Chinese company takes over Musical.ly

Musical.ly comes into the hands of the Chinese company Bytedance. The acquisition should expand the popular music application for children to Asia. Musical.ly lets users create short music videos of themselves.

Both companies have since confirmed the acquisition, but have not disclosed the amount involved in the acquisition. However, the Wall Street Journal states that it has heard from sources that the acquisition amount is between 800 million and 1 billion dollars. Converted that is about 686 million to 857 million euros.

The intention is for Musical.ly to remain an independently operating service. However, the new owner Bytedance has plans for expansion; Due to the takeover, Musical.ly should expand to Asia, where the software is not yet so popular among children.

Musical.ly made headlines this summer for not using encryption when uploading video footage, potentially making it easy for attackers to intercept the footage. Musical.ly is especially popular among kids, who make videos of themselves singing a song. It is also possible to livestream.