In a move to encourage exploration between users the new feature Original Sound was released by the Singapore-based Lomotif app this week. By simply recording and uploading a Lomotif, creators can publish an Original Sound easily. The new feature gives users the ability to add their own Original Sounds to the vast catalog of music within the Lomotif app. Other like-minded creators can then mix their own Lomotifs using these generated Original Sounds. By creating your own 30 second clip and posting it on the app, other users can then mix and remix your Original Sound into their videos.

On the new feature, Paul Yang, CEO of Lomotif said, “As a home for everyday creators with dedicated global users from countries spanning Asia to Latin America, and West Africa to the U.S., Lomotif created this Original Sound feature as a new way for our users to feed their creativity and spark inspiration through easy collaboration. Our Lomotif community shares authentic short video content that empowers others to express themselves freely, and giving our users a chance to create and be accredited as creators of Original Sounds was just a natural next step in our evolution. We’re delighted to have rolled out this new feature that will enhance the Lomotif experience and put more power into the hands of our creators. We can’t wait to witness what #OGSounds will be created next!”

Established in 2014, Lomotif was created to capitalize on the demand for online content viewing, which was getting increasingly popular among Gen Z and millennials.

In 2021, Zash Global Media agreed to acquire Lomotif. The deal was coordinated with the reverse merger of Zash Media into NASDAQ-listed Vinco Ventures. The Zash-Vinco merger quickly led to comparisons by many in the industry to Chinese leader ByteDance (TikTok), or Kuaishou, the direct competitor of TikTok’s sister operation Douyin in mainland China. The overall Zash ecosystem now has 100 million global active users, according to Ted Farnsworth (Co-Founder of Zash media), while Lomotif counts 41 million active users in India.

Lomotif’s expansion into India began with a partnership with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Viacom18 media conglomerate. The push into India began amid volatility in the short-form video space following the government’s ban on TikTok in 2020. Soon afterwards, Times Internet’s MX TakaTak and ShareChat’s Moj announced a merger, creating the country’s largest short-form video platform and also a crowded marketplace of short video apps. To compete, Lomotif leveraged Zash Media’s IP across the Lomotif app. Combining broadcast television from Viacom18’s linear channels with content streamed directly through the Lomotif app.

“We’re taking a different approach where we’re blending the two universes, taking linear TV that we own, reality TV, different movies that we own, and creating content, but also allowing the creators out there to create content off of the material that we have, as well,” Farnsworth said. “So all of a sudden, we’re giving creators their own material, that’s all licensed by us, allowing them to do things.”-Ted Farnsworth

In February of 2022 the firm acquired AdRizer, a technology solution that automates the use of artificial intelligence for digital advertising analytics and programmatic media buying, enabling publishers and agencies to place digital ads in real time and effectively manage their ad investment with a risk averse approach.

Lomotif has used partnerships with music festivals to livestream events to help push engagement through the app. With influencer initiatives under the Lomotif brand, over the recent three-day Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival in Florida the live stream from the event registered 7.2 million active users on Lomotif according to Google Analytics. It also generated 16 million visitors on Lomotif media sites. This strategy generated hundreds of millions of ad impressions with five-plus minutes spent viewing the sites on average, through their newly acquired ad platform, AdRizer.

Lomotif for the first time broke into the top 50 downloaded social apps in the U.S. Apple Store alone during the festival, boosting efforts to expand in the U.S. market. Of the 7.2 million users who streamed the concert, 86% of the traffic came from YouTube through the Company’s AdRizer platform promoting the festival.

Said Lisa King, Vinco Ventures CEO, “In addition to live-streaming and hosting the events with our partners such as Insomniac at EDC Las Vegas, Dandelion Music Festival, Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival, and Shaq’s Funhouse in LA, and with Lomotif guests including Lil Nas X and Kid LAROI, we increased user engagement for the Lomotif platform and brand over the last year with celebrity events like Hailey Bieber’s #LomoStyle contest which engaged over 19 million views across platforms. We believe that by growing our content offering and worldwide user engagement, coupled with our AdRizer digital advertising analytics capabilities, we will be able to use the Lomotif platform to generate additional revenue.”

Now one of the fastest-growing video-sharing social networking platforms in Asia with over 350 million user-created videos per month, the hopeful TikTok competitor looks to the future and plans to build an NFT marketplace and expand the platform worldwide.