Facebook recently launched a music collaboration app called “Collab”, which is aimed at alleviating the constraints Covid-19 has placed on musicians worldwide. In the pandemic, world artists cannot often perform in tandem or “live” due to crowd limitations, which means that musicians are without their audience.
Facebook Collab allows users to shoot 3 video snippets, either performed by the same person, perhaps using different instruments or footage collected from different artists & stitched together to create a comprehensive whole. The unique features Collab offers is the opportunity to shoot these videos, which are limited to 15 seconds, in parallel, meaning that they are always in sync. Also, Collab videos can be shot in landscape mode, which might make them more appealing.
The videos have to be published to the Collab feed, but thereafter the footage can be “picked up” by other Collab users to use; they can, for instance, use the original video to add their own “voice” to, or they can use parts, say 1 or 2 to overlay their own twist to the content by adding a different beat, such as a drum beat, which can be effected on app.
Floating this new app is seen by many as Facebook’s attempt to rival the popularity of TikTok. The latter’s short-form videos have long relied on a similar format. TikTok started out as a lip-syncing app, where users would perform to a well-known, popular music snippet, by dancing or otherwise acting, without having any ‘real’ talent in the music arena.
Facebook assures users that any video used from the app library can be accurately synced in parallel so that creators can be confident that their final product will be seamless, no matter which video parts they choose to use. Users can lip-sync to any of the videos they find in the Collab library – however Facebook does say that all artists will be credited despite the public availability of their work.
Creators can team up with any other users to create videos, but these videos must first appear on the app. However, thereafter creators can share to other social media platforms, such as Instagram, Snapchat and, yes, even to TikTok.
Developed by the New Product Experimentation Team at Facebook, the app was originally launched in early 2020, but on an invite only basis. Facebook claims that it had incorporated the feedback form these early beta testers to improve the user experience & make the app more functional & fun to use.
Currently, the app is only available on the Apple App Store, but Facebook is planning a much wider release in the near future, which is dependent on how successfully the app is taken up by users. Interestingly, the app is a standalone product, which differentiates it from Instagram Reels – its most similar Facebook product. Reels can only be used as part of the Instagram app.
How successful the Collab app will be, & if it’ll perform well enough to rival TikTok, only time will tell.
Image credit: Facebook
