Facebook is encouraging its users to sing along to hit songs.
The social network on Tuesday introduced Lip Sync Live, a feature that lets users lip sync to hundreds of popular songs like “Havana” by Camila Cabello and “God’s Plan” by Drake. They can also invite friends to join the virtual karaoke party to join in singing, or to just watch and add comments.
Additionally, users can add effects that give the background in the lip-syncing videos some flair, much like Snapchat’s facial recognition feature that adds dog ears and super-sized eyelashes to photos and videos.
Facebook’s latest feature is similar to other apps that dominate the karaoke market, like Dubsmash and Musical.ly. Earlier this year, Musical.ly, which has more than 60 million users was sold to Chinese social media giant Toutiao for an estimated $800 million to $1 billion.
Although Facebook is venturing into a crowded market with Lip Sync Live, the push to attract a younger audience through music comes as no surprise. As of March, Facebook had spent millions of dollar on music licensing deals with three major record labels, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony, to gain access to virtually every popular song available.
A recent Pew Research Center survey suggested that fewer teens used Facebook than ever before. Only 51% of people surveyed between ages 13 and 17 said they used Facebook’s app, according to CNBC.
Facebook will likely add more music-related features in the near future. In its press release for Lip Sync Live, the company said to “stay tuned for more” and that it would soon begin testing an option to add music to Facebook Stories. Facebook has not yet disclosed what that feature will look like.
