As news continues to develop around TikTok’s uncertain status in the United States, Los Angeles-based competitor Triller, another video-sharing app, has reportedly jumped to the top of the App Store’s Top Free Apps.
The rival video-sharing app rose to the No. 1 spot in the App Store across 85 countries, with Mashable reporting that US downloads of Triller increased by nearly 11 times during the week ending on Sunday, August 2 (from 5,675 to 61,924).
While TikTok has generated over 2 billion downloads globally, Triller has recently experienced growth in countries where the Chinese-owned video-sharing app was banned over concerns of digital espionage.
That was the case in India, where Triller reached No.1 in the country’s photos and videos section of the App Store in early July.
At the time, border disputes with China pushed the Indian government to ban TikTok as well as 58 other popular Chinese apps, including WeChat and UC Browser.
According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, India has been the biggest driver of new downloads for TikTok, generating close to 660 million installs since its launch in 2017.
“With Triller, you don’t have to be Colin Tilley to make a music video that looks like it was shot by Colin Tilley. The app truly democratises the music video creation process. Whether you’re hanging in the park with friends or an artist on tour, Triller makes it easy and fun to create great-looking music videos,” David Lieberman, one of the app’s creators, said in a statement.
Snap Up
On top of Triller, Tik Tok now also faces competition from an old rival, Snapchat, as Snap, Inc. has secured music-licensing deals with major music companies to compete with the Chinese-owned video sharing app.
Among them are Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Publishing Group, as well as the over 200 members of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), and the roughly 300 members of indie digital rights agency Merlin.
Although word that the social media and messaging app was in talks with music companies first emerged in May 2019, Snapchat users will soon have the opportunity to embed songs from “a robust and curated catalogue of music” to their posts.
Additionally, when a user receives a Snap soundtracked with music, they will be able to swipe up to view the corresponding song title, album art and name of the artist.
A “Play This Song” link will also open a page with links to listen to the full song on multiple streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.
While this new music-video feature is currently tested in Australia and New Zealand, Snap, Inc. has announced plans to launch it widely for English-language users in the fall of 2020.
“We’re always looking for new ways to give ‘Snapchatters’ creative tools to express themselves. Music is a new dimension they can add to their Snaps that helps capture feelings and moments they want to share with their real friends,” a Snap, Inc. spokesperson told Variety.
While Snapchat already allows users to share what they are listening to on Spotify and Apple Music in their posts, this new feature could represent a major promotional tool for the music industry.
Snap, Inc. claims that Snapchat reaches 90% of Americans aged 13 to 24, and 75% of those aged 13 to 34 — more than Facebook, Instagram and Messenger combined.
Poaching talents
As Microsoft is reportedly in talks with Beijing-based tech company ByteDance Ltd to buy TikTok, Triller and other rival social video platforms are redoubling their efforts to attract users and top influencers.
Among them are TikTok sensation Josh Richards, who has recently been hired to be chief strategy officer at the LA-based tech company.
The 18-year-old performer has also encouraged his 20+ million TikTok followers to leave the controversial video-sharing platform, echoing decisions taken by fellow content creators Griffin Johnson, Noah Beck and Anthony Reeves.
While both apps give users the opportunity to direct, edit and share short videos, Triller uses an AI-powered software to automatically edit different takes into a “celebrity-quality” video.
Is this the beginning of the end for Tik Tok, only time will tell.
This article was compiled from AFP Relaxnews.
