dubsmash-songs/">provided to TechCrunch in early 2020</a>.</p><p>Google, YouTube's parent company, was rumored to be in talks to acquire a TikTok competitor called Firework, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-weighs-acquisition-of-rival-to-video-app-tiktok-11570213344?utm_source=Triggermail&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20bii-digital-media:%20Google%20considers%20buying%20TikTok%20competitor%20%7C%20Apple%20bundle%20tests%20poorly%20among%20music%20labels%20%7C%20BBC%20revamps%20iPlayer%20interface&amp;utm_term=BII%20List%20DMedia%20ALL">Wall Street Journal reported in October 2019</a>. It's unclear where those discussions are at now, but they could have been dropped now that YouTube is planning to release Shorts sometime this year.</p><p>"We don't comment on rumors or speculation," a YouTube spokesperson told Business Insider.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/stories-slide-deck?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=socialmedia&amp;itm_campaign=stories-slide-deck"></a><br /><br />Featured Social Media Articles:<br />- <a href="/influencer-marketing-report">Influencer Marketing Industry</a><br />- <a href="/social-commerce-report">Social Commerce</a><br />- <a href="/ar-in-social-media-report">AR in Social Media</a></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-covid-19-social-distancing-looks-from-maxar-satellite-2020-3">How social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic looks from a satellite</a></h3>

YouTube is reportedly planning to launch an in-app rival to viral video-sharing app TikTok before the end of 2020

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Trump administration recently said it's considering placing a ban on <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>, the viral app with ties to <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> through its parent company, ByteDance.</li><li>In the wake of the threatened ban, competing short-video apps — like Dubsmash, Byte, and Triller — have seen an uptick in their download numbers as TikTok users prepare to migrate to other platforms.</li><li>The situation has also opened a window for tech companies, including <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword> and Instagram, to roll out new formats and features reminiscent of TikTok in the hopes they can eat into the app's dominance. </li></ul><p>The imminent threat of TikTok disappearing from the US thanks to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-considering-banning-tiktok-2020-7">the Trump administration's suggestion</a> of a ban has signaled panic among users, and tech companies are taking advantage of the chaos to lure the app's loyal following to their competing platforms.</p><p>In just the past week, up-and-coming platforms such as Byte — a product of Vine's cofounder — and Dubsmash, best known for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/the-original-renegade.html">housing the original "Renegade" dance</a>, have risen to the top of app charts. And more established tech giants including <keyword id="6358096" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="snapchat">Snapchat</keyword> and YouTube have debuted new features — all which heavily borrow from TikTok's short-form video and scrolling format. </p><p>The day President Trump threatened to ban TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-considering-banning-tiktok-2020-7">what he said was punishment for the coronavirus</a>, competing apps that have historically dwindled in TikTok's mainstream shadow saw their download numbers spike dramatically. Byte saw an 126% jump in downloads on July 8, and took No. 1 on the App Store's charts, after generating an average of 1,000 new downloads a day, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-users-focus/tiktoks-u-s-users-prepare-for-life-without-the-video-app-idUSKCN24F13A">Data provided to Reuters</a> showed noticeable spikes in downloads for Dubsmash, Triller, and Likee. </p><p>Established tech companies no longer see TikTok — with an estimated <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-banning-chinese-social-media-app-tiktok-security/story?id=71647269">US userbase at as high as 80 million</a> — as a rising startup, and instead recognize it as a worthy competitor. Big names like Facebook and Google had toyed with creating TikTok competitors in the past, but have only just recently started rolling out viable products. <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/18138167?hl=en">YouTube has started</a> testing its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-tiktok-rival-shorts-video-sharing-app-google-firework-2020-4">in-app feature for short-form video</a> with a "small group" of people, and developers have discovered <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/13/snapchat-tests-tiktok-style-navigation-for-exploring-public-content/">Snapchat could be switching</a> out its horizontal swiping motion for TikTok's signature vertical swipe.</p><p>Instagram, meanwhile, is currently testing a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-testing-new-tiktok-style-video-feature-reels-brazil-2019-11">new TikTok-like format inside of Stories</a>, called <keyword id="4114693" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="reels">Reels</keyword>, in select countries. Although Reels is not yet available in the US, Instagram told Business Insider it rolled out the feature last week in India — a country that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-india-china-ceo-kevin-mayer-ban-employees-first-test-2020-6">makes up 30% of all TikTok downloads</a>, and where the government recently banned new TikTok downloads amid a border dispute with China.</p><p>Although a ban on TikTok in the US may be nothing more than a threat, <a href="https://www.insider.com/tiktok-ban-united-states-creators-worry-influencers-2020-7">creators have formulated</a> contingency plans, and are encouraging fans to follow them to other platforms. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-video-views-like-counts-at-zero-disappeared-glitch-2020-7">A timely glitch</a> last week that briefly made video views and like counts reset to zero only added to the panic. </p><p>Since TikTok <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7#to-trace-the-history-of-this-incredibly-popular-short-form-video-sharing-app-its-important-to-note-that-tiktok-didnt-start-as-tiktok-6">came to the US in 2018</a>, it's been a dominant force, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-hits-15-billion-downloads-outperforming-instagram-2019-11">outperforming US-based apps</a> that have attracted younger audiences, like Snapchat and Instagram. The app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">has since faced scrutiny</a> over how much access and influence the Chinese government is afforded over user data and content moderation. TikTok has been able to brush off lawmakers' calls for investigations and national security experts' warnings. In June, TikTok <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-india-china-ceo-kevin-mayer-ban-employees-first-test-2020-6">appointed a US-based CEO</a> in June to try to distance itself from its Chinese roots.</p>

TikTok's under pressure from the US government, and competitors like Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram are capitalizing on the app's uncertain future

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> has surpassed 2 billion all-time global downloads across iOS and Android devices, <a href="https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-downloads-2-billion">according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower</a>.</li><li>The accomplishment comes on the back of a record-setting Q1: TikTok saw 315 million installs, which Sensor Tower reports is the most downloads any app has ever had in a single quarter.</li><li><keyword id="798358" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="social-platforms">Social platforms</keyword> across the board have seen a surge in popularity in recent months, as people under coronavirus-related lockdown adjust to staying at home and find new ways to connect with others.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>TikTok has now surpassed 2 billion downloads on mobile devices after seeing a surge in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>The video-sharing app already had a monstrous start to 2020, attracting 315 million new installs since January, according to <a href="https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-downloads-2-billion">app analytics firm Sensor Tower</a>. That reportedly is the most downloads any app has ever gotten in a single quarter.</p><p>TikTok, known for the viral, short-form videos its users create, has seen a surge in popularity in the last several months as countries were placed under lockdown orders and people continue to adjust to <keyword id="6360041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="life">life</keyword> indoors. Users have filled TikTok with light-hearted content providing an alternative to coronavirus-related news, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/tiktok-doctor-dances-viral-portland-oregon-hospital-2020-4">doctors taking dance breaks</a>, people sharing <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/tiktok">DIY fashion</a> and home renovation projects, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/coronavirus-birthdays-creative-ideas-tiktok-2020-3">quarantined families</a> <a href="https://www.insider.com/boyfriend-proposes-family-watching-on-video-call-in-viral-tiktok-2020-4">making creative uses</a> of <a href="https://www.insider.com/tiktok-themed-dinners-caitcanoe-derek-princesses-hooters-airplane-2020-3">their time at home together</a>.</p><p>TikTok's 315 million first-quarter downloads dwarfs numbers out of other platforms, but social apps across the board have seen significant boosts in usage and downloads since the pandemic started. In Q1, Facebook accrued 186.1 million mobile downloads, and Instagram saw 151.8 million installs.</p><p>TikTok has become the go-to launchpad for memes and <keyword id="1532112" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="internet-culture">internet culture</keyword> since it was launched by the China-based company ByteDance <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">in September 2017</a>. When TikTok debuted in the US less than a year later, it became the next best thing for creators since Vine, the video-sharing Twitter shut down in 2016.</p><p>The 2 billion downloads mark comes <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-hit-1-billion-downloads-surpassing-instagram-in-2018-2019-2">just over a year after</a> TikTok reached 1 billion downloads globally. It took the app nearly 1.5 years to reach its first billion. </p><p><div type="image" title="tiktok sensor tower 2 billion downloads" height="930" width="1450" msid="75480909" hostid="261"></div></p><p>US-based companies and startups have made several attempts at their TikTok competitors, but none have been able to reach the level of popularity that TikTok has achieved and is continuing to build upon. The only platform to have found comparable success in the US was Musical.ly — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">which ByteDance acquired in 2017</a> before shutting it down a year later to merge it into TikTok.</p><p>Most recently, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/youtube-plans-shorts-to-rival-tiktok">The Information reported</a> that YouTube is working on Shorts, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-tiktok-rival-shorts-video-sharing-app-google-firework-2020-4">an in-app feature</a> for shortform video-sharing. Google, YouTube's parent company, had also previously been rumored to be in talks to acquire a TikTok competitor called Firework, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-weighs-acquisition-of-rival-to-video-app-tiktok-11570213344?utm_source=Triggermail&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20bii-digital-media:%20Google%20considers%20buying%20TikTok%20competitor%20%7C%20Apple%20bundle%20tests%20poorly%20among%20music%20labels%20%7C%20BBC%20revamps%20iPlayer%20interface&amp;utm_term=BII%20List%20DMedia%20ALLDMedia%20ALL">Wall Street Journal reported in October 2019</a>. </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-launched-tiktok-competitor-called-lasso-2018-11">Facebook released a TikTok competitor</a> in November 2018 named Lasso, but the app has remained quiet since its debut. Vine's cofounder launched an app called Byte in early 2020, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/byte-app-download-numbers-vine-popularity-tiktok-competitor-2020-1">has seen some initial success</a> in download numbers, but has yet to birth any internet stars or viral memes. Triller, advertised as a music-discovery app, <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/10/24/tiktok-rival-triller-funding-round/">is banking on partnerships</a> with major music labels to rival TikTok. Although lip-syncing app Dubsmash has been instrumental in launching some TikTok-famous dances — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/the-original-renegade.html">notably, the "The Renegade"</a> — it has only around one-third of the US downloads of TikTok, according to Sensor Tower data <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/31/dubsmash-songs/">provided to TechCrunch in early 2020</a>.</p>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-2-billion-downloads-record-setting-q1-sensor-tower-2020-4">Business Insider</a>

TikTok surpasses 2 billion downloads and sets a record for app installs in a single quarter

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword>, Facebook's <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> rival, is launching in the US Wednesday. It provides users with another way to share content with their followers — in the form of super-short, spliced-together, soundtrack-based videos.</li><li><keyword id="819905" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Instagram">Instagram</keyword> Reels launched first in Brazil in late 2019, and has since been rolling out to countries like Germany, France, and India. Wednesday's launch will extend Reels' presence to the US, UK, and more than 50 other countries.</li><li>The launch comes as TikTok's 100 million American users worry about the app's ban in the US. President Donald Trump has stepped up threats to ban TikTok due to its ties to China.</li></ul><p>Instagram Reels is launching Wednesday in the US to provide users with another way to share content with their followers — in the shape of super-short, spliced-together, soundtrack-based videos. The launch comes just as TikTok's loyal fanbase is engulfed in a panic about a potential nationwide ban.</p><p>Like TikTok, Reels allows users to record short-form videos and edit them with a plethora of effects, as well as add in audio and music soundtracks. Reels' launch Wednesday also includes a rollout to users in the United Kingdom, Australia, and more that 50 other countries.</p><p>Facebook first started testing Reels <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-testing-new-tiktok-style-video-feature-reels-brazil-2019-11">with users in Brazil in November</a>, and has since rolled in in recent months to France, Germany, and India.</p><p>The similarities between Reels and TikTok are stark, and it's no secret Facebook is looking to target TikTok fans with the new feature. But Instagram's head of product, Vishal Shah, told reporters in a recent call that the timing of Reels' release is "coincidental," and that the company has been working on the new feature for a long time.</p><p>"[TikTok] certainly didn't invent short form video, but they innovated it," Shah told reporters. "We've been clear that formats in the past were inspired by other companies...I believe that consumers having choice results in better products."</p><p>Shah says that Reels will differ from TikTok in giving users a more built-out augmented reality platform, as well as offering them a way to make short-form videos inside Instagram, a place they already love and know how to use.</p><p>Both Instagram and TikTok have been relatively mum about breaking down their user numbers, but both have massive followings. TikTok has more than 2.3 billion global downloads, and recently said its US userbase surpasses 100 million users. Meanwhile, Instagram has more than 1 billion global users, and estimates put the platform's US userbase at <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/">between 100 million and 150 million</a>.</p><p>Facebook may also hope it has an upper hand over TikTok <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-us-ban-trump-administration-facebook-google-antitrust-china-bytedance-2020-7">due to its American roots</a>. When CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in front of Congress last week over antitrust concerns, he painted Facebook as a story of homegrown American success, whose future is threatened by authoritarian China — where TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is located. </p><p>The debut of Instagram's Reels in the US comes as fears spike over TikTok's future in US, as President Donald Trump and his administration are threatening to ban TikTok nationwide. Although the path to a ban is not clear, TikTok's US users are already panicking and looking for alternatives to the platform in preparation. ByteDance has been looking to sell TikTok's US operations to an American company in an attempt to salvage its presence, and Microsoft has emerged as a potential buyer.</p><p>With the threat of a ban, Facebook isn't the only platform to try to offer a TikTok alternative. Several tech companies have apps similar to TikTok — including Triller, Byte, and Dubsmash — but no platform has yet to successfully rival TikTok's viral reach.</p><p>Since coming to the US in 2018, TikTok has grown into a <keyword id="6354632" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="social-media">social media</keyword> powerhouse and established itself as a staple of internet culture and social interaction for Generation Z. It has outperformed US-based apps with younger audiences such as Snapchat and Instagram in both <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-hits-15-billion-downloads-outperforming-instagram-2019-11">new downloads</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/users-spending-more-time-daily-on-tiktok-than-instagram-cowen-survey-2020-7">time spent</a>. </p>

Facebook's TikTok clone, Instagram Reels, launches today in the US as TikTok's future hangs in the balance

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Facebook is planning to bring its competitor to <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> — called Reels — to <keyword id="819905" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Instagram">Instagram</keyword> users in the US in early August, an Instagram spokesperson told Business Insider.</li><li>Reels, which has already debuted in India and other select countries, will live inside of Instagram Stories as an option for sharing short-form video content similar to that on TikTok.</li><li>Beijing-based TikTok first <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7#to-trace-the-history-of-this-incredibly-popular-short-form-video-sharing-app-its-important-to-note-that-tiktok-didnt-start-as-tiktok-6">came to the US in 2018</a> and has grown into an overwhelmingly dominant social platform, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-hits-15-billion-downloads-outperforming-instagram-2019-11">outperforming US-based apps</a> that have attracted younger audiences, like Snapchat and Instagram. </li><li>Instagram's planned US debut of Reels comes as TikTok's future in the country remains uncertain. The Trump administration recently said it's considering banning the Chinese app in the US, opening the door for US tech companies to roll out new features catered to the TikTok audience.</li></ul><p>Facebook will soon debut its competitor to TikTok's popular short-video format to US Instagram users as the Trump administration weighs a country-wide ban on the viral Chinese app.</p><p>Instagram plans to roll out Reels, a new format that will live inside of the app's Stories feature, to the US in early August, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. Like TikTok, Reels will allow users to record and edit short-form videos with audio and music soundtracks. </p><p>Instagram users will be able to create and share Reels to their Stories, and access their short-form videos in a new, dedicated tab on their profiles. Public accounts will have their their videos shared on the app's Explore page, and can choose whether or not their Reels content appear on their profiles and in followers' Feeds.</p><p>As for similarities drawn between TikTok and Reels, an Instagram spokesperson said in a statement that "no two services are the same."</p><p>"TikTok specifically has harnessed real consumer behavior, and done amazing things. We've also seen the rise of short-form video on Instagram, and think we can create something in a way that makes sense for our community," the spokesperson told Business Insider. "This responsiveness to consumer demand is competition at work and one of the longtime hallmarks of the tech sector. It increases choice, which is good for people."</p><p>Facebook first started testing Reels <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-testing-new-tiktok-style-video-feature-reels-brazil-2019-11">with users in Brazil in November</a>, before rolling out last month to France and Germany. The early August rollout will include the United Kingdom and around 50 other countries, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-readies-global-launch-its-tiktok-competitor-n1234013">NBC News reported</a>.</p><p>The debut of Instagram's Reels in the US — and in India in early July, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-reels-is-being-quietly-tested-in-india-just-days-after-the-tiktok-ban/articleshow/76768337.cms">reported by Business Insider India</a> — comes as concerns over TikTok's livelihood in both countries has created an opening in short-form video-sharing. The Indian government <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-bans-tiktok-dozens-of-other-chinese-apps-security-concerns-2020-6">recently banned new user downloads</a> of TikTok and other Chinese apps amid a bloody border dispute with China, where the app's parent company ByteDance is based.</p><p>TikTok has been facing greater scrutiny in the US over how much access and influence the Chinese government is afforded over user data and content moderation. Most recently, multiple government officials — including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-considering-banning-tiktok-2020-7">President Trump himself</a> — have threatened banning the app. TikTok has more than 2 billion global downloads and an estimated <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-banning-chinese-social-media-app-tiktok-security/story?id=71647269">US userbase at as high as 80 million</a>.</p><p>So far, TikTok has been able to brush off lawmakers' calls for investigations and national security experts' warnings. In June, TikTok <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-india-china-ceo-kevin-mayer-ban-employees-first-test-2020-6">appointed a US-based CEO</a> in June to try to distance itself from its Chinese roots. But the imminent threat of TikTok disappearing from the US has already signaled panic among users, and led <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-competitors-capitalizing-instagram-reels-youtube-byte-dubsmash-2020-7">tech companies to take advantage of the chaos</a> to lure the app's loyal following to their competing platforms.</p><p><a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/18138167?hl=en">YouTube has started</a> testing its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-tiktok-rival-shorts-video-sharing-app-google-firework-2020-4">in-app feature for short-form video</a> with a "small group" of people, and developers have discovered <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/13/snapchat-tests-tiktok-style-navigation-for-exploring-public-content/">Snapchat could be switching</a> out its horizontal swiping motion for TikTok's signature vertical swipe. Smaller apps, like Byte, Triller, Likee, and Dubsmash, have also seen <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-users-focus/tiktoks-u-s-users-prepare-for-life-without-the-video-app-idUSKCN24F13A">an increase in downloads</a>, according to Reuters. </p>

Instagram's rival to TikTok will come to the US in early August

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Dubsmash quickly became an overnight success when it&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-the-dubsmash-lip-sync-app-2015-7" target="_blank">debuted in late 2014</a>.<p>The app let&#xa0;users create videos of themselves lip syncing to popular songs or movie lines. But unlike Instagram or Vine, these videos, called "dubs," weren't shared directly onto Dubsmash. They were meant to go viral on other platforms.&#xa0;</p><p>But, 100 million users and countless celebrity dubs later, Dubsmash is changing its tune.</p><p>Last month, the app was completely revamped to become&#xa0;a full-fledged messaging service. Dubsmash now lets&#xa0;users send private&#xa0;messages and videos to individuals and groups. Dubsmash also added Profile Dubs,&#xa0;which let&#xa0;users highlight their favorite dub and connect with friends, in addition to some new features that help users easily find videos and audio.&#xa0;</p><p>As Dubsmash's president Suchit Dash told Tech Insider, it's all part of a plan to transform Dubsmash into the premiere&#xa0;video messaging platform.&#xa0;</p><p><div>    </div></p><p>"A lot of people associated Dubsmash with karaoke and lip-syncing," Dash said. "We think people, more and more, are going to communicate through video. A<span style="font-weight: 400;">nd we want to be the primary way people do that."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Celebrities have been central to Dubsmash's success.&#xa0;A number of famous faces posted dubs made by the app to their Instagram feeds.&#xa0;</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jimmy Fallon, to the surprise of Dubsmash, asked Selena Gomez to make a dub during an appearance on "The Tonight Show." (He's since repeated the segment with Kate Hudson and Penelope Cruz.) And&#xa0;Rihanna teamed up with Dubsmash to debut her 2015 <a href="http://mashable.com/2015/03/26/rihanna-bbhmm-dubsmash-app-r8/" target="_blank">single "Bitch Better Have My Money" exclusively on the app.&#xa0;</a></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div></div></span></p><p>But Dubsmash&#xa0;observed something interesting:&#xa0;Most of its users were actually sharing their dubs privately among friends, rather than on public forums.</p><p>"They were people using dubs almost as a replacement of an emoji," Dash said. "So,&#xa0;Dubsmash 2.0 is really about giving people space for them to connect with their friends."</p><p>Since Dubsmash 2.0 launched on May 17, the app has&#xa0;seen 500,000 friend connections made each day and two dubs sent inside the application per second, according to data provided by Dash.</p><p>But of course, if Dubsmash wants to be the primary video messaging service, it will have to dethrone Snapchat.&#xa0;And that won't be an easy feat. In January, Snapchat confirmed to the Financial Times that <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0%2Fa48ca1fc-84e7-11e5-8095-ed1a37d1e096.html?ft_site=falcon&amp;desktop=true#axzz4AutVGScz" target="_blank">the app has 6 billion video</a> views per day on its platform.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>When Tech Insider asked about the inevitable comparisons to Snapchat, Dash said he considers the permanency of the dubs created on the app as a significant advantage.</p><p>"What's amazing is the number of people that come back to see their dubs, almost like a work of art that they once created. It's a very lasting format," Dash said. "And we find users&#xa0;want that level of history."</p><p>Dash says that Dubsmash is continuing to test new features, including tools focused on facial recognition,&#xa0;some of which users can expect this summer. Dubsmash will also be looking to form more partnerships with media and entertainment companies so they can promote their content with dubs on the app, similar to Snapchat's Discover platform.</p><p>But expect video messaging to remain Dubsmash's main focus.</p><p>"We want users to continuously come to the application and continuously create," Dash&#xa0;said. "And messaging is the best way to make sure that there's constant creation happening."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-best-hidden-features-2016-5">These hidden features will make your iPhone so much better</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xrMGNpMDE6CKt8yh4WEuOI2f6YOymI7R" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This popular lip synching app is aggressively coming after Snapchat - and it has one big advantage

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Unless you live with a teenager, you've probably never heard of Musical.ly.<p>If you do, then you've probably already appeared in one of your kid's music videos.</p><p>The DIY music video app first came on the scene in 2014, but exploded to the top of the App Store charts last summer. It hasn't fallen below the top 40 since. Often, it's swapping top places in the app store with Snapchat and Instagram.</p><p>The 15-second videos are typically people lip-syncing or dancing to some of the top hits. More recently, Musical.ly stars have started&#xa0;launching their own careers, and traditional music&#xa0;stars, like Jason DeRulo, are now pledging to debut their videos on the platform first, a coup over YouTube.</p><p>Today, more than 10 million people use the app daily and produce around the same number of videos every single day. All in, 70 million people have registered as Musical.ly users, says its cofounder and co-CEO Alex Zhu.</p><p>While the music videos have drawn people to the app, Zhu knows that's not why they stay. He's building Musical.ly to be the next social network - one based on videos that only entertain people and keep them coming back.&#xa0;</p><p>"Today the very proposition of the app is not about creating music videos. It's not about lip-syncing. It's about a social network," Zhu said. "It's a community. People want to stay because there are other people. "&#xa0;</p><h2>'Doomed to be a failure'</h2><p>The idea for a make-your-own-music-video app was a desperate pivot away from an education app.&#xa0;</p><p>Zhu had been interested in education during his time as a project manager at enterprise software giant SAP, even <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence">earning the title</a> of "education futurist." He thought massive online courses, also known as MOOCs, were great, but no one finished them.</p><p>In 2014,&#xa0;he believed he'd come up with a billion dollar idea: short-form education&#xa0;videos.</p><p>Zhu and his cofounder and co-CEO Louis Yang raised $250,000 from venture capitalists and spent six months building&#xa0;an app called Cicada. The idea was that experts, whether it was coffee or calculus, could create short three to five minute videos explaining a subject. But there's a reason you've never heard of it before.&#xa0;</p><p>"The day we released this application to the market we realized it was never going to take off," Zhu said. "It was doomed to be a failure."</p><p>His team had missed that the videos took too long to create. Lesson planners had a hard time condensing their expertise into three minutes. Content creation and consumption needed to be within minutes and seconds, not hours. It wasn't entertaining, and it didn't attract teens.&#xa0;</p><p>At that point, Zhu's team only had 8% of its&#xa0;money left, he says. Instead of giving it back to investors and walking away, they scrambled&#xa0;to come up with a new idea.</p><h2>'We got lucky'</h2><p>Open Musical.ly today and there's no trace of its failed education app roots.&#xa0;</p><p>The 15 second videos are long enough to draw a laugh and tell a story, but not too long that teens get bored and move onto the next one. It's a mix of teenage boys thumping their chests to a song, to gymnastics routines set to music, to acting out funny lyrics from songs.</p><p>Zhu first landed on the idea when he&#xa0;watched a group of boisterous young teens on the train&#xa0;in Mountain View, where Google is based. Half of the teens were listening to music while the other half took selfies or videos, covered them in stickers, and then shared the results with their friends.&#xa0;</p><p>That's when Zhu realized he could&#xa0;combine music, videos, and a social network to attract the early teen demographic.&#xa0;</p><p>The team turned Zhu's new idea&#xa0;into an app in 30 days, and launched Musical.ly in July 2014.&#xa0;Immediately, they saw the numbers were great.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Around 500 people were downloading it a day, but more importantly, they kept coming back.&#xa0;</span></p><p>"You can buy the users, but you can't by the user retention," Zhu said.</p><p><div>    </div></p><p>For the next 10 months the app kept growing, but too slowly to save the company.</p><p>"We got nervous. What do we do? We didn't have much cash left," Zhu said. "Sometimes quick failure, like that education app, is good because you can turn around other ideas quickly. But having this slow growth is bad, you don't know if it will take off or not and you've invested a lot of time into it."</p><p>In April 2015, the company made a few small design tweaks to the app, including moving the logo in the videos. They had realized that when people shared the music videos, the logo was cropped out on Instagram and Twitter. The repositioned it so now it was easy to see what a Musical.ly video.&#xa0;</p><p>It exploded:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Two months later,&#xa0;on July 6, it hit the number one app in the iTunes app store. Since then, the app has never fallen out of the top 40 apps in all of iTunes.</p><p>"Now that I look back, I think the initial slow growth was actually a good thing. We got lucky because we had time to build the product, to make it ready, to build every feature around community," Zhu said. "If the growth came too early, it would probably just stay as a fad."</p><h2>'This could even be like the next MTV'</h2><p>To Zhu, Musical.ly isn't just another lip-synching video app that could go the way of Vine or Dubsmash. The team believes it's building the next social network to revolve around videos.&#xa0;</p><p>Instead of taking follows and followers, Musical.ly came up with BFFs or "Best Fans Forever". Only BFFs of Musical.ly users (or "Musers") can do things like a duet. &#xa0;In Musical.ly's world, that means two people record videos to the same song and the app automatically combines them.&#xa0;</p><p>It's done the same thing with a new Q&amp;A feature where someone can ask a question of a Muser via video, and that person can respond in their own video. Musical.ly combines the two.</p><p>"Especially in the social media area, it's usually winner takes all. You have to come up with something radically new. You shouldn't be a me-too product," Zhu said.&#xa0;</p><p><div>    </div></p><p>A&#xa0;lot of these ideas aren't just Zhu's genius ideas. Instead, they're outgrowths of how teens were already using the app. Musical.ly taps into their suggestions by having giant chat groups on Messenger and WhatsApp to test features with its users from the US, Brazil, or the Philippines every day.&#xa0;</p><p>Musical.ly is also one of the few apps to come out of China to become a smash hit in the US. Most of the company's engineers are based in Shanghai, with&#xa0;only has a handful of business development and community engagement specialists working out of a WeWork in San Francisco.&#xa0;</p><p>"It's the first company to be headquartered in China, designed in China, but popular in the US,"&#xa0;said Greylock investor Josh Elman. "Finally we're seeing talented people who live in that ecosystem in that world and actually transcend it and build products in the&#xa0;US."</p><p>To-date, the company has raised $16.4 million from investors like Greylock and GGV, but it's rumored to be raising another $100 million.&#xa0;Its investors are bullish, even though the company is not generating revenue yet.</p><p>"This could even be like the next MTV," Elman said. "I&#xa0;think this can be really important platform for an entire generation that can be entertained."</p><h2>Always be scared</h2><p>The Musical.ly team is&#xa0;now watching as a generation of Muser stars is emerging.</p><p>A set of 13-year-old identical twins in Germany, Lisa and Lena, now have more than 2.8 million followers on Musical.ly. They've launched their own clothing line, and <a href="http://stylecaster.com/lisa-lena-musically/">are considered to be one of the fastest rising</a> Instagram accounts in all of Europe (they already&#xa0;have 1.8 million followers on that social network).</p><p>Baby Ariel, a 13-year-old who wasn't even on social media before, now is <a href="http://www.babyariel.com/#!about1/c14h7">the most recognizable star</a> from the app.</p><p>Lately, Musical.ly has&#xa0;also seen a rising tide of demand from the traditional music industry.&#xa0;It's&#xa0;been proactive about working within the music industry - an area where a lot of startups ignore the&#xa0;complicated rules about legally licensing music. The company has a number of deals in places with major players in the music industry, says its VP of North America Alex Hoffman, and a third party provider provides the music and tracks everything to make sure the company is following the rules, he said.&#xa0;</p><p>Its&#xa0;friendly stance to music already has some stars using Musical.ly to run their own campaigns. Musical.ly users made more than 164,000 lip-synching videos to Lukas Graham's new song. Selena Gomez is currently running a "Kill Em with Kindness campaign" to promote her new song. Musical.ly adds an iTunes link on the competition page so people know where to buy the song.</p><p><div>    </div></p><p>&#xa0;"We want to create more value to the music industry in the future," Hoffman said.&#xa0;</p><p>Still,&#xa0;Zhu doesn't see Musical.ly's rise and staying power as a success just yet. Building a social network or the next generation of MTV is hard in an era when Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook still dominate. In June, it will attempt to challenge those companies again <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/27/musical-ly-launches-live-ly-for-livestreaming/">when it launches Live.Ly</a>, a Periscope competitor that's all about livestreaming. If anything, Zhu says the company needs to keep pushing and iterating faster.</p><p>"I think we have these scary moments all the time because you're never safe. Even if you have tens of millions of users, you have to keep them always engaged," Zhu said. "I think it's better for us to be scared all the time rather than feel content that we built a successful product and now we can lay back."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-channel-lets-melt-this-melts-things-2016-4">A father-son team is creating the next viral YouTube channel by melting things</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="hneTk2MzE6I4HtCVyjn8RGVEmcn9t7iu" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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