Facebook Unveils Bars, A TikTok-Style App For Aspiring Rappers

Facebook, Inc.'s FB New Product Experimentation, a research and development group, has unveiled Bars, an app that enables users to create their own rap mini-videos.

What Happened: Bars provides professionally created beats for users, who then add their own lyrics and record themselves. For would-be rappers who are not as clever as the pros, the app can auto-suggest rhymes.

The app also features a “challenge” mode and freestyle with auto-suggested word cues. Different audio and visual filters are also included. Videos created on Bars can be saved to a user’s camera roll or shared on social media platforms, and viewers who enjoy the content can respond with a fire emoji.

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"No formal rap experience required," Facebook said on its NPE blog. "You can create something great whether you’ve just thought of a dope couplet or have been freestyling for years." 

What Happens Next: Bars appears to be a Facebook challenge to TikTok’s short video format. The Bars videos run up to 60 seconds. It also mirrors TikTok’s two-tabbed vertical video interface.

Bars is still in beta for iPhones and a formal release has not been scheduled. Facebook has created a waiting list for users, with U.S. customers getting preferential treatment.

Photo courtesy of Facebook.