What is musically?
If you haven't heard about musical.ly app then it probably means you're too old, or if you're just discovering this relatively recent app sensation here's all the info you need to know.
Musical.ly is a video based social media network for creating short (15secs or less) bite-sized music videos. Users (or musers as they like to be called) can mime along to their favourite song or even upload one of their own songs to the app. The idea is it allows the user to showcase their creativety and say a bit more about themselves through the power of music.
What is a muser?
A muser is someone who uses the musical.ly app, and with over 100 million users and fastly rising, there's probably a muser in your midst and you wouldn't even know it. Famous muser Kristen Hancher made this fun little video entitled things musers do trying to explain the process to someone who's never used the app before:
Is musically app safe?
If you're a concerned parent musical.ly recommends that you monitor your child's use of the app just like you should do with other social networks. Make sure you chat to them about what videos they are posting and keep them up to date on basic internet safety. You can make their profile private and hide the location info so your child's location isn't posted on the internet at any time. You can read more on the official Tumblr account here: Musical.ly for parents.
What does musically say about the state of the music industry?
The concept of musical.ly really highlights how much music still means to young people. We hear all the statistics about declining record sales and how nobody buys albums anymore, but that doesn't represent how people are accurately consuming music. We live in an ever increasing world of visual dominance, artists are releasing visual albums, facebook videos have more views than audio posts, and musers are expressing themselves through only 15 secs of music. Generation Z kids have a disposable culture, they consume and move on very quickly, preferring to use apps like snapchat to communicate, where their messages instantly disappear after they are viewed by the receiver.
So far some of the original music to come out of musically has been pretty questionable but it's only a matter of time before people master the medium and it becomes more ubiquitous. Keep your eyes (are ears) peeled as it won't be too long before musers are entering the charts!