Everyone shelters a desire to be in the limelight and rise to fame. We all want to gain popularity, and both TikTok and Musical.ly offered a platform for common people to do so. Both the applications give chances to make short videos, and we know how effective it is with so many TikTok starts among us.
TikTok vs Musical.ly
The main difference between TikTok and Musical.ly is that TikTok is a mobile app where you can record and edit short videos of any genre and then upload them to any social media account. The video can be made without music as well. Musical.ly is a similar mobile app, but only short music videos can be made as its name suggests.
TikTok is a rebranded app with the combined features of Musical.ly. It is widely popular among youngsters to make and share short videos. One can make funny videos or dancing or even merely lip-sync videos and then edit them accordingly to give the finishing touch to it. The videos can be shared on any social media site.
Musical.ly was a video making and sharing mobile app that no longer exists. Now its features are combined, and the app is merged with TikTok. Previously the app used to offer a platform to create videos with any song or tune clip.
Comparison Table Between TikTok and Musical.ly
| Parameters of Comparison | TikTok | Musical.ly |
| Founded by | Zhang Yiming founded and launched TikTok. | Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang founded Musical.ly. |
| Launched in | This app was launched in September 2016. | This app was launched in August 2014. |
| Content objective | The content went beyond only music. | The contents were only related to music. |
| App Variations | In the Chinese market, the app has a different version named Douyin. | Musical.ly had only one universal application. |
| Users | Asian countries used this app widely. | People of European states and the United States mostly used this app. |
What is TikTok?
TikTok was founded and launched in 2016, and Musical.ly already existed with a similar objective. Later on, in 2018, TikTok acquired Musical.ly, and they became one app. Now the parent company of the two is a Chinese technology company named ByteDance.
TikTok, an entertaining app that enables to create and share videos, is widely famous, and all kinds of content can be seen here. In this app, one can lip-sync while showing their acting skills or even tell jokes and do pranks. Some even use this video sharing platform to show hacks and DIY tricks.
A wide range of videos on various topics and be found here, and most of them do not fail to entertain you. Anyone can make a video with their phone easily as the interface is simple. It is an infamous way to capture one’s talent or hobby.
TikTok got its craze from mostly the teens, but due to the longing for fame, many adults try their hands too. The app is compatible with both iOS and Android devices. In 2018, after getting merged with Musical.ly, TikTok became the most downloaded app in just the first few months.
What is Musical.ly?
Musical.ly was created by the friend duo Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang in 2014. And as stated above, Musical.ly does not exist anymore as it was merged with TikTok in 2018. Independently, Musical.ly was an app used for sharing videos. This app was exclusive to draw upon songs. Creating content without music or song was not an option in this mobile application.
In this app, users were named “musers”. One could make a 15 to 20 seconds long video and share it anywhere. The users used to get a long list of songs from which they could crop their favourite clip and use it to frame their creative pursuit. They could dance or lip-sync with expressions.
Mainly it was portrayed as a communicating app and getting in touch with friends. It gained popularity among youngsters in a short time. Many people use the app to give shape to their creativity.
In addition to that, many other video related popular features were present in this app. Adding filters, video effects, making the video run in slow motion, adding time-lapse to the video. Any content was entitled to get recorded, but they couldn’t run without a tune.
Main Differences Between TikTok and Musical.ly
- Zhang Yiming was the founder of TikTok. And Musical.ly was the brainchild of two friends named Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang.
- TikTok came into the market in the year 2016, whereas Musical.ly came out in 2014. So Musical.ly is older between the two apps.
- Most Asian countries used TikTok and rose it to fame. On the other side, Musical.ly was mostly used by people belonging to European countries and the United States.
- One can make other content as well besides the music-related content. But Musical.ly is only capable of producing short music videos.
- TikTok has created a separate app for the Chinese market, but Musical.ly has one universal app and interface.
Conclusion
Both TikTok and Musical.ly belong to a Chinese technology company named ByteDance. The company used to own both mobile apps. Finally, in 2018 they discontinued Musical.ly and revamped TikTok by merging the features of the two. Musical.ly was widely popular, and TikTok too became very famous in a short time.
Globally both the apps found their place and gave shape to so many genuinely interesting videos. Millions of people from all kinds of backgrounds and ages use TikTok to show their creativity. The app can effectively improve one’s confidence as their videos get liked.
The videos are not only limited to these apps. One can spread the videos wherever they want. One can find the content they like and then improvise it further. With the right use and the right marketing, TikTok can make one go viral overnight.
References
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3311927.3323133
- https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/14543