Facebook Launches New Music Features, Including ‘Lip Sync Live’

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Months after Facebook struck licensing deals with prominent music companies, the social-media platform announced today the first results of those deals.

First, the platform is beginning to roll out the a function whereby users can include music in their personal videos, which it is testing in serveral markets and “looks forward to making it available more broadly soon.”

It is also launching a new feature called “Lip Sync Live,” which is testing now in several markets, and (obviously enough) allows users to lip sync songs live, accompanied by camera effects and backgrounds if so desired. According to the announcement, hundreds of songs are currently available including “Havana” by Camila Cabello, “Welcome to The Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, “Happier” by Ed Sheeran and “God’s Plan” by Drake, which would be a good one to lip-sync while wearing a Kanye West mask.

To try it out, users can choose the “Lip Sync Live” option when starting a Live video. After selecting a song from the song list, they can also add a description and customize your video with masks or a background.

The announcement, made via a blog post from Tamara Hrivnak, Head of Music Business Development & Partnerships, and Fred Beteille, Head of Product, Music & Rights, concludes by saying, “In the coming months, we’ll start testing options for adding the music you love to  Stories, and this is just the beginning. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the music industry to create new ways for people to connect and express themselves through music across our family of apps.”