BARS resembles TikTok not only in music theme but also in various tools and functions of its user interface
For example, you only have two tabs (for news and recommendations), while all interaction controls are at the bottom
Facebook will begin offering users in the United States the opportunity to test this platform in the coming weeks.
If you can’t buy them or beat them, copy them until something happens. This seems to be Facebook’s motto in its war with TikTok. And, according to TechCrunch, its development and experimentation team, Team NPE, has just released a new app that closely resembles ByteDance’s success. It also allows users to download short music videos and share them with the community. The only difference is that this project focuses on rap.
Mark Zuckerberg’s new platform is called BARS and allows users to have access to professional beats to accompany their raps. The idea is that amateur artists can share their creations with a mass audience. Each person can write their songs directly in the app. The Facebook project will even make suggestions as they write their sentences. There will also be audio and video filters to further spice up the content.
In addition to their tools to create and share their rhymes, rappers will be able to access a challenge mode. In it, the new Facebook platform will offer words so that users can practice freestyle. Each of the videos created using BARS can be shared directly in the app, saved to the device, or exported to other social networks. For now, it will only circulate in a closed beta for a limited group.
Facebook’s next big project?
Mark Zuckerberg’s company has long attempted to replicate the success of TikTok. And it really did not succeed. As TNW points out, just over six months ago, it had to suspend the Lasso and Hobbi apps, two attempts by Facebook to replicate the success of TikTok and Pinterest respectively. He’s had a lot more success with Instagram Reels. However, this platform also didn’t turn out to be the overwhelming project I expected.
Related Notes
Tik Tok dethrones Facebook and Instagram
Now that TikTok is 20% American, Facebook already has plans for the app
Facebook doesn’t trust Instagram Reels: it will launch a copy of TikTok for its own social network
According to Fortune, a month and a half after Facebook released this copy of TikTok, it was still struggling to find enough users. Those who adopted it at the time saw it as a much inferior competitor, with a very limited library of effects to enhance their videos. According to The Verge, the same Instagram frontman agreed his system was far inferior to his rival’s last January.
Could it be that BARS, a much more niche TikTok, is enough for Facebook to at least come close to ByteDance? It’s quite unlikely. According to The Motley Fool, it is very difficult for other tech companies to copy the success of this app. The only way to come close is to add similar functionality to their already established platforms, not by launching clones. In this sense, this platform already seems to be shaping up to be a failure.
Other experiences to copy TikTok (and Tinder)
As already stated, Facebook has made several attempts to copy ByteDance’s formula to expand its empire. One notable case is Collab, an app that was also created by Mark Zuckerberg’s NPE team. This platform was born last May as a system much more focused on musical creation than on the social aspect. And more specifically, it presents a series of tools that would facilitate collaboration between artists in the community.
Notably, the NPE team didn’t just try to copy TikTok’s success. They also tried to create some sort of Tinder for Facebook. In April, the department launched Tuned. Rather than focusing on bringing singles together for a relationship, this project focuses on established couples. In other words, it is formed as a mini social network, where users can upload photos, songs, messages, etc., for a digital recording of their entire relationship.
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