Facebook on Tuesday announced it was offering several new ways for users to incorporate music into their on-site identities in a move to counter growing popularity of Chinese social network Tiktok.
Initially announced a year ago, the ability to listen to music on stories and profiles will finally be available in India.The music features for Facebook and Instagram are already available in over 55 countries.
Starting today, users will be able to use music in stories. To use it, they just need to tap the “Music” sticker and select the song of their choice. You can select a specific section from a song if that’s all you want to play along with three picture or video you want to post. You can also let it play until your story ends. It works the same on both Facebook and Instagram Stories.
Additionally, if the song has lyrics available, they will automatically pop up. Tap through the icons to change the animation and text style, and move the lyrics around, rotate or resize it like you would a normal sticker.
You will also be able to create lip sync videos just like with Musical.ly, in effect competing with Tiktok that's taking over Facebook's user base in tier 2 and tier 3 turns in India.
To enable this music feature, Facebook has partnered with several major labels and you can use only the songs available from a list.
"In India, we already have hundreds of thousands of songs that we've licensed. We are increasingly getting more and more regional language music labels onboard. We are also tying up with distributors to get access to regional music. Among the Indian labels, some of the names include TSeries, Zee Music and Saregama," Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships, Facebook India, told BusinessLine.
With the roll-out of music products today, people across India can add the latest tracks such as Bekhayali - Kabir Singh, Ve Maahi - Kesari, to super hits like Dil Diyan Gallan from Tiger Zinda Hai, and regional hits like Lahore by Guru Randhawa, Zingaat from Sairat as well as old classics like Bas Ek Sanam Chaahiye from Aashiqui, to their Facebook and Instagram Stories. "With India’s strong music ecosystem, we're thrilled to open up the ability for people in the country to include music in the moments they share on our platforms. We've partnered with the Indian music community to enable these new products, and we look forward to seeing all the ways people in India use them to express themselves in fun and engaging way," Chopra said. Earlier this year, Facebook India announced partnerships with top music labels T-Series Music, Zee Music Company and Yash Raj Films, licensing their music for use in social experiences on Facebook and Instagram. Lip Sync Live on Facebook: will allow you to perform and dub songs live on Facebook. Friends can check your performance in real time and follow the lyrics of the songs while you have fun together.
Facebook will also now allow you to play songs on your profile. The new Music section within user profile lets you show what songs you’re listening to, and you can also pin one of them to the top of your profile to show visitors what kind of mood you’re in.