Live.ly (pronounced "Lively", stylized as live.ly) was a social medialive-streaming service headquartered in Shanghai, with an American office in San Francisco, California. The app was launched in June 2016 by Musical.ly and officially released globally at VidCon in July 2016.[1] On the platform, users could stream live videos for others to watch.[2] Viewers could send chat messages that the live streamer received and read in real time. Additionally, users had the option to send virtual gifts, which could be converted into real-life currency for the live streamer.[3] Users could also live-stream to their main Musical.ly account.
In 2016, Live.ly had over 40 million active users.[4]
ByteDance Ltd. acquired Musical.ly Inc. on November 10, 2017, and merged it with TikTok on August 2, 2018, leading to the shutdown of Live.ly in June 2018.[5][6]
In August 2014, Musical.ly was launched by Musical.ly Inc. The app followed the premise of similar video-sharing platforms, notably Vine.[7] It gained popularity mostly among teenagers. By June 2016, Musical.ly had an active user base of roughly 90 million.[8]
In May 2016, Musical.ly announced the launch of Live.ly as a competitor to other social media platforms releasing live streaming services. Musical.ly initiated beta testing of the platform in the same month. Live.ly was published on the iTunes Store in late June 2016, quickly gaining popularity despite having no sponsors.[1]
On July 24, 2016, Musical.ly officially released Live.ly globally at VidCon, further attracting users.[1]
Given Musical.ly's significant user base of roughly 90 million at the time, the launch of Live.ly in May 2016 tapped into this existing user base, attracting users to its live-streaming platform as a natural extension of the Musical.ly experience.
By October 2016, Live.ly had surpassed Twitter's Periscope iOS app,[9] amassing approximately 40 million active users. According to Variety, the top 10 Live.ly accounts collectively earned US$46,000 in just a two-week period from virtual gifts sent by users.[10]
In June 2018, Live.ly was removed from all app stores due to its merger with TikTok.[5]ByteDance, the company that acquired Musical.ly and Live.ly, announced that Live.ly and Musical.ly would merge into one app, allowing users to watch videos and view live streams seamlessly.[11]
On August 2, 2018, Live.ly was merged with TikTok[citation needed], along with Musical.ly, following ByteDance's acquisition for a reported US$1 billion.[11] After Live.ly's shutdown, users were directed to a similar live-streaming platform, LiveMe.[12]
In April 2017, Internet personalityPaul Zimmer (Troy Becker) faced accusations of financially exploiting his young fans by promising them shout-outs and personal direct messages. Zimmer frequently neglected to fulfill these promises, often ignoring requests or declining to give shout-outs. The hashtag#BanPaulZimmer quickly gained traction on Musical.ly and Live.ly in response to Zimmer's behavior. Consequently, Zimmer deleted all videos where he made such promises and took an 18-month hiatus from social media.[13]
