2 weeks after launch, live.ly live streaming platform hits 2 million downloads
New live streaming app live.ly has been downloaded 2 million times in about two weeks, app creators said Thursday.
The app -- which was created by the founders of musical.ly -- allows users to broadcast their actions in real time on their phones.
Just days after launching, live.ly rose to the No.1 slot in the App Store, surpassing Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Google Maps and Instagram.
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App creators also said Thursday they will roll out a handful of new features for broadcasters, including real-time reward mechanisms and a follower count.
In the coming weeks, live.ly will also introduce a Virtual Gift System, which means users can buy "digital gifts" -- animated stickers that pop onto the screen during broadcasts -- for their favorite broadcasters.
The downloads milestone comes as live streaming continues to grow in popularity, with many jumping in the space in hopes of rivaling Twitter's Periscope.
But live.ly's advantage is clearly its built-in fanbase, a.k.a. existing musical.ly users. Many, including the platform's most popular stars, were quick to download the new live offering.
"The idea of live.ly came from us listening to our users," Alex Hofmann, president of musical.ly North America, told Mashable in an interview at VidCon. "They really wanted live streaming to further connect with their fans."
"The idea of live.ly came from us listening to our users."
Hofmann said when live.ly had a soft launch, it was No. 7 on iTunes app downloads list.
"What we see with this is really unbelievable," Hofmann said. "We had a few people test it and within minutes over 100,000 people had tuned in to one live stream alone."
The Shanghai-based Musical.ly app and the new live.ly offering were amoung the most talked about at VidCon.
Though musical.ly officially launched in 2014, it didn't take off until around the summer of 2015. Now it has over 100 million users, most of whom are teens. Its success has led to a handful of young users becoming overnight instant successes.
Jacob Satorius, a 13-year-old baby-faced user, has become a musical sensation and heartthrob. At VidCon, thousands flocked to the music.ly booth to see him, one of the rare instances of fan craziness at an otherwise tame and heavily secure VidCon this year.
Major artists -- such as Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor -- have also jumped on board. Recently, Jason Derulo partnered with musical.ly to celebrate their annual summer concert series. Derulo is also now on live.ly.
Some media companies, such as Young Hollywood, have reported instant success after utilizing live.ly.
A publicist for the celebrity digital-media company said it amassed 318,000 concurrent views on a recent stream.
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Topics Apps & Software
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
