When Did Musically Become TikTok? The Full Story Behind The Switch

ByteDance merged Musical.ly and TikTok into a single app on August 2, 2018. This merger followed ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly in November 2017 for somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion. Musical.ly's user base had grown beyond 200 million users, with most being pre-teen and teenage girls who created short lip-syncing and dance videos.

Many users want to know about Musical.ly's transformation into TikTok and their account status after the change. Musical.ly started in 2014 and grew rapidly to attract over 90 million users by 2016. TikTok had already become one of the world's most downloaded apps by early 2018, though under a different name. ByteDance saw an opportunity to use Musical.ly's strong U.S. presence while keeping the features that made the app popular.

The story behind Musical.ly's evolution into TikTok deserves a deeper look. We'll trace both platforms' beginnings and highlight the changes that followed the merger. This business move turned a simple lip-syncing app into a global social media powerhouse. TikTok's monthly active users surged past 750 million shortly after the merger, showing its massive impact on social media.

When Did Musical.ly Become TikTok?

Musical.ly users got a big surprise on August 2, 2018. They opened their phones to find their app had a new logo and name: TikTok. This change followed ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly in November 2017, which cost between $800 million and $1 billion.

The official merger date: August 2, 2018

The big day came on August 2, 2018. Musical.ly and TikTok became one unified platform. Just a day before, Musical.ly announced these upcoming changes at a special event. The timing was perfect - Musical.ly had reached 100 million monthly active users.

TikTok was already ahead with 500 million monthly active users worldwide. Research firm Sensor Tower reported that TikTok had become the world's most downloaded iOS app in the first quarter of 2018.

Why ByteDance made the switch

ByteDance had good reasons to unite these platforms. The company didn't want to split its resources between two apps that were so much alike but targeted different markets. TikTok dominated China (as Douyin) but struggled elsewhere. Musical.ly, on the other hand, was a hit internationally, especially in the United States.

ByteDance's founder Zhang Yiming put it clearly: "China is home to only one-fifth of Internet users globally. If we don't expand on a global scale, we are bound to lose to peers eyeing the four-fifths. So, going global is a must". This move let ByteDance focus on building a single platform to take on social media giants.

What happened to Musical.ly accounts

Musical.ly users had it easy. Their accounts, content, followers, and settings moved automatically to the new TikTok app. A simple app update was all they needed. Everything stayed intact.

The new TikTok platform kept Musical.ly's core feature of 15-second short-form videos and added some fresh elements:

• A redesigned logo and user interface

• Boosted video creation capabilities

• Access to an expanded global network

• Improved content recommendation system

The original Musical.ly features like "crowns" (their verification system) and duets stayed at first. Later, TikTok replaced them with check marks and brought in new features including LIVE broadcasts, favorites, and voice effects.

The Origins and Rise of Musical.ly

TikTok started as Musical.ly, which made its official debut in August 2014. The first prototype came out in April that same year.

When was Musical.ly created?

Shanghai, China saw the birth of Musical.ly in 2014. The platform launched in August 2014 just as co-founder Alex Zhu almost ran out of money from his previous venture. The app didn't take off right away, though about 500 people downloaded it daily. These early users stuck around consistently, which suggested good potential for the future.

Founders and early vision

Musical.ly came from two longtime friends, Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang, who met while working at eBaoTech. Zhu, 37, ran operations from Shanghai with his 35-year-old partner Yang. Both founders came from China, and Zhu held a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Zhejiang University.

Their first idea had nothing to do with music videos or entertainment. They raised $250,000 to build an educational social network where users could teach and learn through short 3-5 minute videos.

Initial struggles and pivot to lip-syncing

The educational platform didn't work out. After six months of development, they found that people thought the content format was boring—it just showed static pictures with voice recordings. The founders needed a new direction fast with only 8% of their funding left.

Everything changed during a Caltrain ride between San Francisco and Mountain View. Zhu noticed teenagers taking selfies while listening to music. This observation led to the idea of combining music, videos, and social networking.

Rapid growth and user base expansion

The team noticed strange download spikes every Thursday evening. They learned these spikes matched with Spike TV's show "Lip Sync Battle". The app really took off after they moved their logo position in videos to show up better in shares. Musical.ly reached the top spot in the App Store by July 2015.

Half of American teens used the app, with total users hitting 133.5 million by October 2016. About 13 million new users joined each month. Musical.ly's user base grew beyond 200 million by May 2017.

The Acquisition by ByteDance

ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly in November 2017 became a defining moment in social media history that ended up creating the global phenomenon we now know as TikTok.

Timeline of the acquisition

ByteDance representatives first connected with Musical.ly's co-founders in May 2017. The company officially bought Musical.ly on November 9-10, 2017, after six months of negotiations. The deal was worth between $800 million and $1 billion.

Musical.ly had just reached 100 million monthly active users at the time of purchase. Both platforms operated independently until August 2, 2018. ByteDance then merged Musical.ly with TikTok and consolidated both apps under the TikTok name.

What was TikTok called before?

TikTok existed as two separate applications before its global rollout:

• Douyin: ByteDance's original short-video app launched in China in September 2016

• TikTok: The international version of Douyin released in September 2017 for overseas markets

Musical.ly operated as its own distinct platform during this time. ByteDance managed to keep Douyin as a standalone app exclusively for China's market after the merger. Douyin had already gathered over 300 million monthly active users.

Why ByteDance acquired Musical.ly

ByteDance's founder, Zhang Yiming, shared his global vision: "China is home to only one-fifth of Internet users globally. If we don't expand on a global scale, we are bound to lose to peers eyeing the four-fifths".

The acquisition served several strategic goals:

• ByteDance needed to expand globally, especially when you have the United States market

• The company wanted to combine complementary user bases with minimal geographic overlap

• They could use Musical.ly's established presence in Western markets

• A unified platform could compete with social media giants

How the acquisition helped TikTok go global

ByteDance's merger turned into a soaring win for its global ambitions. TikTok expanded its worldwide presence faster after combining the platforms. The app ranked first among free application downloads in Thailand and other countries by January 2018.

ByteDance doubled TikTok's marketing budget in Q1 2019 compared to Q3 2018. The company spent approximately $10 per new user in the US market. This bold strategy worked well – TikTok reached 800 million monthly active users by July 2020 and crossed 1 billion users by September 2021.

From Musical.ly to TikTok: What Changed?

TikTok's launch on August 2, 2018, marked more than just Musical.ly's name and logo change. The merger brought improvements to the platform's features, user experience, and content direction by a lot.

New features introduced in TikTok

TikTok's upgraded app came with exciting features that Musical.ly users hadn't seen before. Users could now react to their friends' videos right from their phones. It also brought better creative tools with interactive gesture filters, VR-type filters that worked with blinking, and green screen-like background effects.

The platform added longer videos, augmented reality effects, and better editing tools. Later updates brought LIVE broadcasts, favorites, reposts, stitches, and voice effects.

Changes in user experience and interface

TikTok's interface offered users a more dynamic experience compared to Musical.ly's basic design. The platform created a personalized "For You" feed that showed content based on users' priorities and viewing patterns. The app also looked after users' digital wellbeing with screen time alerts after two hours. In spite of that, check marks replaced Musical.ly's "crowns" verification system, and page categories disappeared.

Change in content trends and creator culture

The platform grew way beyond Musical.ly's focus on lip-syncing and dancing. TikTok users started creating different types of short videos, from comedy to challenges and DIY projects. This broader content appealed to people of all ages, not just teenagers. ByteDance's sophisticated algorithm revolutionized the user experience. The app's usage time doubled after connecting to their back-end system.

Why did Musical.ly become TikTok?

ByteDance had clear reasons to rebrand. The platforms covered different geographic areas with little overlap. The company wanted to expand beyond Musical.ly's music-focused content. Combining resources helped ByteDance "expand our on-the-ground presence more quickly and easily" with simpler marketing and technical development. This merger proved brilliant as the platform gained users faster worldwide.

Conclusion

ByteDance bought Musical.ly in November 2017 and turned it into TikTok on August 2, 2018. This piece shows how a basic lip-syncing app became one of the world's most powerful social media platforms through smart business moves and tech breakthroughs.

The switch from Musical.ly to TikTok meant more than just changing names. In fact, this change marked a key moment in social media history that brought together two user bases from different parts of the world. ByteDance made a smart move by combining the platforms instead of running them separately. So, the company saved resources and grew beyond China's borders.

Musical.ly had already won teenagers' hearts worldwide with its short videos. But TikTok took this success further by adding better creative tools, a smarter recommendation system, and more content types. The platform grew from simple lip-syncing videos into a rich creative space with comedy sketches and educational content.

This business move shows how buying the right company can speed up worldwide growth. On top of that, the merger shows why it's crucial to understand how users behave in different markets. Musical.ly was big in Western markets, especially with American teens, but TikTok's algorithm and new features created something more engaging for everyone.

The change from Musical.ly to TikTok is evidence of ByteDance's worldwide ambition. The company started with different apps for different regions and turned them into one global success that shapes digital culture today. Without doubt, this story offers key lessons for tech companies that want to grow worldwide through strategic mergers and buyouts.

FAQs

Q1. When did Musical.ly officially become TikTok?

Musical.ly officially became TikTok on August 2, 2018, when ByteDance merged the two platforms into a unified app.

Q2. Why did ByteDance decide to rebrand Musical.ly as TikTok?

ByteDance rebranded Musical.ly to TikTok to consolidate resources, expand globally, and create a unified platform that could compete with social media giants. The merger allowed them to leverage Musical.ly's established user base in Western markets while maintaining TikTok's popularity in Asia.

Q3. What happened to existing Musical.ly accounts after the transition?

All Musical.ly user accounts, content, followers, and personal settings were automatically migrated to the new TikTok app. Users simply needed to update their app to find their Musical.ly account transferred to TikTok with everything intact.

Q4. How did TikTok differ from Musical.ly after the merger?

TikTok introduced new features like enhanced video creation tools, a personalized "For You" feed, and expanded content beyond lip-syncing. The platform also incorporated augmented reality effects, longer video formats, and a more sophisticated recommendation algorithm.

Q5. When did TikTok start gaining widespread popularity?

TikTok began gaining significant popularity in 2018 after merging with Musical.ly. By October 2018, it became the most downloaded app in the U.S. Its popularity surged further during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, leading to explosive growth and becoming the most-downloaded app globally.