Many brands and platforms have pushed the boundaries of their comfort zones in 2020 and explored new ways to deliver content on a large scale and create personal experiences. Snapchat is a player that has distinguished itself from the original focus of intimate communications.
Here’s a breakdown of what the company has released these past few weeks and what they could mean for marketers and creators.
Making video creations and communication more expressive with ‘Sounds’
Earlier this fall Snapchat released ‘Sounds,’ a TikTok-rival feature that allows users to enhance their Snaps with music from a curated catalog of both emerging and established artists. You can add tracks to your Snaps either pre- or after-capture. Then, share them publicly via your Story or directly with specific connections.
To add music to your video before recording it, select the Sounds tool indicated by the music notes icon on right-hand side. Then select a track from Featured sounds list. To add music to your Snaps, you can use the Sounds Tool.
The current Sounds catalog offers “millions” of licensed songs from Snap’s music industry partners including Warner Music Group, NMPA. Universal Music Publishing Group. Per Variety, beyond music, Snapchat is also working on introducing the ability for users to create their own sounds and add them to Snaps — an update expected to roll out globally on the platform in the coming months.
Voisey, a mobile music app for smartphones, is being acquired
Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. recently delved further into the music industry. acquiredVoisey, a startup that allows users to record short videos with professional vocal effects and backing music provided by producers, was founded in 2018. Following the ever-popular short-form format, clips are only one minute long.
It’s like a musical equivalent to stickers and filters. Users can choose from a variety of backing beats and hit record. Then, they can customize the content by adding their vocals to the track. You can add auto-tune or choral effects to the track.
“We are on the verge of a revolution in music creation with the boundaries between creator and audience blurring like never before. Apps like Voisey focus on giving consumers tools that enable them to go from zero to 100 faster than ever before,” said Mark MulliganFounding father of MIDiA ResearchIn a statement to Business Insider
This seems to be a trend that shows apps are more eager to produce unique creative at scale. Instagram, for example, allows users create high-quality photos, TikTok the capability to create shareable short videos, and now the window of opportunity is on the next generation music creators, giving them the tools they need to collaborate and work efficiently.
Unveiling ‘Spotlight,’ a short-form video feed
Taking a page out of TikTok’s playbook and Instagram’s ‘Reels,’ Snapchat introduced a short-form video feed option, ‘Spotlight,’ showcasing the top Snaps submitted on the platform by more than 249 million users and offering financial incentive for the most entertaining content. The designated feed will display the snaps on a continuous loop until the user swipes the next one. Previously, Snapchat users were limited to seeing snaps posted by their friends or posted by publishers in the app’s Discover feature.
Snapchat will offer a million dollars per daily in funding as part of this push. It will distribute the funds to the top Spotlight clips. In ranking each clip based upon engagement, the app will use a similar algorithm as TikTok. Particularly, factors such as total views, view times, Favorites, Shares, and number of Favorites will be weighed. Clips are displayed in full-screen mode. This allows the platform to use specific indicators to better tailor the feed. Snap is open to advertising brands in the future, according to a spokesperson.
Instagram’s Explore page, TikTok’s ‘For You,’ YouTube’s recommended videos, and now Spotlight — it’s clear that a discovery engine is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have as creators become the crux of social media engagement. These feeds, which emphasize exclusive content, are becoming the key differenceiator that will continue establishing platforms above their competition in the battle for online talent.
Photo credit via The Verge
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