Brief History of TikTok
TikTok was created by ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. ByteDance launched TikTok’s predecessor, Douyin, in China in September 2016. The following year, in 2017, ByteDance launched TikTok for markets outside of China. TikTok merged with Musical.ly in August 2018, inheriting the app’s strong user base which helped propel TikTok’s rapid growth (Source: https://www.big3.sg/blog/a-brief-history-of-tiktok-and-its-rise-to-popularity).
Within a year, aided by multiple viral trends, TikTok started to gain worldwide popularity and expanded well beyond Musical.ly’s original lip-syncing format. TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in downloads in November 2018 (Source: https://www.prospectusnews.com/2021/10/20/the-history-of-tiktok/). As of 2022, TikTok has been downloaded over 3 billion times worldwide on both iOS and Android devices (Source: https://www.amazon.com/Attention-Factory-TikTok-Chinas-ByteDance/dp/B08L3NW6VM).
Musical.ly – The Predecessor to TikTok
Musical.ly was a social media app focused on sharing short lip-sync and music videos. Launched in 2014 by co-founders Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang, Musical.ly gained significant popularity among teenagers for its lip-syncing and video editing features.
Within two years, Musical.ly hit over 100 million downloads worldwide and was one of the most downloaded apps in the US. Musical.ly gave users a platform to showcase their creativity and talents through 15-second videos set to popular music. The app’s user base was made up predominately of teenagers and young people. Musical.ly launched the careers of many influencers including Jacob Sartorius and Loren Gray who gained fame through their videos on the platform.
By 2017, Musical.ly had over 200 million registered users. However, it was about to be overtaken by China’s rising tech giant, ByteDance. In November 2017, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly for $1 billion to merge it with their own video sharing app, TikTok (Cite: https://fourweekmba.com/what-happened-to-musically/). This marked the beginning of the end for the Musical.ly app as we knew it.
ByteDance Acquires Musical.ly
In November 2017, the Chinese tech company ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in a deal valued at around $1 billion (https://www.tubefilter.com/2017/11/10/bytedance-acquires-musically-800-million/). ByteDance is the parent company behind Chinese news and video sharing app Jinri Toutiao. With this acquisition, ByteDance aimed to expand its social media presence into the U.S. market by merging Musical.ly with its similar app, TikTok.
At the time, Musical.ly already had a large user base with over 100 million users worldwide. The app was especially popular among teenagers and young adults who enjoyed creating and sharing short lip-sync videos set to music (https://mybroadband.co.za/news/business/236926-bytedance-acquires-musical-ly-for-800-million.html). By acquiring Musical.ly, ByteDance gained access to this coveted demographic in the U.S. and abroad.
Merging Musical.ly and TikTok
In August 2018, Bytedance made the decision to merge their TikTok app with Musical.ly, which they had acquired the previous year for $1 billion. As reported by TechCrunch, the two apps were combined and rebranded under the TikTok name. This merger signified the true birth of the TikTok app as we know it today.
At the time of the merger, Musical.ly had around 60 million monthly active users, the majority of whom were based in the United States. Meanwhile, TikTok was still relatively new and unknown in Western markets. Bringing the two platforms together allowed TikTok to immediately gain a large, established user base in the United States. It also gave them access to Musical.ly’s creator network and their experience making short-form videos.
Following the merger, existing Musical.ly user accounts were migrated to TikTok automatically. The combined app retained the core short video creation tools from both platforms, but with a visual design and interface aligned with TikTok. This merger marked the start of TikTok’s rapid growth and ascent to become one of the most downloaded apps in the world.
Key Differences Between Musical.ly and TikTok
While Musical.ly and TikTok shared some core features, there were some key differences between the two apps:
TikTok has more advanced video editing capabilities and effects. Users can add filters, stickers, text overlays, and visual effects to their videos in TikTok. TikTok also introduced green screen and augmented reality capabilities not originally available on Musical.ly (1).
TikTok expanded the video length from 15 seconds on Musical.ly to 60 seconds. This allowed more flexibility for content creation (2).
TikTok utilizes an AI recommendation engine that personalizes the “For You” feed for each user. Musical.ly did not have this level of personalization in its video recommendation algorithm (3).
TikTok has beefed up its user privacy and safety features compared to Musical.ly. It has stronger parental controls and restrictions for younger users (4).
While both apps focus on lip-syncing and dancing videos, TikTok has a larger diversity of content and creators. From comedy skits to cooking tutorials, TikTok hosts a wider range of video genres (5).
Overall, TikTok represented an evolution of the short-form video app concept that Musical.ly pioneered. The merger allowed TikTok to leverage Musical.ly’s user base while also introducing new features and capabilities.
(1) https://www.tiktok.com/@mommarea/video/6656028098481360133
(2) https://www.tiktok.com/@adnan_vb/video/6834840183481830657
(3) https://jealouscomputers.com/how-to-change-your-musically-password/
User Base Growth After the Merger
TikTok’s monthly active users grew rapidly after acquiring Musical.ly’s userbase. According to Business of Apps, TikTok had over 500 million monthly active users in 2018 after merging with Musical.ly. Just a year later in 2019, monthly active users had doubled to over 1 billion. As of 2023, TikTok now has 1.5 billion monthly active users globally.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Musical.ly had around 100 million users at the time of the merger in 2018. By combining Musical.ly’s existing userbase with their own app, TikTok was able to grow at an exponential rate. The merger gave them an instant boost in users and allowed them to quickly surpass competitors like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat in downloads by 2019.
TikTok Surpasses Facebook in Downloads
In 2018, TikTok made history by becoming the most downloaded app globally, surpassing Facebook for the first time. According to a report by Sensor Tower, TikTok was downloaded more than 660 million times in 2018, compared to Facebook’s estimate of 627 million downloads (https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-downloads-3-billion). This was a significant milestone, as Facebook had dominated the mobile app charts for years.
TikTok’s rise to the top spot was meteoric. After launching outside of China in 2017, TikTok quickly gained popularity, especially among teenagers and young adults. Its short video format, powered by music and effects, resonated with young users. On the other hand, Facebook was struggling to attract youth audiences, who were flocking to newer social platforms like TikTok and Instagram. TikTok’s innovative features and growth in emerging markets like India fueled its rise to the top of the global app charts.
TikTok finishing 2018 as the #1 downloaded app underscores how quickly new social media platforms can disrupt the status quo. While Facebook remains the top social network by monthly active users, TikTok demonstrated it could attract users at a faster rate. TikTok would continue its rapid growth, reaching over 3 billion downloads globally by early 2022 (https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-downloads-3-billion).
TikTok’s Continued Popularity
As of 2022, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users globally. The platform has seen meteoric growth, becoming one of the most popular social media apps in just a few short years. TikTok’s userbase is growing faster than many of its competitors like Facebook or Instagram.
According to one report, TikTok was downloaded over 660 million times in 2021 alone. This made it the most downloaded app that year, surpassing giants like Facebook and WhatsApp (https://www.eversanaintouch.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-the-next-leader-in-behavioral-health/). TikTok’s growth is especially pronounced among younger users. Over 60% of TikTok’s monthly active users are between the ages of 16 and 24.
Various factors contribute to TikTok’s popularity. Its algorithm is very effective at serving users relevant and engaging short video content. The app also makes it easy for anyone to create and share videos, giving it highly viral and participatory culture. While TikTok faces some regulatory hurdles, its rapid growth shows no signs of slowing down.
The Musical.ly Legacy
Many popular TikTok stars and trends originated on Musical.ly. Before the merger with TikTok, Musical.ly had over 100 million users and launched the careers of many social media influencers. Musical.ly stars like Jacob Sartorius, Baby Ariel, and the Dolan Twins amassed millions of fans on the app with their lip-sync and dance videos.
After the merger, these Musical.ly stars seamlessly transitioned to TikTok bringing their large fanbases with them. TikTok provided a bigger platform for them to continue creating viral content. For example, Baby Ariel who had over 30 million Musical.ly fans, now has over 50 million followers on TikTok.
Some of the most popular dances and memes on TikTok also originated on Musical.ly. Trends like the ‘Mmm Yeah’ dance and ‘Hit or Miss’ lip-syncs were first created by Musical.ly users. The merger allowed these viral trends to spread to TikTok’s larger user base.
Overall, Musical.ly laid the foundation for many of the influencers and viral content that propelled TikTok’s rapid growth as a social media platform. The merger united the creativity of the Musical.ly community with the technology and reach of TikTok.
Conclusion
In summary, the social media app Musical.ly was the direct predecessor to TikTok as ByteDance acquired and merged Musical.ly into TikTok in 2018. Musical.ly launched in 2014 and quickly gained popularity, especially among teenagers, for its lip-syncing videos and karaoke-style features. In 2017, Chinese tech giant ByteDance acquired Musical.ly for $1 billion. The following year, ByteDance merged Musical.ly into its own similar app, TikTok, and discontinued the Musical.ly brand.
While TikTok retained the core features of Musical.ly, such as lip-syncing and video effects, it expanded the platform into a more diverse social media app. Under ByteDance, TikTok was able to leverage artificial intelligence technology as well as tap into ByteDance’s user base in China and worldwide. This allowed TikTok to grow at an exponential rate following the merger. Within a year, TikTok had surpassed Facebook in total downloads and became one of the most downloaded apps globally.
So while Musical.ly no longer exists, its DNA lives on through TikTok. Much of what makes TikTok so popular today, from lip-sync battles to shareable videos, can be traced back to the foundations first laid by Musical.ly.
