“We are excited … [to] … be joining Facebook to work on new experiences for people to create, share, and connect,” states Eyegroove CEO Scott Snibbe in the message. The app is shutting down as a result of the acqui-hire.
Eyegroove tried to tap into the trend of fan-made, lip-sync music videos, which have taken the internet (and television) by storm. Snibbe — a media artist responsible for Bjork’s Biophilia app (later acquired by MOMA) — envisioned Eyegroove as an “Instagram for interactive music.”
The app itself offered Instagram-style filters that could be overlaid on top of the 19-second videos it allowed users to create. Its biggest selling factor was its integration with SoundCloud, allowing users to create their own music videos for any of the tracks on the music streaming service. The app failed to take off due to tough competition from the likes of Musical.ly and Flipagram (both of which have a strong teen following).
Snibbe and the majority of the Eyegroove team will now join Facebook, although the social network is reportedly not interested in the company’s tech or IP, according to TechCrunch.
Facebook has been pouring its resources into video, which it views as the future of its platform. Aside from Facebook Live, it has also begun to roll-out integration with MSQRD, a video filter app it recently acquired.
In June, Facebook launched its Slideshow video curation feature. The social network previously confirmed to Digital Trends that it had been testing Slideshow with real-life tracks (sourced from the Warner Music archives) in Australia. Will the Eyegroove team be assigned the task of bringing even more music integration to Facebook videos? Time will tell.
