Lip-syncing video giant Dubsmash rolls out Community Moments, nabs Warner as first channel sponsor

Dubsmash, the ridiculously popular video-messaging app that invites users to lip-sync along to recognizable soundbites, is rolling out a notable new feature on its platform today.

Founded out of Berlin in 2014, Dubsmash has gone on to raise around $6 million in VC funding, largely due to the 100 million-plus downloads the app has garnered across Android and iOS. Back in May, the company unveiled what was probably its biggest update in its short life so far, effectively transforming the app into a full-fledged social platform by letting users share videos directly within Dubsmash, rather than directing them to watch the videos on third-party social channels.

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Today, Dubsmash is taking this new platform approach to the next level by introducing Community Moments, which are essentially collections of videos created by the broader Dubsmash community — people you may not necessarily “follow” or otherwise engage with.

Community Moments represent the first time Dubsmash has opened up the platform to let users watch videos from anywhere, but digging down into the details also reveals a key monetization strategy — Dubsmash is inviting brands to sponsor channels.

Warner Bros. is the first Community Moment channel brand sponsor, and it is seeking to promote its upcoming 3D-animated flick Storks through inviting users to lip-sync along to snippets from the movie.

“What our users love about Dubsmash is the combination of familiar, iconic audio content and the authenticity of unfiltered user-generated video,” said Dubsmash president Suchit Dash. “The channels will highlight some of the best Dubsmash has to offer, and for the first time allow our users to interact and contribute to the community at large.”

Dubsmash had previously monetized by allowing brands and other partners to “promote” their soundbites through the app’s main discovery page to be lip-synced by the community, while it has also piloted a number of other monetization efforts in the past, with a firm focus on “native,” meaning they have to harmonize with the app’s core offering.

The German startup is the latest in a long line of social networks to launch new features aimed — in part, at least — at garnering corporate sponsorship. Last year, Twitter introduced Promoted Moments, a brand-led compendium of tweets designed to tell a story. And Snapchat ramped up the ads in its popular Snapchat Stories’ feature.

Dubsmash’s new Community Moments features is rolling out today on Android and iOS in English-speaking markets only, with other languages to follow.