The Journey from Muscially to TikTok
The Journey from Musically to TikTok – We all know about TikTok as it is one of the most famous applications worldwide, with a massive 1 billion monthly users. Here we will talk about the journey from Musically to TikTok, how it began and what is happening today. TikTok is a social media app that lets users create, post and share short videos online. It has a unique feature from other applications: the videos the user posts can reach any TikTok user without being friends with the user.
How and When did TikTok start?
TikTok was launched in September 2016 by a Chinese company, ByteDance, also known as Douyin, in China. The owner of ByteDance is Zhang Yiming, the second richest man in China. The growth of TikTok began after it acquired a similar app known as Musical.ly, which already had over 200 million users at that time.
Musical.ly
Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang created Musical.ly in 2014 in Shanghai, with its headquarters in America in Santa Monica, California. Firstly, the two friends launched the app in the Chinese and American markets, but later it became so famous that it became the most downloaded app in over 30 countries. The app allows users to create 15 seconds to 1-minute-long music videos with various other video editing features.
The application did very well, earning over 90 million users in 2 years; in 2017, it already had over 200 million users. The process would have continued, but ByteDance Limited acquired Musical.ly on November 10, 2017, which can be considered an end to Musical.ly because after ByteDance acquired it, they merged all the accounts of Musical.ly to TikTok. As a result, the company changed the name Musical.ly to TikTok.
Growth of TikTok
TikTok is a social media app that allows users to create and share short-form videos, from 15 seconds to 10 mins long. In September 2016, ByteDance launched TikTok in China under the name Douyin, and it became available globally in September 2017. As a result of its algorithm, TikTok curates a personalised “For You” feed based on each user’s interests and viewing history based on artificial intelligence. The app has several video categories: dance, comedy, lip-sync, and education.
In addition to creating videos using various tools and effects, such as filters, music, and text overlays, users can collaborate with other users, participate in challenges, and engage with their audiences through comments, likes, and shares. Besides being a platform for viral trends and memes, TikTok has helped launch the careers of many social media influencers and content creators. With over 1 billion active users, TikTok is one of the world’s most popular social media apps.
Musical.ly was already a popular application, so the growth was unstoppable after the name changed to TikTok. When the application launched in 2017, it had millions of users, reaching billions today. Between January 2018 and July 2020, TikTok’s global user base increased by 1157.76%. The application has gradually increased its features attracting more users to create accounts which helped them to have over a billion monthly active users today.
How to make money on TikTok
- Join the TikTok Creator Fund: TikTok has a Creator Fund that pays eligible creators for their content. To be eligible, you must be at least 18 years old, have at least 100,000 followers, and have received at least 100,000 video views in the past 30 days.
- Sell products to your fans: You could sell merchandise related to your TikTok brand, such as t-shirts, phone cases, or other accessories. Use print-on-demand services like Printful to create and sell your products.
- Go live & collect virtual gifts: TikTok allows users to earn virtual gifts from their viewers during live streams. These virtual gifts can be converted into real money.
- Brand partnerships: Partner with influencers or other brands in the TikTok creator marketplace. If you have a large following on TikTok, you could collaborate with brands to promote their products or services. It could involve creating sponsored content like product reviews, unboxing videos, or tutorials.
- Create in-feed ads with the TikTok ads manager.
- Crowdfund projects by collecting donations from fans
- Collect “tips” from your audience.
- Start a Patreon and offer fan subscriptions.
- Affiliate marketing: You could promote products or services on TikTok and earn a commission for sales through your unique affiliate link. There are several affiliate marketing programs that you could join, such as Amazon Associates or ClickBank.
Make Money from TikTok Paid Subscription - March 2023 Update
TikTok has released a paid subscription feature for creators, which means you can get money from people watching your videos. TikTok, famous for its short videos, launched the feature on 7th March 2023. Creators can upload 20-minute-long videos through this feature. In this way, the company has mentioned up to 80 videos can be placed in one collection (album). Creators can charge users US$1 to 190 to view such groups.
In this way, you can access the creator’s collection by paying the fee set by the creator. In the initial phase, the company will not take any commission from the creator. However, when the company goes to the in-app purchase feature, it will also bear the 30 percent fee to be paid to the app store. Such videos can be accessed using the creator’s profile page or video link. The company has implemented such a strategy to increase the income of Tiktok creators. It is the latest step of TikTok to help creators in monetisation. Eligible creators will receive notifications from the company, as mentioned by various media.
However, typical users need clarification on how TikTok will incorporate creators into the new and highly successful business model. TikTok’s best algorithm is its For You page, where creators’ content automatically reaches their audience. However, in this case, it may not be appropriate for creators to keep their good content for a subscription. Because the algorithm will not work for creators, not subscription members, digital platforms are lately helping creators monetise their content. In such a situation, users must guess which creators can get a subscription and promote their work.
Earlier, Instagram also announced subscriptions for creators and influencers. However, the creator has to pay a certain monthly fee to subscribe. Based on the content, including stories and live videos, payment arrangements are being arranged from 0.99 USD to 99.99 USD per month. Instagram, which owns Meta, said it has yet to make plans to cut revenue from creator subscriptions.
Dark Side of TikTok
- Scams through fake accounts
- Addictive
- Data collection
- Hateful Content and Speech
- Security
Benefits of using TikTok
- Entertainment
- Business Marketing
- Paid Ad features
- Earning through live videos
- Increase fan base/ brand awareness
- Publicity
- News
- Learning ideas
Finally, hope you liked our blog: The Journey from Musically to TikTok. Learn more about tech-related topics here.
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