Gen Z's favourite social media app TikTok is undeniably a global phenomenon with 800 million active users in 154 countries. Now, it looks like YouTube wants a piece of the meme-remix pie - the mainstay of internet videos is reportedly working on their own short-form app called Shorts.
Their secret weapon? Access to licensed music from YouTube Music's catalogue.
This means users are free to use copyrighted music without the thread of a DMCA takedown, also known as a 'copyright strike'. YouTube has been known to be draconian with copyrighted music even under fair use conditions, so it will interesting to see how this will be treated in the upcoming app.
Interestingly, Shorts will be rolled out as part of the existing YouTube app and not a standalone. We're not sure how well this implementation would work - would the Shorts have their own section with infinite scrolling like TikTok? Or will they get mixed into the pile along with YouTube's long-form content?
Either way, Shorts is slated to be released by the end of this year, so we'll able to find out then...if the short-form trend is alive and well, that is.
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