Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube and others have all been forging partnerships with media and TV production companies to create original video content for their platforms. Now social music app Musical.ly appears to be joining them, according to a report from Bloomberg.
It claimed that the company is “in talks with media companies including Viacom Inc and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal to make original show programming, set to launch this summer”, and that it is looking particularly for “content that is participatory and interactive, instead of feeling heavily produced” including comedy and sports, as well as music.
Having built a community of more than 100 million users (or ‘Musers’ in the app’s parlance), Musical.ly has also been exploring extensions as other apps.
Live.ly is its popular app for livestreamed video broadcasts, while Squad offers group video chat, and Pingpong is pitched as the “ultimate video walkie talkie” to send video messages to friends. Bloomberg also claims that Musical.ly is about to launch Snapchat-style face masks for use in its main app.
There is no doubt that media companies are intrigued by the growth of Musical.ly, much like the music labels who have explored marketing campaigns on the platform, and in some cases partnerships with some of its breakout stars.
If original shows are to become part of its content, we suspect the likes of Viacom and NBCUniversal would do well to learn from those labels, and devise formats with key Musers, rather than simply import established TV stars and brands.
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