<s>
Musical.ly	B-Application
(	O
pronounced	O
"	O
musically	B-Application
"	O
;	O
stylized	O
as	O
musical.ly	B-Application
)	O
was	O
a	O
social	O
media	O
service	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Shanghai	B-Device
with	O
an	O
American	O
office	O
in	O
Santa	O
Monica	O
,	O
California	O
,	O
on	O
which	O
platform	O
users	O
created	O
and	O
shared	O
short	O
lip-sync	O
videos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
also	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
browse	O
popular	O
"	O
musers	B-Application
"	O
,	O
content	O
,	O
trending	O
songs	O
,	O
sounds	O
and	O
hashtags	O
,	O
and	O
uniquely	O
interact	O
with	O
their	O
fans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2016	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
had	O
over	O
90	O
million	O
registered	O
users	O
,	O
up	O
from	O
10	O
million	O
a	O
year	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ByteDance	O
Ltd	O
.	O
acquired	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	O
on	O
November	O
10	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
and	O
merged	O
it	O
into	O
TikTok	B-Application
on	O
August	O
2	O
,	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	O
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
TikTok	B-Application
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Musical.ly	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	O
was	O
founded	O
by	O
long	O
time	O
friends	O
Alex	O
Zhu	O
and	O
Luyu	O
Yang	O
in	O
Shanghai	B-Device
,	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
launching	O
Musical.ly,	O
Zhu	O
and	O
Yang	O
teamed	O
up	O
to	O
build	O
an	O
education	O
social	O
network	O
app	O
,	O
through	O
which	O
users	O
could	O
both	O
teach	O
and	O
learn	O
different	O
subjects	O
through	O
short-form	O
videos	O
(	O
3	O
–	O
5	O
minutes	O
long	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
ly	O
's	O
entry	O
point	O
was	O
to	O
introduce	O
a	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
music	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
everyone	O
can	O
easily	O
integrate	O
music	O
into	O
the	O
video	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
less	O
fun	O
video	O
will	O
become	O
more	O
fun	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
was	O
officially	O
launched	O
in	O
August	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
app	O
began	O
to	O
attract	O
millions	O
of	O
users	O
,	O
allowing	O
"	O
musers	B-Application
"	O
(	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
users	O
)	O
to	O
lip-sync	O
to	O
millions	O
of	O
songs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Musical.ly	B-Application
climbed	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
number	O
1	O
position	O
in	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
App	O
Store	O
,	O
becoming	O
the	O
most-downloaded	O
free	O
app	O
in	O
over	O
30	O
countries	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
US	O
,	O
Canada	O
,	O
UK	O
,	O
Germany	O
,	O
Brazil	O
,	O
the	O
Philippines	O
and	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2016	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
reached	O
70	O
million	O
downloads	O
,	O
with	O
over	O
10	O
million	O
new	O
videos	O
posted	O
every	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2016	O
,	O
Coca-Cola	O
launched	O
its	O
#ShareACoke	O
campaign	O
on	O
Musical.ly,	O
which	O
introduced	O
ly	O
's	O
"	O
User-Generated	O
Ads	O
"	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
24	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
during	O
VidCon	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
officially	O
launched	O
Live.ly,	O
its	O
new	O
live	O
video	O
streaming	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Live.ly,	O
users	O
could	O
live-stream	O
to	O
their	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
fans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
9	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
Wall	O
Street	O
Journal	O
reported	O
that	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
had	O
been	O
sold	O
to	O
Bytedance	O
Technology	O
Co.	O
,	O
which	O
operates	O
the	O
program	O
Toutiao	O
,	O
for	O
as	O
much	O
as	O
US$1	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
2	O
,	O
2018	O
,	O
Bytedance	O
consolidated	O
the	O
user	O
accounts	O
of	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
and	O
TikTok	B-Application
,	O
merging	O
the	O
two	O
apps	O
into	O
one	O
and	O
keeping	O
the	O
title	O
TikTok	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Musical.ly	B-Application
users	O
could	O
record	O
videos	O
of	O
15-seconds	O
to	O
1-minute	O
in	O
one	O
or	O
multiple	O
shots	O
,	O
lip-syncing	O
to	O
sounds	O
or	O
comedy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
also	O
had	O
a	O
feature	O
to	O
create	O
shorter	O
videos	O
,	O
named	O
"	O
live	O
moments	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
essentially	O
GIFs	O
with	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
regard	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
had	O
an	O
option	O
called	O
"	O
Best	O
Fan	O
Forever	O
"	O
,	O
through	O
which	O
users	O
can	O
select	O
certain	O
followers	O
who	O
can	O
participate	O
in	O
duets	O
with	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Musical.ly	B-Application
had	O
a	O
sister	O
app	O
called	O
Live.ly	B-Application
(	O
stylized	O
"	O
live.ly	B-Application
 "	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
users	O
could	O
live-stream	O
to	O
their	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
followers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Live.ly,	O
one	O
could	O
buy	O
coins	O
to	O
send	O
gifts	O
to	O
favorite	O
creators	O
,	O
which	O
equal	O
real	O
currency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
collaborate	O
option	O
on	O
Live.ly,	O
meaning	O
one	O
could	O
go	O
live	O
with	O
a	O
friend	O
,	O
guest	O
fans	O
to	O
talk	O
to	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ly	O
's	O
structure	O
allowed	O
the	O
viral	O
dissemination	O
of	O
trends	O
throughout	O
the	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
campaigns	O
launched	O
by	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
was	O
the	O
"	O
Do	O
n't	O
Judge	O
Challenge	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
became	O
widespread	O
on	O
the	O
platform	O
,	O
as	O
millions	O
of	O
teenagers	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
participated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
28	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Business	O
Insider	O
released	O
a	O
survey	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
"	O
10	O
of	O
the	O
60	O
[	O
interviewed	O
teenagers ]	O
listed	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
as	O
the	O
app	O
they	O
were	O
most	O
excited	O
about.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Active	O
users	O
with	O
higher	O
rates	O
of	O
popularity	O
were	O
assigned	O
crowns	O
by	O
Musical.ly,	O
which	O
was	O
the	O
app	O
's	O
verification	O
symbol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
users	O
of	O
the	O
platform	O
gained	O
great	O
traction	O
and	O
a	O
huge	O
following	O
not	O
only	O
within	O
Musical.ly,	O
but	O
also	O
outside	O
it	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baby	O
Ariel	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Ariel	O
Martin	O
who	O
,	O
in	O
May	O
2017	O
,	O
had	O
19	O
million	O
followers	O
on	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
alone	O
,	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
several	O
users	O
who	O
gained	O
major	O
media	O
attention	O
through	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mackenzie	O
Ziegler	O
and	O
Maddie	O
Ziegler	O
became	O
more	O
famous	O
on	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
when	O
they	O
finished	O
Dance	O
Moms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jacob	O
Sartorius	O
,	O
who	O
later	O
became	O
a	O
social	O
media	O
influencer	O
,	O
promoted	O
his	O
first	O
single	O
"	O
Sweatshirt	O
"	O
on	O
Musical.ly,	O
after	O
which	O
the	O
song	O
reached	O
number	O
10	O
on	O
the	O
iTunes	O
Store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Loren	O
Gray	O
also	O
started	O
on	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
and	O
was	O
at	O
one	O
point	O
the	O
most-followed	O
individual	O
on	O
the	O
platform	O
after	O
it	O
became	O
TikTok	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lisa	O
and	O
Lena	O
started	O
on	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
and	O
reached	O
32.7	O
million	O
followers	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
March	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
created	O
a	O
new	O
TikTok	B-Application
page	O
on	O
May	O
7	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
March	O
2021	O
,	O
have	O
over	O
12	O
million	O
followers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2016	O
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
signed	O
its	O
first	O
major	O
label	O
deal	O
with	O
Warner	O
Music	O
Group	O
,	O
allowing	O
its	O
music	O
to	O
be	O
licensed	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
the	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
platform	O
and	O
the	O
app	O
users	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
WMG	O
's	O
artists	O
and	O
songs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
continuing	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
UK-based	O
7digital	B-Application
,	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
also	O
teamed	O
up	O
with	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
Music	I-Operating_System
in	O
April	O
2017	O
permitting	O
users	O
to	O
sign	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
streaming	O
service	O
to	O
listen	O
to	O
full	O
songs	O
and	O
cut	O
out	O
a	O
fifteen-second	O
segment	O
of	O
the	O
songs	O
for	O
lip-syncing	O
on	O
the	O
Musical.ly	B-Application
platform	O
.	O
</s>
