Keeping Up With the Jameses

It’s not about the Heat or the Cavs, it’s about LeBron. Jerseys sell because of the name on the back, not the name on the front, and fans go where celebrities are. It’s the same in social media, where there’s a digital arms race to keep power users on platforms. 

Musical.ly bolstered its warchest on Friday with the release of Live.ly, a livestream app that connects directly to your Musical.ly account. Prior to Live.ly, Musers struggled to advertise their YouNow livestreams, which resulted in weaker engagement than on-platform content typically generates. By enabling its LeBron Jameses to push livestream broadcast notifications directly to existing followers, Musical.ly made a powerful, strategic move to stay ahead of the game.

‘Livestreaming’ has reached buzzword status because authenticity is everything now. We’re talking “no filter” on steroids: No editing. No retakes. Just what’s real. This has led to an unprecedented windfall for creators. Social media celebs are making tens of thousands of dollars per month on YouNow livestreams. Virtual gifts -- such as tips and fan mail -- and in-app purchases like split-screen chats are all the rage. Fans are paying to get intimate with social celebs, on demand.

Money isn’t changing hands on Live.ly yet but Musical.ly co-founder Alex Zhu is encouraging monetization. He sees virtual gifting as a power user retainment strategy.

"Stickiness depends on monetization opportunities, either indirect or direct. As long as you have engagement you can lead some traffic to something else and the indirect monetization works. Direct is something we’re working on right now, like with a gift system: big fans can send gifts, which is one of many possibilities. Influencers spend a lot of time creating for the app, so in the end we want to make sure that we are giving something back to them." Source: Forbes

Social media stars are all free agents. There’s no franchise tag for apps. But with 500,000 Live.ly downloads in the four days since its release, Musical.ly has significantly limited the threat of losing its LeBrons to a shiny new platform. Loyalty from top Musers means longevity for Musical.ly and its power to promote your artists. All the more reason to pay attention.

Musical.ly’s New Live Streaming App Gets Close To 500k Installs In Four Days

Musical.ly May Be the Spoiler in Livestream Race with Launch of Live.ly