# Musical.ly

> The teen lip-sync app reported 100 million monthly users before its migration to TikTok.

- Owner: Musical.ly Inc.; ByteDance from November 2017
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: Aug 2014
- Peak proxy date: 2016
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 61 (Viral, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Shareable output, Challenge, Response chain, Platform jump, Controversy

## Summary

Musical.ly grew through shared lip-sync videos, creator tutorials and TV coverage. Artist challenges and sponsored posts followed. ByteDance bought the app and moved its users to TikTok; Musical.ly later settled FTC allegations about children's privacy.

## Timeline

- Aug 2014 — Musical.ly (App stores) — Musical.ly launched its lip-sync video app in August, according to Billboard's later account.
- Apr 2015 — Musical.ly (Open web) — Musical.ly moved its watermark so it remained visible when videos were shared on Instagram and Twitter.
- 2015-07-06 — US App Store users (App stores) — Musical.ly reached No. 1 overall in Apple's US App Store.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/musically

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Musical.ly.” Case HIS-01637. Spread Score v1.3: 61/100. Updated 2026-10-24. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01637