Facebook Launches TikTok-esque Rapping Platform BARS
Written by SOURCE on February 27, 2021
Facebook is one of the most successful companies on the planet, but not all of its ideas are hits. While it remains to be seen if their latest app goes over, “TikTok for rapping over premade beats” seems like a “remember that?” in waiting. The tech giant launched BARS, a platform where users can freestyle over a selection of sounds in closed beta today.
Videos are capped at 60 seconds in length and can be shared across social media once they’re made in the program. The app allows users to celebrate particularly well-done lines with a fire emoji. The app does not yet offer a pause function and TechCrunch points out that the app doesn’t make it particularly easy to follow creators. Presumably, those will be worked out before the app launches properly. The developers are pushing the app as a way to perform without access to equipment (or stages, given the way that the coronavirus pandemic has ended live performances).
“I know access to high-priced recording studios and production equipment can be limited for aspiring rappers. On top of that, the global pandemic shut down live performances where we often create and share our work,” said Facebook’s DJ Iyler.
The app features auto-tune and a rhyming dictionary. It also contains a challenge where prospective rap stars can test their skills with a freestyle game that auto-generates words to incorporate as the rap goes along. The program is not yet available to the wider public, but it will likely be unveiled soon after the program is tested by its early users.
