Facebook launches Bars app for rappers

The app is the social media giant’s second music tool after the company launched the music-making app Collab in June last year. For now, Bars is available in the US with an invitation-only closed beta.

Bars is aimed at rappers who want to share and create their own videos. The app offers a catalogue of professionally created beats, which users can use to write their own lyrics and record a video over. The videos can be up to 60 seconds in length and can be saved on a device or shared.

“Bars makes it easy to create and share raps, so rappers can focus on and experiment with the content, rather than investing heavily in equipment and production,” Facebook said.

Another feature that could benefit some users is that no formal rap experience is required, with the tool automatically suggesting rhymes as users pen down their lyrics. Users can switch to Challenge mode and freestyle with the auto-suggested word cues. In addition, the service has an autotune feature and different filters for audio and visual effects.

“I know access to high-priced recording studios and production equipment can be limited for aspiring rappers,” Bars community manager DJ Iyer said. “On top of that, the global pandemic shut down live performances where we often create and share our work. So, along with a group of aspiring rappers, we’ve been building Bars: a place for aspiring rappers to create and share their art.”

The NPE team says it will open up invites in batches, starting in the US. Interested users can sign up to a waitlist here.

Bars adds to Facebook's growing focus on music-making tools. Collab, which is centred on music creation and videos, gives users the ability to play three independent videos that are playing in synch. Users can also make videos using other people’s posts, which can then be published through Collab for others to watch and remix themselves. The mixes can be shared to Instagram, Facebook Stories and other social media apps.

Facebook has music-licensing deals covering the use of copyrighted tracks in user-generated content across its apps.

Since NPE was launched in 2019, the team has released a series of tools including activity-sharing app Hobbi, group call-coordinating app CatchUp, meme-making app Whale and a sharing app for couples called Tuned. The experimental team has allowed Facebook to try out new ideas and features. However, there is no guarantee that NPE’s apps will be officially rolled out.