Category: General

When Snapchat first crossed our consciousness in May of 2012, its claim to fame was self-deleting photo messages that would disappear after 10 seconds. Eventually, Snapchat invented the “Stories” feature that Instagram and other social media apps copied. Today, Snapchat is known for its AR Lenses which can turn you into a sunglasses-wearing motorcycle cop, a dog sticking out his long tongue, and more.

And now Snapchat is planning on going head-to-head against TikTok. The latter, with over 2 billion installs from the App Store and the Google Play Store, is one of the most popular apps in the U.S. as it allows users (mostly teens, pre-teens, and a smattering of adults) to create short-form videos of 15 and 60 seconds in length. Content includes lip-syncing, dancing, comedy bits and more. Snapchat announced today that it will be testing a new feature that will allow users to have their Snaps play with music in the background. Sound familiar?

This is the perfect time for Snapchat to explore adding TikTok-esque features to the app. President Donald Trump has made it clear that the U.S. will not allow companies with possible ties to the communist Chinese government to operate in the states, and while he is allowing Microsoft to negotiate with TikTok parent ByteDance (a company based in China) to acquire the app in the U.S. and several other countries, such a transaction comes with a pretty high price tag which means that there is no guarantee that it will get done. If a deal isn’t agreed to, TikTok could get banned in the states and its 800 million global active users (100 million in the U.S.) will be searching for an alternative to the app, something that we’re sure that Snapchat understands.

Snapchat parent SNAP has licensing deals with a number of music publishers including Warner Music. The music will be available for Snapchat users to add before recording a video, or afterward. When one of the new Snaps with music is shared, the person on the receiving end will swipe up to see album art, the title of the song being played, and the name of the artist. A “Play this song link” will send the user to Linkfire’s website or to the user’s preferred streaming music platform where the entire song can be played. That could be considered an improvement over what TikTok offers; tap the “sound” link on the latter app and you’ll see other clips that use the same song. Snapchat says that the new feature is designed for sharing music with your “real friends.”

“We’re always looking for new ways to give Snapchatters creative tools to express themselves,” said a SNAP spokesman. “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.”

While Snapchat seems to be overlooked in the messaging apps category, as of last quarter it counted 238 million daily active users worldwide. It also reaches more 13-to-24-year olds in the U.S. (90%) than Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. Even more impressive, Snapchat says that it reaches more users in the U.S. than Twitter and TikTok combined.

A Snapchat spokesman said, “We’re constantly building on our relationships within the music industry, and making sure the entire music ecosystem — artists, labels, songwriters, publishers and streaming service — are seeing the value in our partnerships.” Snapchat plans on rolling out this feature in English-speaking markets starting this fall, although it is being tested starting today in New Zealand and Australia.

Meanwhile, Instagram is about to roll out its own short-form video feature called “Reels” which is making TikTok parent ByteDancer very unhappy. In a statement late Sunday, ByteDancer accused Instagram owner Facebook of “plagiarism.” The whole statement read, “ByteDance has always been committed to becoming a global company. During this process, we have faced all kinds of complex and unimaginable difficulties, including the tense international political environment, collision and conflict of different cultures and plagiarism and smears from competitor Facebook.”

No, we don’t think that the TikTok story is the only game in town. However, it isn’t every day when an app with over two billion installations becomes the subject of a takeover battle involving a huge U.S. company and the President of the United States. This afternoon, Microsoft’s official blog reported that following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald Trump, Microsoft has decided to continue talks with TikTok’s corporate parent ByteDance in an attempt to purchase the short-form video app. Microsoft says that it would like to complete discussions with ByteDance by September 15, 2020.

There are several possible reasons why the Trump administration has been seeking to ban TikTok in the U.S. In the states, several Chinese companies are considered national security threats with fears that they will collect personal data and send it to Beijing. Earlier this month Secretary of State Mike Pompeo compared the attempt to ban TikTok with other bans placed against Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE. “Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure we’ve gone all over the world and we’re making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security. With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”

Microsoft said on Sunday that it “fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.” Some of those economic benefits include the addition of 10,000 new jobs that TikTok intends to bring into the U.S. over the next three years, according to a TikTok video posted on the app this morning by U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas.

TikTok allows users to create 15-second or 60-second videos with comedic content, singing, dancing, and protesting. It is used by teens, pre-teens, and yes, even older folk. With many people stuck inside during the pandemic, TikTok became a popular app for those seeking a way to pass the time of day. If the deal is allowed, Microsoft will own and operate TikTok in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The software giant could also ask some other firms to be minority investors. Microsoft also said, “This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections. The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries.”

Microsoft said that it would make sure that any American TikTok user’s personal data would remain in the U.S. Any data backed up or stored on servers outside of the states would be deleted by Microsoft. The software giant also made sure to let the president know how much it appreciated his efforts in allowing the company to make a bid for TikTok. The company wrote, “Microsoft appreciates the U.S. Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country.”

There is no guarantee that a deal will be completed. Microsoft says that it does not plan to comment further on a possible deal with ByteDance for TikTok until a definitive agreement has been made. While it is in negotiations with TikTok parent ByteDance, Microsoft says that “during this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President.”

TikTok is estimated to be valued at $50 billion-$100 billion. Microsoft’s market capitalization is approximately $1.55 trillion.<