Live.ly

Chinese live-streaming service, now TikTok

Not to be confused with Lively (company) or Lively.

Live.ly

Logo

Original author(s)|

* Musical.ly Inc.

Developer(s)|

*     * Musical.ly Inc. (2016–2017)
* ByteDance (2017–2018)
* TikTok (2018–present)

Initial release| iOS
July 24, 2016
Android
September 12, 2016
Final release|

August 2, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-08-02)

Preview release|

May 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05)

Operating system|

* iOS
* Android

Successor| TikTok
Type| Live streaming
License| Proprietary software with terms of use

Live.ly (pronounced "Lively", stylized as live.ly) was a social media live-streaming service headquartered in Shanghai, with an American office in San Francisco, California. The app was launched in June 2016 by Musical.ly and officially released globally at VidCon in July 2016.[1] On the platform, users could stream live videos for others to watch.[2] Viewers could send chat messages that the live streamer received and read in real time. Additionally, users had the option to send virtual gifts, which could be converted into real-life currency for the live streamer.[3] Users could also live-stream to their main Musical.ly account.

In 2016, Live.ly had over 40 million active users.[4]

ByteDance Ltd. acquired Musical.ly Inc. on November 10, 2017, and merged it with TikTok on August 2, 2018, leading to the shutdown of Live.ly in June 2018.[5][6]

## History

[edit]

### Founding

[edit]

In August 2014, Musical.ly was launched by Musical.ly Inc. The app followed the premise of similar video-sharing platforms, notably Vine.[7] It gained popularity mostly among teenagers. By June 2016, Musical.ly had an active user base of roughly 90 million.[8]

In May 2016, Musical.ly announced the launch of Live.ly as a competitor to other social media platforms releasing live streaming services. Musical.ly initiated beta testing of the platform in the same month. Live.ly was published on the iTunes Store in late June 2016, quickly gaining popularity despite having no sponsors.[1]

On July 24, 2016, Musical.ly officially released Live.ly globally at VidCon.[1]

### Growth

[edit]

Given Musical.ly's significant user base of roughly 90 million at the time, the launch of Live.ly in May 2016 tapped into this existing user base, attracting users to its live-streaming platform as a natural extension of the Musical.ly experience.

By October 2016, Live.ly had surpassed Twitter's Periscope iOS app,[9] amassing approximately 40 million active users. The top 10 Live.ly accounts collectively earned US$46,000 in just a two-week period from virtual gifts sent by users.[10]

### Merger into TikTok

[edit]

In June 2018, Live.ly was removed from all app stores due to its merger with TikTok.[5] ByteDance, the company that acquired Musical.ly and Live.ly, announced that Live.ly and Musical.ly would merge into one app, allowing users to watch videos and view live streams seamlessly.[11]

On August 2, 2018, Live.ly was merged with TikTok[citation needed], along with Musical.ly, following ByteDance's acquisition for a reported US$1 billion.[11] After Live.ly's shutdown, users were directed to a similar live-streaming platform, LiveMe.[12]

## Criticism and controversies

[edit]

### Paul Zimmer accusations

[edit]

In April 2017, Internet personality Paul Zimmer (Troy Becker) faced accusations of financially exploiting his young fans by promising them shout-outs and personal direct messages. Zimmer frequently neglected to fulfill these promises, often ignoring requests or declining to give shout-outs. The hashtag #BanPaulZimmer quickly gained traction on Musical.ly and Live.ly in response to Zimmer's behavior. Consequently, Zimmer deleted all videos where he made such promises and took an 18-month hiatus from social media.[13]

## See also

[edit]

* Facebook Live
* Periscope

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Wallenstein, Andrew (June 24, 2016). "Musical.ly May Be the Spoiler in Livestream Race with Launch of Live.ly". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
2. ^ Roof, Katie (27 May 2016). "Musical.ly launches live.ly for live streaming". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
3. ^ Perez, Sarah (13 June 2018). "Musical.ly kills its standalone live-streaming app Live.ly". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
4. ^ Manavis, Sarah (15 May 2018). "Live.ly is the latest place for adults to extract money from kids online". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
5. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (13 June 2018). "Musical.ly Shuts Down Live.ly, Will Merge Live-Streaming Into Main App". Variety. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
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.
7. ^ Carson, Biz (28 May 2016). "How a failed education startup turned into Musical.ly, the most popular app you've probably never heard of". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
8. ^ 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.
9. ^ Spangler, Todd (30 September 2016). "Musical.ly's Live.ly Is Now Bigger Than Twitter's Periscope on iOS (Study)". Variety. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
10. ^ Spangler, Todd (31 October 2016). "Musical.ly Live-Streaming Stars Are Earning Thousands of Dollars From Adoring Fans". Variety. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
11. ^ a b Lin, Liza; Winkler, Rolfe (November 9, 2017). "Social-Media App Musical.ly Is Acquired for as Much as $1 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
12. ^ Perez, Sarah (23 July 2018). "Musical.ly's shutdown of Live.ly was contractually obligated". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
13. ^ Manavis, Sarah (8 January 2020). "The strange case of Paul Zimmer, the influencer who came back as a different person". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

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